MEI Tech Days 2026: Vision, Innovation, Excellence.
At the new U.S. headquarters near Chicago, MEI brought customers, industry experts and technology partners together to discuss how block-less manufacturing can reshape the future of lens production.
On October 21 and 22, MEI welcomed customers and industry partners to its new MEI Inc. headquarters in Itasca, Illinois, for MEI Tech Days 2026, combining technical presentations, customer perspectives, live demonstrations and discussions around the evolution of optical manufacturing.
Rather than focusing on a single new machine, the event revolved around a broader question: what happens when block-less technology becomes the foundation of the surfacing process rather than simply an alternative way of holding a lens?
That question provided the connecting thread for a program that moved from MEI’s vision of future lens manufacturing to real-world experience with CoreTBA technology, automated cleaning and inspection, sustainability, lens design and downstream coating.
From vision to block-less manufacturing
The technical program opened with MEI’s perspective on the past, present and future of its technologies, followed by an introduction to CoreTBA, the company’s block-less surfacing system. The agenda deliberately moved quickly from corporate vision to manufacturing reality.
The message behind the technology was straightforward: simplifying freeform production does not necessarily mean compromising on process control.
With CoreTBA, MEI removes the conventional blocking step from freeform surfacing. This technology has now accumulated more than four years of field experience, while customer feedback has driven development toward greater throughput and reliability. MEI presented both the compact CoreTBA configuration and the modular Alpha CoreTBA and Omega CoreTBA architecture as different ways of applying the same block-less manufacturing concept to different production requirements.
Customers take the stage
One of the distinguishing elements of Tech Days was that MEI did not tell the block-less story alone.
Representatives of KITS.COM and Lunetterie New Look were included in the program to offer an end-user perspective on MEI block-less surfacing technology.
This provided an important counterpoint to the technical presentations. Instead of discussing CoreTBA only in terms of specifications, the session brought the conversation back to how this technology fits into an actual laboratory environment, highlighting the cost and time savings it can deliver.
For MEI, this customer perspective was also particularly relevant because the evolution of CoreTBA has been closely linked to feedback from early adopters. The company described customer feedback as a key factor in determining R&D priorities as the platform matured.
Cleaning and inspection become part of the process
The conversation then moved beyond surfacing itself.
MEI presented ClearXM and SurfXM as part of its approach to automating lens cleaning and cosmetic inspection. ClearXM was developed around a simple production requirement: before an automated system can reliably evaluate the cosmetic quality of a lens, that lens must first be consistently clean.
The Tech Days program therefore positioned washing, inspection and process control as connected areas rather than isolated production steps. The agenda described ClearXM and SurfXM together as a complete cleaning and inspection solution, with live demonstrations forming part of the experience.
The demonstrations extended well beyond surfacing. Attendees rotated through sessions covering CoreTBA, Alpha & Omega CoreTBA, ClearXM, SurfXM,4DTRACE, industrial edging, Smart Facets and EasyBuddy, alongside a tour of the new facility.
The next question: why start with so much material?
MEI introduced its Waste Reduction Program (WRP) around a simple premise: if block-less technology provides greater freedom in how a semi-finished blank is processed, could laboratories start from a thinner, more optimized blank and avoid removing material that never needs to be there in the first place?
The concept shifts sustainability from an environmental discussion alone toward manufacturing economics.
MEI’s illustrative analysis shows potential reductions of up to 50% in logistics costs, up to 70% in exhausted material and up to 10% in roughing time, together with up to 25% improvement in tool life. MEI explicitly notes that these figures are directional and job-mix dependent, with results influenced by blank geometry, prescription mix, material, process settings and logistics configuration.
The underlying message was perhaps even more important than the percentages: sustainability becomes significantly easier to justify when reducing waste also reduces manufacturing costs.
MEI WRP BLANKS – Mei System
An industry conversation, not just an MEI presentation
External speakers broadened the discussion beyond MEI’s own technology portfolio.
The Vision Council contributed a market overview and industry growth scenarios, together with a session from its ESSAC Committee focused on sustainability perspectives.
IOT also joined the program with a presentation titled “IOT in Action: Innovations, Solutions, and the Road Ahead.” Discussions ahead of the event emphasized a technical perspective and the importance of validated lens-design development and testing.
This added another dimension to the CoreTBA conversation: the question is not solely whether a lens can be manufactured differently, but whether a new manufacturing approach can maintain the optical quality expected from sophisticated lens designs.
Finally, Coburn Technologies addressed “Spin-Coating Solutions & Complementarity with Blockless Surfacing,” bringing the discussion downstream from surfacing toward a potentially broader production architecture.
From individual machines to a different lab architecture
More than introducing new machines, MEI Tech Days 2026 explored a different vision of productivity: removing unnecessary steps, material, and complexity from the surfacing process. Block-less technology is the foundation of that vision.
For more info: https://meisystem.com/
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