Individually manufactured soft and rigid gas-permeable contact lenses as well as scleral lenses from the Appenzell region.
Appenzeller Kontaktlinsen AG
Speicher (Headquarters) · Lindau · Höchst · ParisNew on Amplifa
About Appenzeller Kontaktlinsen
Appenzeller Kontaktlinsen AG is a Swiss manufacturer of individually made contact lenses headquartered in Speicher in the Appenzell region. Founded in 2010, the company produces soft contact lenses made of hydrogel and silicone hydrogel as well as rigid gas-permeable lenses made of oxygen-permeable plastics, including scleral lenses, orthokeratology lenses, keratoconus lenses and myopia management designs. Production is fully automated using lathe-cutting processes whose machine settings operate at the nanometre scale; for freeform scleral lenses, the eye is digitally measured with over 160'000 to up to 500'000 parameters. All processing steps from manufacture to quality control take place at the Speicher site (Swiss made), supported by cooperation with globally active material suppliers. Through branches in Germany, Austria and France, the company supplies opticians and ophthalmologists worldwide with more than 30 employees, and also manufactures lenses for third parties (OEM).
- Site
- CH-9042 Speicher
- Processes
- Custom-made soft contact lenses (daily lenses, Spheric/Toric/Multifocal), Custom-made soft monthly lenses (Spheric/Toric/Multifocal), Soft 3-month contact lenses (i-SOFT), Soft six-month and yearly contact lenses (Personnelle), Manufacture of rigid gas-permeable contact lenses by lathe-cutting process (nano-precise, fully, Scleral lenses (i-MATRIX, mini-scleral lenses), Freeform scleral lenses i-Shape (Scan based Freeform Technology, production to individual, Impression based freeform scleral lens i-Form
- Materials
- Hydrogel, Silicone hydrogel (SiHy), HEMA hydrogel (historical context, invented 1959), Rigid, oxygen-permeable plastic (RGP), Wax plastic (i-INSERT handling aid), Silicone Hydrogel, Rigid, oxygen-permeable plastic, Wax plastic (i-INSERT)
- Certificates
- CE conformity marking (CE0483, notified body), CE conformity (CE0483)
- Founded
- 2010
- Employees
- over 30 (as of 2020)
- Industries
- Optics, Optometry, Ophthalmology / Eye medicine, Contact lens manufacturing
- 01
Optometric measurement (e.g. Scansys TA517 Pro)
- 02
Lens design & engineering
- 03
Manufacturing (lathe-cutting process, fully automated)
- 04
Quality control in Speicher
- 05
Professional service, fitting consultation & distribution via opticians and
Materials & Processes
Hydrogel
Soft material for daily, monthly and multi-monthly lenses with a consistently thin edge across all powers.
Silicone Hydrogel
Oxygen-permeable soft material for daily and monthly lenses with high oxygen transmission.
Rigid, oxygen-permeable plastic
Material for rigid gas-permeable lenses, scleral lenses and ortho-K lenses, manufactured with nano-precise lathe-cutting technology.
Wax plastic (i-INSERT)
Rigid, durable material for the i-INSERT handling aid for scleral lenses.
Sites
Speicher
CHHeadquarters with research, development and production
- Lot size
- Custom one-off production to measure
- Materials
- Hydrogel, silicone hydrogel, rigid plastic
- Lathe-cutting machines with nanometre-scale settings
- Scansys TA517 Pro (Scheimpflug camera, 18 mm one-shot scan)
- Biometer AL550 Myopia
Lindau
DEBranch office Germany
Höchst
ATBranch office Austria (P.O. Box 29)
Paris
FRBranch office France
Products
Inside the production
Industries
Processes & technical limits
| Processes | Tolerance | Max. part | Weight | Lot size | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Custom-made soft contact lenses (daily lenses, Spheric/Toric/Multifocal)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Hydrogel, Silicone hydrogel (SiHy) |
| Custom-made soft monthly lenses (Spheric/Toric/Multifocal)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Hydrogel, Silicone hydrogel (SiHy) |
| Soft 3-month contact lenses (i-SOFT)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Hydrogel |
| Soft six-month and yearly contact lenses (Personnelle)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Hydrogel |
| Manufacture of rigid gas-permeable contact lenses by lathe-cutting process (nano-precise, fullyPlastic | Nanometre range (machine settings) | – | – | – | Rigid plastic (RGP) |
| Scleral lenses (i-MATRIX, mini-scleral lenses)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Rigid plastic (RGP) |
| Freeform scleral lenses i-Shape (Scan based Freeform Technology, production to individualPlastic | – | – | – | – | Oxygen-permeable rigid plastic |
| Impression based freeform scleral lens i-FormPlastic | – | – | – | – | – |
| Orthokeratology lenses (i-NIGHT, ortho-K)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Rigid gas-permeable plastic (RGP) |
| Keratoconus contact lenses (Personnelle-KK soft, Excellent-KK)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Hydrogel, Rigid plastic (RGP) |
| Myopia management lenses (proASSIST, soft and rigid)Plastic | – | – | – | – | Hydrogel, Rigid plastic (RGP) |
| Research, development and production of individual contact lenses (Swiss made, Speicher AR)Engineering | – | – | – | – | – |
5 Anlagen & Maschinen
| Machine | Manufacturer / model | Quantity | Working area | Year built | Site |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheimpflug camera / 3D anterior segment analyzer (corneo-scleral measurement, 18 mm one-shot scan) | Mediworks Scansys TA517 Pro | – | – | – | Speicher AR (sales/offer within the i-Shape freeform technology) |
| Biometer | AL550 Myopia (without IOL calculator) | – | – | – | Speicher AR (sales offer) |
| All-in-one PC system | Dell OptiPlex All in One 35W (Win 11 Pro) | – | – | – | Sales offer |
| Instrument table (asymmetric, tabletop 990 x 420 (510) mm) | WG OT-R1 | – | Tabletop 990 x 420 (510) mm | – | Sales offer |
| System table for two to three devices | WG ST-1000 | – | Tabletop 1440 x 620 mm | – | Sales offer |
Additional services
Reference customers
Quality
Manufacturing and quality control take place entirely in Speicher (Swiss made); managing director M'hamed Bouhlal additionally heads quality management. All lenses carry a serial and batch number for traceability and the CE conformity marking (CE0483).
| Evidence | Speicher |
|---|---|
| CE conformity (CE0483) |
History
- 2010
Company founded under the name 'Lens4me' in the Appenzell region
- 2011
First contact lens: Excellent-KK / multifocal lenses; development of i-MAP AS
- 2012
Introduction of the i-MATRIX scleral lens
- 2013
Introduction of the soft keratoconus lens Personnelle-KK; new name and identity under 'Appenzeller Kontaktlinsen'
- 2016
Introduction of the i-NIGHT orthokeratology contact lenses
- 2017
Introduction of Personnelle Multi CD/CD, i-MAP AS Multi CD/CN and Personnelle SMART; Silmo d'Or for i-MATRIX Multi
- 2018
Development of the proASSIST myopia management designs
- 2020
Introduction of the i-SOFT 3-month lenses; 10 years of the company with over 30 employees
- 2021
Development of the i-Learn training programme
- 2023
Introduction of the i-Shape scleral lens (Scan-based Freeform Technology)
- 2026
Introduction of the i-Form scleral lens (Impression-based Freeform Technology)