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How does Gerber enable mass customization?
There's a saying: "Anything that can be digitized, can be customized." In Gerber's case, this is certainly true. Through its four subsidiaries - Gerber Scientific Products, Gerber Technology, Gerber Coburn and Spandex PLC - and newly formed Gerber Innovations division, Gerber Scientific provides total systems solutions that drive mass customization concepts in each of our three core industries: ophthalmic lens processing, apparel and flexible materials, sign making and specialty graphics; and our newest initiative, packaging. The process begins with the customer's choice or needs.
OPTICAL LENS PROCESSING --
 When applied to optical lens processing, this choice involves the desired frame, the lens and finally, the prescription. Gerber's systems enable the necessary lens processing to take place... everything from tracing, blocking and prescription generation to edging. The end
result is a pair
 of
custom-made glasses. In 1998 alone, more than 70 million pairs of eyeglasses
were processed using Gerber Coburn systems. And considering the various
prescription and frame combinations available, few, if any, were the same.
APPAREL AND FLEXIBLE MATERIALS --
 The process is the same in Gerber's apparel and flexible materials business: everything begins with a specific customer's need or desire for choice. Our systems enable the manufacturer to produce exactly what the customer wants in a
timely, cost efficient way. Automotive giants like Daimler Chrysler or BMW can customize the interior of cars, courtesy of Gerber. Furniture stores can deliver an extraordinary choice of fabrics and leathers, thanks to Gerber's technologies. And those same technologies allow upscale retail clothiers such as Brooks Brothers and Neiman Marcus to provide men and women with a perfect fit every time.
SIGN MAKING AND SPECIALTY GRAPHICS --
 In the sign making and specialty graphics arena, the process again begins with the customer. Gerber's systems - which include GRAPHIX ADVANTAGE® design software, a wide variety of high-performance
 cutting and imaging
hardware, and consumables such as vinyl substrates and thermal transfer printing cartridges - produce customized output to suit individual needs: colorful, outdoor-durable graphics in lot sizes ranging from one to several.
PACKAGING (FOLDED AND CORRUGATED CARTONS) --
Choice is also the driving force within the packaging industry. Our unique die tool production system is revolutionizing this industry, providing a highly accurate, versatile and affordable solution to the challenges associated with creasing and cutting cardboard boxes. Container manufacturers now have access to a quick, reliable means of die tool production for the box configuration of their choice.
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