Shamir Optical Industry brought management, employees and business partners from around the world to its corporate headquarters at Kibbutz Shamir in Israel to mark its 50th anniversary. NZ country manager Glenn Bolton took time out to tell us all about it.
I was excited to attend the 50th anniversary of Shamir and see for myself where it all began. First stop, however, was closer to home, Brisbane, to meet up with my Australian counterpart Danny Messenger and check out Shamir’s Australian laboratory and new Metaform machine. This new nano-structure lens-manufacturing technology rapidly fuses a multi-feature overlay, combining a coating structure with an optical film to any lens in an eco-friendly process. It was designed to create thinner, lighter lenses that are more durable, without the risk of peeling or breakage.
Impressed by the company’s latest technology, Danny and I then flew to Israel, where we met up with other country managers in Tel Aviv, before being given a tour of some of the historical sites and significant archaeological finds in the Golan Heights area, overlooking the Sea of Galilee. It certainly made you realise how ‘young’ Aotearoa really is. Then it was on to Shamir Kibbutz itself.
Seeing where Shamir began and how it had grown to the high-tech international lens company it is today, was truly enlightening. Shamir Kibbutz is its own town and community, located on the western slopes of the Golan Heights in Upper Galilee with a population of about 1000 people. From 2006, Shamir has been one of the most prosperous kibbutzim in Israel, producing honey and toiletries, as well as the advanced optical products it is known for. The kibbutz also earns money from tourism, offering views of Mount Hermon to the north and the Hula Valley to the west.
