WaveRFID Founder Darla Shewmaker Highlights Inventory Management Gaps in Optical Practices

Darla Shewmaker, founder of WaveRFID and former Vice President of Product Development at an eyecare electronic health record company, discusses the financial impact of unmanaged inventory in optical practices. Drawing on decades of industry experience, she notes that a typical single location holding 750 to 1,200 frames carries $80,000 to $150,000 in inventory value. Shewmaker identifies significant discrepancies between perceived and actual retail price points, citing examples where practices believe 30–40% of their stock is high-end ($500+), while sales data reveals only 10% meets that threshold. She argues that this misalignment causes capital to sit idle rather than driving growth. The interview emphasizes that implementing proper inventory systems requires staff buy-in and a shift from traditional paper-based methods to data-driven management to improve profitability.