Shamir Optical Industry

Overview

Shamir Optical Industry Ltd

native name	שמיר תעשיית אופטיקה בע"מ
native name lang	he
type	Jointly owned private company
traded as	(until 2011)
industry	Optics
founded	1972, at Kibbutz Shamir, Israel
hq location	Kibbutz Shamir, Israel
hq location country	Israel
num locations	18 Optical Labs and companies
num locations year	2020
area served	Worldwide
services	Development, production and marketing of progressive optical lenses
owner	Essilor
num employees	2,200 employees work in Israel and abroad in 23 subsidiaries - 19 of which are production sites‡R1R‡
num employees year	2021
parent	Essilor
website	https://shamir.com

Shamir Optical Industry Ltd. is an international company headquartered in Kibbutz Shamir, Israel that develops and manufactures optical lenses for eyeglasses.[2] In 2005, the company issued dual listings, on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, becoming the first kibbutz company to be listed on NASDAQ.[3]

History

The Shamir optics factory was established in Kibbutz Shamir in 1972 to meet the need of kibbutz members for non-agricultural work.[4] To this end, the kibbutz signed an agreement with the American company "KMS Industries" (owned by Kip Siegel), to establish a bi-focal lens factory in Israel, with production intended entirely for export.[5][6]