MILAN—Luxottica Group (NYSE: LUX) is using synergies from its November 2007 acquisition of Oakley to bring more of its sunwear lens production under its own umbrella, Andrea Guerra, Luxottica’s chief executive officer, revealed last week.

During a conference call with financial analysts, Guerra said that although Essilor remains its primary lens supplier, Luxottica is currently finalizing a new strategy to manufacture its own polarized lenses. At the same time, Oakley is now “in-sourcing” some sun lenses it had previously purchased from outside suppliers.

“We now manufacture almost 90 percent of our plano sun lenses, while in 2008 we bought about 30 percent of our needs,” Guerra said.

Meanwhile, last week Luxottica Optical Manufacturing announced plans to consolidate two lens manufacturing labs in Knoxville, Ky., effective April 4, with a resulting loss of 76 positions.

“The decision to consolidate the two facilities was based on careful evaluation of how to best serve customers while maximizing resources across the organization,” a Luxottica announcement said. “The company will provide support programs to help affected associates through this transition.”