LaserMelting system for my laboratory - is it worth it?
At the various trade fairs and exhibitions which we visited for you this year, one topic was always particularly present: the LaserMelting system for the dental laboratory. But is a LaserMelting system worthwhile for my laboratory? As is so often the case, the answer is a clear “maybe”!
In order to check whether the investment in a system for the additive manufacturing of dental frameworks made of cobalt-chrome (CoCr) or titanium is profitable for you, you must first ask yourself three questions:
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Can we fully utilize the system every day?
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Is the know-how available in my dental laboratory or do we have the capacity to build up the necessary know-how?
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Are our premises designed to install a LaserMelting system?
If you are considering investing in a LaserMelting system, you should answer all three questions with a clear "YES!", because that's the only way
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you get high quality results
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the investment pays off financially for you
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you can use the advantages of an in-house production for yourself
Compact design, short downtimes, efficiency – this is what manufacturers of LaserMelting systems are all about in attracting dental laboratories. But is short service life really what you need in your laboratory? Approx. 40 units (individual crowns or copings) can be manufactured per production process on a system with a production space of 100 x 100 x 100 mm3 (x, y, z).
Attention: Bridges reduce the space on the build plate due to their horseshoe shape.
Now recall one of the initial questions "Can we use the system to full capacity every day?". Profitability can only be achieved if the system runs every working day and is fully utilized every day. So you would have to produce around 200 units a week.
Even if some LaserMelting equipment manufacturers claim they can promise an efficiency even with just 20 units per production process, your lab would need to produce 100 units per week.
Fast production times due to the elimination of delivery routes
One of the advantages of having your own laser system is certainly the elimination of the delivery route and thus shorter manufacturing processes in your dental laboratory.
For this, however, it is necessary that the system is actually in daily use in order to directly produce the data sets that have just been constructed.
In order not to generate any loss-making business with a production process, do not even switch on the system on a day when there are perhaps just five units on the production plate. Your system is not profitable on this day and there is also a time delay, because you have a framework produced by CADdent, for example, on your laboratory workbench at the same time.
Supplier independence through in-house production
A further advantage of in-house production with your own LaserMelting system is the independence from suppliers. Whether force majeure at your production service provider or shipping service provider who suspect valuable dental gold in the package, these imponderables can be avoided by having your own system in your laboratory. You are solely responsible for delays in appointments and may already have the solution ready.
But again: how profitable is it to start the machine for, say, five units? Wouldn't it be better to sensitize the dentists to make longer appointments with the patients or, for example, to use the one-day service of your manufacturing service provider?
Building up know-how in LaserMelting
If you are concerned with the question of whether a LaserMelting system makes sense for your laboratory, then you have probably already answered a few questions for yourself. You probably already have a milling system in your laboratory, which is why you decided to invest in in-house production back then.
But then you also know how much effort it takes to familiarize yourself with a CAM system. From our point of view, the LaserMelting process is much more complex than working with a milling machine.
Parameter settings, ambient temperature, consumables, material, support structures and post-treatment just to name a few relevant points. Developing a LaserMelting process requires patience and perseverance.
From setting up the machines, overseeing the construction process, to tearing down and finishing the structures to get a quality work, the workflow needs to be taken care of from start to finish. You only have reliability if more than one employee masters the entire process. Do you have the capacity for this in your laboratory?
The right premises for your LaserMelting system
At this point we are now dealing with the third of our questions asked at the beginning. Do you have the right premises for production with a LaserMelting system.
Due to the layered construction of the structures, the objects in the installation space react very sensitively, for example with distortions, to changes in the environment. The LaserMelting system therefore requires a room with a constant ambient temperature.
In addition, the space required for a LaserMelting system and for the subsequent post-treatment is significantly higher than for a milling system.
CONCLUSIONS
We do not advise you per se against investing in a LaserMelting system, because we ourselves appreciate the advantages of in-house production and decided many years ago to have our own milling and LaserMelting systems. Therefore, we also know what risks this investment entails.
The precision with which our structures leave Augsburg as well as the process and back-up reliability are a product of years of research and development. We owe the development of a process for the production of digital partial dentures or LaserMelting Gold to our innovative minds, who have stuck behind these projects with a great deal of their own initiative.
If you opt for a LaserMelting system, we will of course continue to support you as a backup for your reliability.
Do you have any questions or would you like to discuss the purchase of a LaserMelting system at eye level? Give us a call! With us you speak from technician to technician.