Outsourcing – This is how small dental laboratories increase their competitiveness
Outsourcing is common practice in the dental industry. Simply outsourcing the manufacture of dentures to dental laboratories counts as outsourcing.
Now it can make sense not only for those treating people, but also for dental laboratories to outsource parts of their production steps. An important driver for this is the ongoing digitization, which is multiplying the supply and demand for new technologies and materials. This fact increases the pressure to outsource tasks and processes that are not directly related to the core business of a dental laboratory.
Through outsourcing, even small laboratories have access to modern technologies without having to make large investments. All that is required is the purchase of a scanner and CAD software. And some manufacturing centers can also take over the steps that are carried out with it for their customers.
Outsourcing in manufacturing
For small businesses, progressive digitization, investment in new technologies and the development of know-how in their own dental laboratory are a challenge: in monetary terms, but also in terms of time. Acquiring and advising customers, at the same time staying informed about new materials and the latest technologies in the dental industry and constantly investing in new equipment. There is hardly any time left for the actual work: the production of high-quality dentures.
Dental production centers like CADdent invest a lot of time in research and development in order to be able to offer their customers the highest quality and most innovative materials and pass on their knowledge to dental laboratories in CAD/CAM training courses and workshops. In addition, these production centers take over steps of CAD/CAM-supported production for dental technicians who decide to outsource in this area for resource-saving reasons. This leaves more time for advising practitioners and patients as well as preparing and finalizing the dentures.
Due to demand bundling, the semi-finished dental products can be produced cost-effectively by manufacturing centers and offered cheaper than laboratories could produce them themselves. Thus, despite outsourcing, the added value remains in the dental laboratory.
Outsourcing administrative tasks
However, the outsourcing of production steps, such as the above-mentioned production of the dental framework for further processing in the dental laboratory, is not the only possibility of outsourcing for laboratories.
Administrative tasks such as invoicing and receivables management can also be outsourced. So-called factoring companies buy receivables and take care of the entire process from invoicing to receipt of payment or the dunning run. The fees that a factoring company charges for this depend, among other things, on the desired payment date of the factoring client.
Dental companies are also happy to outsource the implementation of regulatory requirements such as GDPR or the Medical Devices Regulation, since the internal development of know-how is too complex and expensive.
Risks of outsourcing in the dental industry
In addition to opportunities such as cost efficiency, time savings and know-how transfer, outsourcing also involves risks that every dental laboratory must weigh up for itself. When processes are outsourced, there is a dependency on the service provider in terms of quality and delivery time.
It is therefore necessary to implement control mechanisms in the daily processes in order to check whether the quality supplied meets the requirements and whether or how often delays in delivery occur. With a long-term, trusting cooperation between dental laboratory and manufacturing service provider, challenges that arise in the course of the cooperation can be addressed openly at any time and solved together.
Tip: When choosing your suppliers, don't just look at the price, but also at soft skills such as innovative ability, service, reliability, problem-solving ability and complaints culture. So nothing stands in the way of a long-term trusting cooperation.
CONCLUSION
In short, outsourcing offers dental laboratories the opportunity to compensate for the shortage of skilled workers caused by demographic change and to produce dentures more cost-effectively. Especially in times of digitization and globalization, in which practitioners and patients are no longer tied to one location, this is a prerequisite for remaining competitive.