Dental Lab Products - December 2008 - (Page 24) PURCHASINGTRENDS tack and sent a letter to its customer base recently, offering guidance through the troubled economic situation. e goal of the communication was simple: Help struggling laboratory owners weather the economic storm and help their businesses thrive. “We stand ready to help our customers,” said Acquafredda. “If they’re going through tough times, the only thing they have to do is call our credit department, and we will work together with them to develop a become more successful.” Dental Supplies Unlimited (www.dsudental.com), a regional distributor based in Boca Raton, Fla., that specializes in consumable and small equipment, also follows a hands-on, in-person approach to providing nancial assistance for its regular customer base of 500-plus laboratories through personal attention. “We go in and go through their supplies and their equipment and look at things that they’re not using, things that they ordered improperly,” said Owner Carol Inman. She said that by going through the lab’s inventory, Inman and the laboratory owner can determine together whether any supplies are unnecessary or unused to their full potential, such as overstocked denture tooth cards for removable laboratories and the porcelain used by crown-and-bridge laboratories. “It’s money that’s tied up for them and hurting their cash ow,” she said. Beyond talking with suppliers for Steady as she goes creative solution to assist them.” She added that the laboratory typically is the last entity in the dental production chain to get paid, which has a profoundly negative e ect on the lab’s liquidity. Harris advises lab owners and managers to keep up on their accounts receivable and to be cautious of new clients who target desperate laboratories. “A customer who does not pay within reasonable terms, may not be a customer at all.” Next year, Zahn plans to implement a 43.9% Source: November 2008 DLP Buyers Guide Survey. Nearly half of U.S. labs report no change in their purchases due to recent economic conditions. “THE DIGITAL HIGHWAY CAN BE A POWERFUL TOOL FOR ENHANCING PRODUCTIVITY AND EFFICIENCY DURING THESE TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES.” —RITA ACQUAFREDDA, ZAHN DENTAL LAB DIV. program in which they will work side-byside with laboratory owners to strengthen their ability to market their services to dentists and enhance the business side of their laboratory. “Our intent is to be the dental laboratory’s partner in formulating a program that assists them in operating successfully,” said Acquafredda. “Since each laboratory has its own unique needs, we will customize our program on a lab-by-lab basis. Together, we can develop a strategy to help them inventory management advice, laboratory owners should turn to other professional advisors for guidance in advancing their business, something that often is overlooked due to the high demands placed on schedules.” “My experience with smaller labs is they don’t have the time to think about any nancial planning,” said Bryen. “ ey don’t ey think the way dentists typically think. haven’t been trained that way.” He suggests that lab owners should take advantage of dentallabproducts 24 BUYERSGUIDE2009 http://www.dsudental.com http://www.dsudental.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.