How To Increase The Productivity Of Your Orthodontic Lab

Do you run an orthodontic lab? Are you worried about its productivity levels in the recent past? You’re in the right place. Productivity is important to any business. It increases your daily output, translating to more sales and returns, which are part of businesses’ bottom lines.

How can you achieve productivity in your orthodontic lab? Here’s a guide to assist you with the following:

• Automation
• Goal setting
• Workplace culture
• Apps and systems

Automate Your Operations

As an orthodontist, you probably make and repair dental solutions for the majority of your time. Arriving at the final product is often tedious, especially if you do it manually. You have to design a solution tailored to every client and mold it with perfection in mind. A slight deviation will make the product unsuitable for your client, taking you back to square one. In general, it takes much time, reducing productivity.

3D Printer

One solution to this is automating operations. You can adopt tools like an orthodontics 3d printer for automation. The printer will manufacture the desired product without deviating from the specifications. It’ll also do this quickly, allowing you to accommodate many orders in a day. The result is productivity and enhanced customer satisfaction.

Set Goals

Goal setting is an aspect recommended by most gurus in different industries. It’s one you should also adopt for your orthodontic lab. The goal setting should relate to your workers since the focus is productivity.

Here, set goals for each worker; weekly goals are better than monthly ones. Your workers will know what to do and what’s expected of them by the end of the week. Therefore, they won’t be idle at work, which reduces company productivity.

As you do this, ensure the goals are realistic. You don’t want to stress your workers. Too much stress might lead to low-quality work that leads to many reworks. Reworks consume time, reducing productivity.

Create A Conducive Work Environment

Your workers’ well-being greatly determines the productivity of your lab. Stressed workers have minimal focus on the work at hand. There’s a likelihood of them spending too much time on a task, reducing productivity. For productivity, your workers should be at their best emotionally, mentally, and physically.

You can improve focus in your workplace by creating a conducive environment. A conducive environment emanates the right energy in your lab, making your workers enthusiastic as they work. You can achieve this environment by working on your lab’s lighting. Bring in as much natural lighting as possible, maybe through large windows. It’s said that proper lighting brings about positive emotions, which motivate your workers.

Besides working on the physical aspect of your lab, you can also create a conducive environment by reducing the stress of your workers as they work. Consider having a good company culture characterized by teamwork and positive feedback mechanisms. Practicing open communication also contributes to their well-being.

With such systems, your team will better address their issues, eliminating stress. Without stress, they’ll put all their energy into the responsibilities you’ve given them. It increases productivity.

Have Flexible Working Schedules

Your workers have different personalities, which often depict their most productive times. Some are more productive in the morning, others at night, and others in the afternoon.

As a business owner, you can improve staff productivity in a way that motivates workers. You can develop flexible working schedules where everyone can work when they’re at their best. It increases overall business productivity.

However, you must be careful with such a system. It’d help assign weekly tasks for each worker, set submission deadlines, and have minimum daily working hours. Even as you accommodate them, you want to get the value of the money you pay them as wages.

Invest In The Right Tools

One of the causes of unproductivity is when your workers use the wrong tools for their job. Some tools might be too slow, while others might be the wrong solutions for your business needs. Therefore, investing in the right tools for your orthodontic lab is important.

The first tools you need are for communication. Proper communication eliminates conflict due to misinformation or the wrong flow of communication. Resolving conflicts takes a lot of time, reducing productivity. Be sure to have separate formal and informal communication tools.

Productivity tools

It’s also best to invest in productivity tools. These will help eliminate distractions as workers fulfill their responsibilities.

There are many types of productivity tools you can adopt, however ensure you have one that includes:

• Time trackers
• Task schedulers with reminders
• Follow-ups

If your workers often miss deadlines, a productivity tool with task scheduling and reminder features will save the day.  Plus, you’re operating a business. Therefore, you’ll also need to do marketing.  To get it done with the least hassle, choose a software platform with marketing features like email templates, delivery, and mobile messaging.

Besides communication and productivity tools, you should also get tools related to your industry. These tools will make work easier for your team. They’ll execute their tasks with ease. As you do this, ensure they’re the latest in the industry for efficiency.

Outdated tools might make work challenging. Some might lag, increasing the work execution period and reducing productivity. Also, be sure to practice regular maintenance on these tools. They should always be in optimum condition. It’s the only way they’ll increase your lab’s productivity.

Organize Your Orthodontic Lab

You use various tools and raw materials to meet the needs of your patients. How you store these items greatly determines your workers’ productivity. It’s said that clutter disorients the mind since there’s so much to focus on. You’ll find it challenging to concentrate on the task at hand.

Therefore, it’s important to eliminate clutter in your lab. Start by discarding any items you don’t use, including outdated machinery. Arrange what’s left, preferably depending on use. Be sure to group those that perform similar roles together. Doing so minimizes your workers’ time to find the items they need to produce crowns or braces.

Ultimately, an organized lab eliminates distractions and reduces time wastage when finding tools, increasing productivity.

Conclusion

The discussion above has pinpointed the benefits of productivity in the workplace.

Achieving productivity in your orthodontic lab might have seemed impossible, but it’s no longer the case, thanks to this article. It has guided you toward improving productivity in your lab.

Therefore, consider implementing these tips for higher productivity and operational efficiency, improving your bottom line.