For this edition, Spotlight places its focus onto the brand new Lab SBU.

Dentsply Sirona has a new Strategic Business Unit called “Lab” which came into operation on February 1st of this year. Headed by Tom Leonardi, Group Vice President Dentsply Sirona Global Lab, the team includes nearly 1,500 employees working around the world. The new SBU combines the former Prosthetics SBU material business with CAD/CAM’s inLab equipment and technology business. Merging these businesses is already enhancing collaboration by combining the best processes to better serve customers, and therefore laying a solid foundation for future growth. It provides a competitive advantage that no competitor can match thanks to the depth of expertise, the existing product portfolio and the potential reach the new SBU has to its customers. The new SBU also enables a stronger marketing communication and CE program around lab topics. The customer benefits by having a one-stop-shop with products and services focused on improving the laboratory workflow.

Connecting with customers and KOLs

The Lab SBU had a strong presence at the Dental Technicians Congress in Frankfurt, Germany working alongside the Implants SBU. Over 600 participants experienced the new SBU’s complete and coherent approach to supporting labs through both conventional and digital workflows. Participants had the chance to learn about state-of-the-art zirconium oxide technology offered by Dentsply Sirona such as the highly translucent Cercon ht and extra translucent Cercon xt as well as zirconia-reinforced lithium silicate products from the Celtra line with their unique aesthetics. The Congress also gave the Company an opportunity to show off the latest update for its inLab Software 18.0, which offers laboratories even more applications and efficiency in manufacturing processes. The Congress was a clear statement of the Company’s passion for dental technicians and labs and planning is already underway for the next one in 2020.

Furthermore, the SBU recently held a training event in Hong Kong between April 23 and 28. The agenda included internal training sessions for 30 Product Specialists from 12 countries, as well as KOLs from six countries in the APAC region. Training focused on closer collaboration between Product Specialists in Technology & Equipment and Prosthetics. It was organized in cooperation of Lutz Ketelaar from Prosthetics and Christoph Hemetsberger from CADCAM. There were a number of train-the-trainer sessions including on the new inLab Software 18.0, materials such as Celtra and Cercon, an analysis of the workflow in a digital lab in the field of implants, and a competition analysis. KOLs received hands-on training in the new inLab software and met employees at a joint dinner to strengthen their connections. Lecturers from the UK and Australia complemented the agenda of a basic trainings on Prosthetics and inLab Equipment.

How will the new SBU affect employees?

For the majority of employees who worked under either of the former business units, the reorganization into one SBU only affects reporting lines. Business unit locations in York, Bensheim and Hanau, as well as other manufacturing sites such as Las Piedras, PR, US (Ceramco) and Pirassununga, Brazil (VIPI) remain unchanged. Responsibility for equipment and digital technology R&D and manufacturing stays within the CAD/CAM SBU. The new Lab and CAD/CAM teams still work closely together on developing new digital lab equipment and technology to meet the needs of the market.

The new SBU provides an improved approach to connect to global lab business customers in order to develop better, safer and faster solutions, which will truly add value for this important segment of the dental industry, and ultimately benefit the patient.

Premiere: DS Lab Summit at the new Dentsply Sirona Academy in Charlotte

The DS Lab Summit was the first event at the brand new and outstanding Dentsply Sirona Academy Charlotte from May 4–5, 2018.
Nearly 300 dental technicians and dentists took part in 36 breakout sessions with three keynote speakers.

Guests could choose from four main educational tracks: CAD/CAM & DI, Ceramics, Removables, and Implants. Dental technicians and dentists shared their experience with their peers to educate them on how to create successful workflows and aesthetic cases. Education around the digital workflow was also powerful, as the participants purchased: 13x inLab MC X5, 3x inLab MC XL, 9x inEos X5,  5x inFire and 11x Omnicam Connect DI units – in total around $1.3 Million.

Respect and congratulations goes out to the DS Lab Summit Team for this excellent premiere.

Communication Channels

The new business unit has a variety of communication channels to keep employees up-to-date internally such as its Yammer blog “DS Lab” sharing news and stories about the Lab SBU, its successes and the growth of the business. To reach customers through social media, the SBU maintains its own Facebook page and its official blog, which is going to be launched in the summer.