Organizing, locating, and ordering many small implant components, precious metals, and other dental parts can be quite a task. On top of that, some of these costly parts can be misplaced in a busy dental lab. At ROE Dental Laboratory in Independence, Ohio, the staff is always busy with large dentistry cases and implant work, so much so that BJ Kowalski, president of ROE Dental Laboratory, knew they needed a better way to track their vast inventory.
“Because we do a lot of implant work, we have to carry a large inventory of parts,” says Kowalski, whose lab turns over more than $1 million in parts each year. “It became very important, considering these high-priced parts, to make sure we billed our clients properly—to make sure we charge the right price
and are not overcharging or undercharging. It’s also super important to us that we provide our clients with lot number traceability of the parts that go into a case, as well as all contact material the patient [encounters].”
The laboratory turned to Zimbis to help with its inventory management, and Kowalski couldn’t be happier. Zimbis provides a cloud-hosted, automated inventory management system integrated into Smart Inventory Cabinets, which are dispensing cabinets designed for the dental market. The systems improve clinical efficiency, inventory accuracy, and streamlines order management, ultimately improving profitability for dental providers. Zimbis has different-sized solutions to fit the needs of any lab.
Zimbis
Zimbis is a comprehensive solution for storing, dispensing, and managing implant components, precious metals, and other expensive supplies in your dental lab. Zimbis connects directly to your lab management software to ensure accurate FDA tracking for each prosthetic, and it automatically replenishes your supplies when stocks run low. Say goodbye to overnight shipping charges. With Zimbis, you won’t have to worry about double-checking invoices—every part that gets added to a case is accurately added to the bill.
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“Working with all the implant parts has always been a challenge to manage on a day-to-day basis. The Zimbis system allows us to basically put all that lot number information in at 1 time when we receive the parts,” he says. “That gives us the confidence to know that not only will the prices be right when we eventually bill the case, [but] the lot numbers will [also] follow that particular part and be accurate and communicated back to the client.”
No more rifling through drawers to try to find something for a particular case or having parts disappear or inventory run dry. The lab staff can research the parts in their system and determine whether it’s in stock and how it has been previously billed for certain cases, then the particular drawer and compartment opens to provide them with that part accurately and without a time-consuming search.
These inventory solutions were known as CUBEX prior to the launch of Zimbis, a division focused solely on solving the inventory management challenges of the dental market. ROE started with 2 Zimbis Tower systems and has worked their way up to using 6 systems.
Kowalski says in addition to saving time with the finding and ordering of parts in the lab, Zimbis also ensures parts don’t disappear. “We really restrict use of it. Only a few people [can] hand out data, [which] prevents people from saying, ‘I lost the screw in the pan.’ Or maybe you have only a few blocks locked down so these very expensive parts aren’t available to anyone,” he says. “They’re less likely to just disappear or fall out of a pocket.”
Kowalski has been using these systems for approximately 4 years, with ROE being one of the first labs to take advantage of the technology.
“On our balance sheet, I can see a difference that we’re maintaining our margin and relying on parts,” he says. “We’re being very consistent with making sure we don’t lose money. We were the first ones in the dental lab space to get this, and I’ve sent a lot of customers over their way because pretty much everybody calls me, and I tell them I’m a fan.”
Additional benefits include increased revenue due to accurate charge capture, decreased cost due to improved visibility in inventory and increased staff efficiency, and also peace of mind knowing that you will have the right inventory, at the right place, at the right time.
“It’s effective and keeps the expensive parts under lock to make sure we are giving our doctors the right lot numbers in case of [a] recall,” he says.
Another plus is that it integrates seamlessly with ROE’s lab management system, so once the lab bills a part, it automatically goes into the system. There is no need to perform double data entry, Kowalski adds.
