SmileDirectClub’s New Retainer Manufacturing Technology to Improve Comfort, Efficiency
Robust automations designed to improve manufacturing productivity, while helping to maintain proper tooth alignment and healthy positioning.
SmileDirectClub, Inc., has announced the complete transition of its second-generation retainer manufacturing technology in the company’s FDA-registered Smile Labs based in Antioch, Tennessee.
The company’s upgraded retainer manufacturing lines feature the patented laser technology and automations that are leveraged to produce SmileDirectClub’s Comfort Sense™ aligners. The laser technology results in precision-cut retainers said to fit more comfortably while helping to maintain proper tooth alignment and healthy positioning, and the manufacturing automations continue to increase the company’s efficiency and productivity.
Thanks to this advanced technology, the Smile Labs can now produce twice as many aligners and retainers with approximately 1/3 of the manpower, effectively increasing productivity by 225 percent, according to SmileDirectClub.
“SmileDirectClub has made strategic investments in state-of-the-art manufacturing technology to elevate aligner and retainer product quality, improve efficiency and productivity, and invent superior next generation products,” says David Katzman, CEO and Chairman, SmileDirectClub. “Thanks to the numerous advancements and engineering feats within our Smile Labs, we have realized a massive increase in manufacturing productivity and efficiency while focusing on developing more comfortable and effective aligners and retainers.”
SmileDirectClub’s cutting-edge manufacturing technology is one competency within the company’s innovation portfolio, helping SmileDirectClub create more comfortable and effective aligners. Over the past year, the company has utilized a team of experts including Ph.D. materials scientists and engineers to research force application and alternative aligner materials and manufacturing technologies.
Since launching in the U.S. in 2014, SmileDirectClub has become one of the fastest-growing health technology companies, enabling care to more than 1.8 million customers around the world while providing big savings over the cost of traditional braces.
