The Journey
Inside Dental Technology delivers updates on digital workflows, materials, lab techniques, and innovation in dental technology through expert articles and videos.
July 1, 2015
Volume 6, Issue 7, July 2015
Page(s): p. 4
Who would have conceived a little over a decade ago that automated machinery that replicated the highly detailed work of skilled technicians and outpaced the production output of several employees in a single day would be commonplace? Or that once highly valued positions and departments would be completely eliminated because mechanization has replaced those manual labor skills? Digital technologies have ushered in an era of amazing progress but have brought with them extraordinary new challenges, new opportunities, and sometimes-unpleasant side effects. That should come as no surprise. History is littered with the dichotomies of the positive and negative results of progress.
Or do you become an early adopter, experimenting with any new technology introduced to the market that seems to make sense for your business model? On the positive side, this adaptive strategy keeps your business at the forefront of market changes and keeps you knowledgeable about what works and doesn’t work. On the downside, being on the forefront requires considerable financial investment and the strong possibility that some of those large capital investments will either become obsolete within a short time or no longer fit the sudden shifts in the market.
Perhaps you structure your business in such a way that your strategy can be fluid, allowing you to react and reinvent to a changing market and move quickly to take advantage of strategic opportunities as circumstances dictate. If well-executed, the upside of this strategy is that you are always in a position to adjust your business to the market. The downside is maintaining the ability and vigilance to stay ahead of that curve.
For the majority in this industry who now augment production with digitally automated processes, the path dental technology has been set upon offers no fork in the road nor is there a foreseeable end. It is a journey that will continue to unfold as the market shifts, matures, and shifts again and as technology becomes an increasingly important factor in servicing a growing patient population. There may be twists and turns along the way and dead-end side trails to be avoided. But for those who persevere and are able to successfully negotiate the passage, the journey will become easier the further down the road you go. The only certainty in this odyssey is that sitting still is not an option.
Pam Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
pjohnson@aegiscomm.com
