It's time to start assessing your equipment needs for next year John Wilson: Hello, my friends. John Wilson here and. Hey, it's that time of year again. It's time to start assessing your equipment needs for next year and make some purchases on behalf of Uncle Sam. Well, I'm here to tell you that my friends here at Ivaclare have really sharpened their pencils and, are offering some of the best deals of the year on mills and furnaces. As an owner of several of these great pieces of technology, I can tell you firsthand that you won't be disappointed. We're talking about robust and dependable machines that make you more efficient. We certainly count on them daily here at sunrise. So do yourself a favor, make that call today. You'll be glad you did. Elvis: And of course, we appreciate Ivaclar for their continued support. Welcome to Voices from the Bench, a dental laboratory podcast. Send us an email@infovoicesfromthebench ah.com and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Barbara has her first cold in about three years Greetings and welcome to episode 350 46, Voices from the Bed. My name is Elvis. Barbara: My name is Barbara. Elvis: What's happening, Barb? How are you? Barbara: I have my first cold in about, I don't know, probably three years. Randy Berry: Elvis. Barbara: I haven't had a cold in forever, so I'm being a little pissy, not feeling 100%. Elvis: Does Florida even have a cold season? Does that happen down there? Barbara: Well, you know how labs are. As soon as one person gets it, then they're sneezing and everybody's touching the same pans and frickin it goes like crazy. But usually I'm, crazy about washing my hands, but this time it got me. Is that right? Elvis: It happens. Barbara: I was due. Elvis: Yeah, especially when everyone's so close quarters and labs, it's bound to spread. How's the weather up there? Uh, cold, yes, very cold Barbara: How's the weather up there? Elvis: cold, yes, very cold. I mean, we still get up to the 60s in the afternoon, but I'm waking up in the 40s still and I want 40. No, you don't. Randy Berry: Yes, I do. Barbara: 87 here. We still haven't barely got a cold front. It doesn't feel like the holidays, and it's almost the holiday, so I need a little cold weather. Elvis: Well, come on up. You can have it. I'll send some your way. Barbara came into the lab as a shipper and packer So I've talked in the past about how I came into the industry as a shipper and packer, right? Barbara: Yep. Elvis: So my role was to, you know, put everything in those little delivery sacks that we send out and box up everything through ups, and it was there that I started, but it wasn't long before I Moved into case scheduling. Did you ever do case entry, Barb? Barbara: No, But I did do, shipping and packing. That's where I started. Elvis: You did, I thought you were a delivery driver. Did you do both? Barbara: Well, yeah, but then you'd come back and you'd open up the cases and you'd put them in the pans, and then at night, you were the one that put them in the boxes and put the labels on them. Barbara: So. Barbara: Yeah, during the day pickup, during the night shift. Elvis: I had no idea. We started kind of in the same role. Barbara: I know. Barbara: Well, now you do. Barbara: Six years later. Elvis: I thought you just delivered and then that was your only job. But no, you did the whole unpacking and the caviside. Or did they do caviside? Barbara: Writing the impressions, marking the impressions. Elvis: Oh, yeah, Writing everything that came in M. yeah. I got really good with the packing tape gun, though. Barbara: I bet you did. Elvis: But there's one thing I learned, it's that case entry is not an easy rule. So basically, you have to have some knowledge of everything that happens in the lab. And the more products that your lab does, the more things there are to schedule. Barbara: True. Elvis: And let's not talk about the effing. Barbara: Phone calls that are always ringing when you're trying to do something else. I know. Elvis: Not only incoming, but get a case in, no return date. Gotta call. No shade, you gotta call. My favorite are the scripts that say call me. Oh, yeah, I love it. Like, what am I calling about? I have no idea. I really think the schedulers are the unsung heroes of the lab. Randy Berry and Jessica Wallen started Certain Teen consulting Well, this week Barb and I, we get to talk to two people that had the same headache causing issues in their lab and they decided to do something about it. Randy berry is a 40 year veteran of labs and actually ran some pretty big labs in his day. Recently he's had his own smaller lab in northern Indiana and had the same issues with scheduling and billing. He hired Jessica Wallen to stain in glaze. Now, one day Jessica said, there's got to be a better way to do this scheduling. That's when they started Certain Teen consulting. Barbara: I love that name. Great name. Elvis: Here they have a team of people who will enter your cases remotely and even bill them out. Now I'm guessing now you're asking, how can that even happen remotely? Well, I had the same question and we will find out as we chat with Randy Berry and Jessica Wallen. Voices from the bench. The interview. Barb and I are super excited today to talk to two people that are kind of doing something a little different in the industry and can't wait to dive into it. But we'd like to welcome Jessica Wallen and Randy Berry to the podcast. Hi Randy, Elvis, how are you doing? Doing fantastic How are you? Barbara: Hi guys. Jessica Wallen: Hi. Randy Berry: Hey. Doing well. How are you? Elvis: Doing fantastic. Are you guys both here in Indiana still? Jessica Wallen: Yes. Elvis: Awesome. You're in that area north of Indiana where you're more Michigan than Indiana. Jessica Wallen: But yeah, we're about, ten minutes from Michigan. We're northern Indiana. We're about an hour from Chicago. Elvis: Yeah. There you go. So let's see, Randy, I originally met you in a lab way up there when I was with Preet. Randy Berry: That's correct. Jessica Wallen: Wow. Barbara: How long ago was that, Elvis? Two years. Elvis: Three years ago? Yeah. Randy Berry: Three years ago. Barbara: God. Elvis: Yeah. I'll never forget going in there because you were doing dentures in a kind of unorthodox way. Randy Berry: Initially. We started doing the m. Microwavable dentures. Elvis: Yes. Randy Berry: Which is still one of, I think one of the best techniques that I have found. So it was just when Elvis, when you had come in, you know, it was just a small little operation. Elvis: Yeah. Randy Berry: Doing lots of work. Elvis: you guys were busy. Randy Berry: Full service. We have four people. We had four people at that time. We've obviously grown that now, and moved into a different building. so that's. And then we've actually worked. We're changing again. So. Elvis: Nice. Randy Berry: So there's a lot of things happening, you know, I just And as a lab owner, you know, it seems that we've all unfortunately we've all had to dive to the bottom as far as pricing, as far as crowns, you know, so just, just keeping the, keeping things changing. And you know, we have shifted our business now to more of a manufacturing side where I've purchased five SLM machines to do frameworks. And ah, yeah, so we so that's. Those are on the ocean as we speak. the building is being built. After 40 some years in the industry, I've made a decision to. I'd rather work for labs. And I think that we all know and so I think that you know, if I can help another, you know, lab that's starting out. I've been doing this for 40 years and it's you know, I've seen a lot of changes and I think we all have, especially with the digital world. And I think that the main options. There's only a few really good options in the US as far as frameworks. And to do them yourself is just, it's really not cost Effective anymore to sit down and wax them and cast them. And it's too expensive to just buy a printing 3D printer if you're only going to do a couple of frames, you know, a month. Elvis: Sure. Barbara: Which most labs do. Yeah, most labs only do a couple a month. Randy Berry: That's exactly right. Barbara: Yeah. Randy Berry: So, and so I think that the other option is everybody, you know, we're offshoring to China and everywhere else, so I just want to be another US based option for labs in the US. Jessica was never in the dental field before she met Randy Barbara: So how are you two affiliated with each other, you and Jessica? Randy Berry: Jess came to work for me three years ago as a, as a technician. Elvis: Yeah. Were you there when I was there, Jessica? Jessica Wallen: No, I was not. I actually was never in the dental field at all before I met Randy. Elvis: Oh, you got sucked in. Jessica Wallen: Yes. Yes, I did. You know, it's really kind of funny how he asked me to be a, in the lab as a technician because, well, as a ceramist, because of my makeup. The way I did my makeup and contoured my face. He said, oh, you'd be perfect in the lab. Barbara: Yeah, that's kind of genius. I've never before. Jessica Wallen: Yes. Elvis: We always heard about what nail salons, but never. Yeah. Randy Berry: And, I probably have found some of my best staining glazers at, ah, makeup counters, just because they understand shading and they understand blending. And so throughout the years, that's where, that's where I. It sounds weird. And some people, you know, would think, oh, that's creepy. But when you're looking for a specific thing, you know, when I, when I need somebody that has an eye for color. Yeah, then that's, that's where I had found, you know, when I ran Denmark out in California, you know, two of my best staining glazers was from a makeup counter. Barbara: Randy, that is astounding. I have never heard that. And it's super genius and totally makes sense to me. Jessica Wallen: Right, Right. Elvis: I can totally see you creeping around a mall looking for the next. Randy Berry: Yeah, I'm looking for the next one. Yes, yes. Not quite like that, but okay. Yes, we'll just go with it. Jessica Wallen: Yeah. Jessica, how did you get into dental lab work? Jessica: I loved it Barbara: So normally we start these out, you know, everybody knows our podcast and we kind of know ask our listeners, how did you get in the industry? So we'll flip back to Jessica. So you met her or saw her and, and asked her to come in and work for you? Randy Berry: Yes, yes, that. That's exactly right. She had, was in the market for a position and I said, hey, I think this would work out for you. If you want to give it a shot. She came in and I loved it and took it from there. So. Barbara: Yes. Elvis: What did you love about it? Jessica Wallen: Yeah, I loved, you know, when, because I, again, I had no idea was. Had never been in the field. It was my first position, the dental lab realm. Watching people smile and knowing that I tell everybody. Randy makes the teeth and I just make them look pretty, you know. And so it's really, for me, it was amazing to see how I've never seen this person's mouth and I can contour and shade a, tooth and it look, absolutely perfect, the patient's mouth without even being able to see the rest of their teeth. Barbara: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: You know what I mean? So for me, that was really. It's like, how do you do that? How can you do that without. How can you match a tooth so perfectly without seeing the rest of them? Barbara: So how long did it take you to get in there and get proficient. Jessica Wallen: And, think about a day or two. Elvis: Really? Jessica Wallen: Yes. Elvis: Is Randy that good of a teacher? Jessica Wallen: I had to remind him which settings to put the oven on. Elvis: Of course. Randy Berry: That's a true story. Elvis: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: So we wouldn't melt anything. Randy Berry: So she learned it in a day, and I'm still learning it after 40 years. Elvis: so you really picked it up that quick? Jessica Wallen: Yes, yes, I did. What staining glaze system were you using? We were using the upsera Elvis: What staining glaze system were you using? Randy Berry: We were using the upsera. Elvis: Okay, sure. Yeah. Good. Jessica Wallen: And I learned how to be more efficient. I prefer the spray glaze. Elvis: Interesting. I don't hear a lot about that. Talk about it a little bit. Jessica Wallen: Well, you know, instead of having to put your crowns in the oven twice, I would heat up a crown. I would just kind of put it underneath the oven to heat it up and then I would spray glaze. And when it would turn like this, like powdery white. Barbara: yep. Jessica Wallen: Yes. That's when I would know that it's completely full. Like, the spray is good, the glaze is good to go. And if it wasn't there, then obviously I would spray it a little bit more. But it allowed me to do more crowns at one time. Jessica Wallen: And instead of having to go back and fire again. Randy Berry: Okay. Jessica Wallen: I stained. Okay, pull it out. Now I'm regular glazing. And then I got to put it back in the oven. This completely eliminated an entire process in the oven. Having to fire it again. Barbara: So you do the color to make sure it matches the shade guide with the stain part of it. And then over that, you just spray right over it and then let it dry. Jessica Wallen: Yep. Once I stained and matched the colors, I would then put it into the oven just to kind of heat it. Oh, just heat it very little. And then I'd pull it out. And once that was heated, when I would use the spray glaze, it became. That's how I could tell if the glaze was on there properly and if there was enough because it would have that white powdery film over the top of it. And then it also allowed me to see where I didn't miss any or, if I missed. Barbara: So if it wasn't chalky in an area, you would grab it and just go fill that area in, spray it and call it a day. Jessica Wallen: Yep. Randy Berry: And like I said, we were. We're a small lab. You know, she does anywhere between 80 and 120 units a day. what? Easily, Easily. So that's. We're doing between. Well, right now we're probably doing a little less than that. But we were up to 150 units a day. And she was doing that in about a three or four hour period. So it really helped us. As a lab owner, every lab manager gets the cases that come in And so because she had some of the really good ideas, that's what led us into probably what we're going to talk about next, which is as a lab owner, Every lab owner, a lab manager gets the cases that come in and says, call me. Elvis: Yeah. Randy Berry: And then you call the doctor and he goes, hey, how are you? Good. did you get my case? Yep, got it. Okay, thanks. So you wasted your time, your effort. You know, every doctor wants to talk to somebody technical, or at least they think so. because they, they have all these questions, which is usually the same questions that they ask on every other case. Barbara: Yep. Randy Berry: And so which isn't a bad thing. But it. As a lab owner, I was noticed. I was spending so much time, you know, because they would set those cases to the side for me to make the phone call. And, you know, I'm setting up dentures, I'm processing dentures, I'm doing all the ceramics, we're running the mill. I mean, things are going crazy. I didn't have time to sit there and do that. So Jessica had this idea, far as. Jessica Wallen: I became technical rather quickly. Randy Berry: Yeah, yeah, exactly. And she had an idea that I thought was one of the best ideas I've ever heard. I never would have never crossed my mind. And we all do it. And to find somebody who's technical that can enter cases into the system, you know, we get our batch of UPS in. And as we all know, in 2024 today, the UPS system the FedEx system, the UPS system, is not like it used to be. It used to be clockwork. you knew when you were getting your cases every single day. And now with the flights being weird and things being off, it's a range of time that you get your cases. So you're paying. Elvis: I blame Amazon. Randy Berry: Yeah, it's everything. And I think we just did a consulting gig with a large lab in Peoria. We just finished that in July. We did it for almost two years. So we were doing a consulting gig there. And one of the hardest issues is you have all these people come into a mail room waiting for the cases. You're paying people to stand around and basically clean up and do nothing until the cases come in. Then they comes in and it's a mad rush. You know, they're opening up boxes, they're putting them in pans, they're disinfecting them. and then it goes to another car and then it starts setting for people to sit down and start putting these cases in the system to get them into the lab. Yep, it's every lab I've ever been in. It's the same system. And I would like to say I could take credit for this, but I have to give Jess credit. She had an idea of let's open them up. We have a top notch little camera. We slide the pan underneath it with all the contents. We take a photo of it with the pan number and everything and that pan gets moved in and we start doing remote order entry. So we have technical people all over the place doing our entry for us. So while we're working, the cases are being entered, they print the work tickets, we match up the pan to the. So all you need is one person to take pictures. That's it. Barbara: And everything's moving and everything is still moving. Randy Berry: Yes. Jessica Wallen: And your, cases are getting entered on time. I mean, you're Getting anywhere from 150 to 200 cases entered easily in a day. Before end of day, you know, things get down to the right departments rather quickly. So you're not just sitting there and waiting and waiting and waiting. I will say one of the issues we did find with, remote order entry was the person that is taking photos. The photos have to be. We have to be able to see everything. Randy Berry: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: they have to be a good, it has to be a good photo because obviously the remote entry person is not there to see everything in the pan. You know what I mean? So if you have to take a couple photos, that's great. The more the merrier because we can actually be correct in what we're doing by seeing those photos. You know, we can see, okay, this impression isn't good, or this model came in broken, you know, and we would then call the office and tell them, hey, we need a new impression, or your model came in broken. Can you send us a new model? Things of that nature, as opposed to. Randy Berry: Waiting two or three days. Every big lab or every lab sees it, because we all have to make switch Barbara: Explain to me this. Barbara: The. Barbara: I, know you're saying take a picture, but, but what kind of system are you using to take the pictures? And how do you get the pictures to the remote bookers? Jessica Wallen: So that is really based off of what the lab would prefer. So when we were in Peoria, we used their system and so we would log in, we would have our own usernames, we would log into their system and it would be submitted as a case. So they would take a photo with. It was like a Logitech desktop scanner, it's pretty high end scanner or a camera. And they would take the photos and then scan in the rxs. So we could read the rx's as well. But those were uploaded into either. If we had digital files, it was uploaded into like a, a digital file folder where we could go and pull the case to see those files. Or if it was a analog case, it would be submitted actually straight into the system as a submitted case. And we would see, okay, this is submitted, we would click on it, we would accept the case, and then from there is where we enter all the information. We would see all the photos because it's. Those would be uploaded directly into that, submitted case. Barbara: Okay, that makes a lot of sense. Randy Berry: And it usually takes around two minutes to get a case uploaded. What I ran into as a lab owner was I had some of the best people that I brought from Denmark, moved them from California to Indiana just because they were that good. The problem was I had a paying her to wait on cases to come in. Then they would come in. Instead of 9:00 or 8:00, they'd come in at 10:00. Well, she would start unboxing everything. And then everybody else would have to stop what they're doing to help to get everything unboxed. Then she would start entering. Well, then about 1:32 o'clock she has to stop because now we have to start billing out, you know. Jessica Wallen: Yeah. Randy Berry: So every lab does that same switch. Barbara: Oh yeah. Randy Berry: And so therefore no longer entering. So those cases that came in late don't get entered until at least the next day. So now you're a whole day later. So. And what happens is over a period of time, it starts to snowball on you. And that's what was happening. I mean, I would have cases that were setting for a day or two, and I thought this. Jessica Wallen: Not even entered. Randy Berry: Not even entered. And then. Barbara: Yeah, same here. And then the client would call and you have no effing idea where they are. Randy Berry: That's exactly right. Barbara: They're in a stack of pans somewhere. And that, you know, you're. Randy Berry: Then you're looking through pans. And that's when we, when we first got to Peoria, they were getting cases. They were, you know, several hundred cases a day. So this is a large scale lab. They were getting cases. The problem was they would sit on a cart once they run box sanitized before they got into this, they would sit on a cart for three to four days. Barbara: Yeah. Randy Berry: You know, on a seven day turnaround. Barbara: Yeah. Randy Berry: Now all of a sudden, in every big lab or every lab sees it, you know, because we all have to make that switch. We all got to bill out to make our money. So, you know, that's, to me, that's even more important than getting the cases in because I need to pay people. And so it's the struggle that I have found. No matter, whether we were a six man lab, a four man lab, or an 85 man lab, it's the same struggle. And so when Jess came up with this idea, we were able to throw through our consulting company. We have about six highly trained people that can, we can either make calls for you. That way you're not even dealing with any technical calls. All that's done, your case, once you receive the work ticket, it is in production. All the calls are made, the notes are made, everything's done. So with this system that Jess has created, and now that that consulting gig is over, we left there in July, they're still using our system the way it was intended. Barbara: Yeah. You got to explain this to me. So you've got a lab, you're starting to do, frameworks, and you have this consulting business for just this part of, the lab process. Randy Berry: That is. That is correct. Elvis: I think it's two separate things going on, right? Randy Berry: Yes, that is right. Yeah. Jessica Wallen: That is correct. Elvis: Yeah. Rush: So how do you get access to those systems? How do you pricing All right, well, okay, so first of all, thank you for giving me the PTSD from talking about case entry. That's how I started. Randy Berry: That's where you started, Right. Elvis: Yeah. And those, those days, I don't, I don't miss, but I totally get the. Wait, wait, wait, Rush, Rush, Rush, rush. Randy Berry: Yes. Elvis: But let's go through a scenario real quick. So Barb and I are in a lab, and we get 40 cases in that day, both UPS and local. All we have to do is send you a picture of what we got in and the rx. Jessica Wallen: Correct. Randy Berry: That's it. Elvis: Okay. And from that, you're able to enter it into our system even though we have crazy codes that make no sense to anybody? Jessica Wallen: Yes. That is a huge. That was one of the biggest headaches for myself, was creating these code books for certain systems. Elvis: We all have 16 different codes for 16 different letters. Jessica Wallen: Yeah, it does take time, and that is part of the process. It's, you know, a learning curve from the beginning. But once it's in place and I have the code books created, it is a piece of cake. Elvis: And then this picture, I mean, you mentioned more pictures, the better. But I'm relying on someone to send a picture of a triple tray or something. And if they have the opposing facing the camera, you never see the prep. Do you go back and ask for a better picture or how does that process? Jessica Wallen: Absolutely, yes. Elvis: Okay, so we send you that, you enter it into our system. So it doesn't matter if we have lab track, labstar, magic touch, whatever, Seasonal. Randy Berry: Yep. It doesn't matter. Jessica Wallen: It doesn't matter. Barbara: So how does that work, though? How do you get access? They just give you access to those systems? Jessica Wallen: Yes, that would be a contractual obligation that we would have with each lab themselves, and it would be binding. It's per lab, though, so it's however they feel comfortable. But we would have a contractual obligation to that lab stating, you know, we're not going to go steal your doctors, because again, this is more directed for labs. We are not looking for doctors. We are not going to take your doctors. That's not why we're here. We're here to help. Barbara: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: And solve the problems for the labs. And so if you have, say, for instance, you have somebody that enters your cases. Right. They call out sick, for example. Now you have nobody to enter your cases that day because that never happens. You know what I mean? Randy Berry: Right. Jessica Wallen: So you can call us and say, hey, I have somebody either a out today, or they're scheduled to be off for a week. We need you to hop on for a week. Barbara: Wow. Jessica Wallen: No issue. Barbara: That is so great. Jessica Wallen: As long as we have everything set up prior to that. I mean, obviously you can't call us and say, hey, I need you to enter cases today, because I wouldn't have no idea where to start. You Know what I mean? Elvis: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: It would have to be booked in advance. We would have to have you in our system to where we have a system with your lab, but you have somebody call out, no problem, we'll get your cases in for you. Randy Berry: Wow. Elvis: Okay. So you get the cases in, they're entered and you automatically call if there's any questions or if the script mentions that or how does that work? Jessica Wallen: That's kind of based. Now that's a, that's a lab preference base as well. So there's two ways we can enter your cases and we don't make calls at all. Or you have the technical aspect of it, where you want us to call your doctors if they say anything, or if it's missing a shade, you are giving us permission to call your doctors and we will do that for you. So there's kind of two ways to go about it. You either just want us to enter the cases and somebody will make the call, or we will make the calls for you. And that's kind of where the pricing is statured too. Elvis: Okay. Jessica Wallen: So if you want say the technical aspect, where we're calling your doctors, getting your shades, things of that nature, that is going to run a monthly volume based pricing for a technical fee. Jessica Wallen: Rather than a price per case fee. Elvis: I mean, just calling on shades and return dates would be like 80% of it. I mean, let's be honest. Randy Berry: And I think Elvis, you know, coming from that world, in today's world, order entry is no longer a minimum wage position. So you're paying people a lot of money. It hurts when they're not there and it hurts when they're gone. Because that's who you rely on. Because you can't just sit anybody behind the computer and say, and quite honestly, it's like set me behind the computer saying, here, Randy, order, enter cases. Yeah, I can, but it takes me, you know, every, they can do a case in about three minutes, which it takes me about 20 minutes. Yeah, you know, you got to look at. And that's from a lab owner standpoint. We were able to downsize that portion of the lab and I don't, I'm not proud of that. But it became more efficient. We were able to make more money. I could pay people more. And that's exactly what happened in Peoria. When we got there, they had six order entry people in house. What we did was able to spread that out through their system to where there was basically nobody in house. nobody. There was one person taking photos. Barbara: Wow. Randy Berry: So, so it went out throughout the. That network, which they have multiple labs. With remote entry, there's a lot of downtime in the lab So we were able to utilize some of those people as well, because we all know that when you have multiple sites, they're not always busy at the same time. So you have a lot of sitting around, which, I'm not, I'm not a fan of as a lab owner. So. And I think that that's what happens up in the front desk area is there's a lot of downtime. And I think that if they could be doing something else to move work along within the lab, I would much rather pay them to be processing dentures or staining glazing crowns or some. Or sandblasting or doing something else as opposed to entering in cases and making a call for a shade. Yeah, it just doesn't make sense. Barbara: I would agree. But on those calls, I've got a question. How have the doctors responded? Do they really care or not care if it's, you know, somebody, that they don't know, technical in the lab that they're talking to now? Have you had any issues with the, with that part of it, and if so, how did you work it out? Jessica Wallen: We really didn't have any of those types of issues as in regards to doctors. I mean, we'd have certain doctors, one of their cases, they would go to a certain lab and they're like, oh, well, why is the main lab calling us based off of this case? Our cases are supposed to be going to this lab. Well, that's correct, but we're just here to get your case moving and get them along. you know, whoever they wanted to speak to wasn't available or is not there. We just want to get your questions answered. That way we can move your case along and you can get it back on time. Barbara: So it probably makes them happier versus them not liking it. Jessica Wallen: Absolutely, yes. And, you know, we would say, for example, when I would call, you know, hi, this is Jessica calling from so and so Lab. It's not like I'm saying, oh, I'm calling from CertainTeed Consulting. You know, I'm calling as a representative from this lab. Elvis: Yeah, that was going to be my question because I would imagine if it came from an outside company, it'd be even weirder. Jessica Wallen: Right? Correct. Correct. Yes. Yes. Elvis: So what do you do with, let's be honest, 80% of the calls are met with. We'll get back to you. How does that work? Jessica Wallen: That's, that's when my email stays open and I flag my emails regarding which cases I still need to call back on, Because we did run into that a lot. That was one of our issues when we started remote entry was the technical aspect. These questions weren't getting answered right away. especially, like, for a shade. Right. So we have this shelf, this hold shelf. So now the problem of getting cases entered into the system was no longer an issue. The issue then became this hold shelf that had 50 cases on the shelf because they're all on hold waiting for calls or waiting for a shade bag. So then we would just, you know, we'd move the case into production. It would get into models. The models work would get done. We would keep the case going through production. And when it got to that point where, okay, we still don't have a shade, then we would call religiously over and over and over again. Are they sending you guys the scans and you're looking at the scans Barbara: So what about the labs that are mostly digital? Is there an element to what you're doing? Because you obviously can't take pictures. Are they sending you guys the scans and you're looking at the scans and doing a very similar process? Jessica Wallen: It's very much similar. It's the same process. We would review the scan to see if the scan's good. If it isn't, we would call and tell them, hey, we need you to rescan. There's some distortion or voice, anything of that nature. And then they would rescan. Now we're working on acquiring a software that automatically pulls. So say you have a scan that comes in through Itero. This software automatically pulls your digital case file from ITERO into a file folder for that day. So you're not going into your ITERO account, pulling these scans. It automatically pulls it for you into a folder. Barbara: Yeah. You know what, we do something similar like that here. So all of the scans that come in, they go into, like. I'm the cac, so they go into my particular folder instead of like all over the place where you've got thousands of scans. Jessica Wallen: Correct. Barbara: Makes a lot of sense. So you guys keep it compact like that. You know what scans come in from what, daily. Jessica Wallen: Yep. Randy Berry: And from what scan? Because there's so many different scanners now. You know, you have trios, you have all these different. You have Serona. I mean, you have all these different companies. You have to go back and check each time. So now that those are. Those are being pulled, automatic, automated, into the digital file. It keeps it. It keeps things from getting lost in cyber world. Barbara: Yeah, exactly. Elvis: But what are you doing now? Or are you logging in as the lab to look at the files or are they still Pulling them and then sending them to you. Jessica Wallen: Either way. Elvis: Okay. Randy Berry: It's whatever they feel comfortable with. A lot of the labs just give us their access. Elvis: Sure. Randy Berry: And so therefore they don't have, they just don't want to deal with it. Elvis: Remote entry reduces the number of calls to less than five and I want to go back and touch on the hold shelf because Elvis, we all being in the lab, we all know that there's no such thing as a hold shelf. Barbara: Yeah. Randy Berry: I remember being at Davis up in Grand Rapids when I first come back from California. They didn't have a whole shelf, they had a whole room. And I've never seen anything like it. It was for these, this is where my wheels start turning when I open my lab. I said, this is something I'm never going to have ever. Because that is just money setting. And we all know that once you pull a case off that whole shelf, doctors don't want to change that date. Even though it's been on that shelf for a week, they don't want to change the date. They still expect it on their, you know, their day. Elvis: Oh, sure. Randy Berry: And so that, that's one nice thing about doing the remote entry is all the calls are made the day the case comes in. All calls. So therefore, yeah, it might take them two more days to get the shade, but that case is still moving. And that, so we, we tried to minimize. We went from, you know, 50 or 60 cases a day on the hold shelf, average down to less than five. Yeah, it was around five. And then we would just, you know, you have to call them back and just tell them, just letting you know you're not going to get your case back. We need this information. And then, you know, of course, then things would happen. And I think that that's one of the things that we can bring to the table. Jessica Wallen: Just because remote entry has the time. Randy Berry: Yes. Jessica Wallen: You know, to be able to set aside. Because they're not in the lab. Yeah. Elvis: You're not shipping out too or anything. So. So a case comes in, it says, call me. Right, we talked about that. Very common. You call that day, doctor's busy, they'll call you back. Are they calling? I mean, you're, you're having them call you directly. Right. So it's a separate number from the lab. Jessica Wallen: Mm Elvis: And you still enter the case. Do you tell the lab, hey, this needs to be on hold until I get with you. I just don't understand how you connect the physical and the virtual case that you're calling about. Jessica Wallen: Well, it really depends on the situation. If we can get it going through the lab. Say, like, again, if it's a shade, for instance, this is like a. Elvis: No idea. Call me. Jessica Wallen: Right. We'll still get it into production and we'll start the case. Elvis: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: if it needs a model port, obviously the lab will get it going to the lab. but again. Or through the lab. But again. That's where the lab has to communicate with order entry. That's. That is a very important part. So being able to have access to the lab as a remote order entry person is very important because we have to be able to keep track of these. And I will say that when we were in Peoria, I think I knew where every case in the lab was. Not being in the lab more than a production manager. Randy Berry: Production manager. Jessica Wallen: Yeah, yeah, I know where it was at. If it was. If we had to send it out somewhere else, I could say, okay, this case is not even in our lab. We had to send it out somewhere else. Things of that nature. I mean, I knew where every case was. Barbara: But you also said you used your email a lot, that you were checking emails. So do you, like, send everybody that you're trying to get a hold of an email also? And that, you can check those. Yes. Jessica Wallen: Because some of those doctors, you know, they don't like to use the phone very much because they're busy. So I will send an email as well. That way when they sit down or I will text the doctor. Because a lot of times there are doctors that say, don't call me, text me. But, again, you get to know those doctors as you go. So when you're a remote entry person and you see, okay, this is this doctor. I'll just text them, you get to know those doctors. You know what I mean? The more you do it, the more you understand what they prefer. And those preferences are put in as well. That's another aspect to it as well. If you have a lab, you're, you're a lab owner and we're doing work for you. We need to know what your doctor's preferences are. Barbara: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: That way we know how to move. Go about the entry of the case. So say so. And so doctor likes broad contacts. You know, we need to know those types of things to be able to make sure the work ticket is correct. Elvis: Yeah, we could barely keep track of it for one lab. How do you all do it for multiple labs? Jessica Wallen: Having multiple people? Randy Berry: Yeah, we have that. We have designated teams. Elvis: Each lab gets a dedicated person, slash team correct consistently. Randy Berry: Yes. Having one remote order entry person for each lab makes more sense Jessica Wallen: It works better for everybody because you're Working with the same person over and over and over again. And that way they can get, you know, remote order entry can get connected with not only the lab but with their doctors. It just makes more sense to have one person being utilized or a team being utilized per lab, rather than say you've got 10 workers. Right. But you're all entering cases for all these labs. It just doesn't make sense. Randy Berry: Yeah, there's no continuity. That was another pain point that we had initially. That's why we kind of channeled this, because that's exactly what was happening. And also the one to help answer your question, if you're waiting on a shade, the case is moving through the lab and they call, finally call Jess back and give her the shade. She can either a, get a hold of the lab and say it's shade a whatever, or she could reprint a, work ticket to that department. An, updated work ticket with the shade. Jessica Wallen: Yes. Randy Berry: So that way the case just keep. They just put the new one on, take the old one off, and it just keeps going. Barbara: Yeah, I like that. That makes sense. Randy Berry: Yeah. So that's, that's what would happen because most departments have their own printer or there is a printer. And so your production manager at the lab or whoever, department head or whatever, they would just check the printer periodically. And though all the updated work tickets would be on there, and they would just go replace those tickets. Jessica Wallen: And in Peoria, for instance, when we did remote order entry when we were in Peoria, I set the girls up with departments so I had one remote order entry doing only strictly crown and, bridge, because, as you know, codes are crazy. And so for each lab, having a remote order entry person getting to know just one department's codes for the products is easier than trying to get somebody to memorize all of the codes for every department. Elvis: Oh, of course, for sure. Jessica Wallen: So utilizing that aspect as well, having remote order entry, as far as on my end, designating workers for certain departments makes sense as well, and it doesn't eat up as much time. So for instance, they would do just partial frames, and those would be coded by a number when it would be submitted into the system. So if it's a partial framework, it's a green pan, you know, so you're looking at a green pan and it's coded with a G or a P for partials. So when you're going through your submissions, you see, okay, this is a seat. So it's a crown and bridge case. So I'm not going to touch it. This is a P so this is what I do. I do partial. I'm touching this one. You know, this is a, denture case, your removables case. I'm not touching that because I'm not working on those ones. You know what I mean? Elvis: And that person entering that partial case, they know about partials. They know. I mean, they understand. Barbara: Well, that's what I was gonna ask. Jessica Wallen: Most of the time it's myself. I was the one. I do partials mainly. Elvis: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: Just because I have the technical background. I learned partials rather quickly. When we started remote entry on partials. Barbara: I would think dentures and part. That part of it, the removable segment of implants, part of it would be so difficult. Randy Berry: Yes. And that's why you have to have somebody technical. Just because as a lab owner we can lose a ton of money, you know, if everything isn't putting on that ticket. Especially with all the try ins, you know, with the teeth, with you know, all the things that need to be on that ticket. So as you build that case out that it's built out correctly. And that's the other thing that we do is we, we double check the entries to make sure that the invoicing would be correct. Barbara: That's what I was going to ask you. Yeah, that would seem like a little bit of an obstacle. Like at the billing part of it, if anything goes wrong, somebody's either, you know, maybe losing a little bit of money here and there if it's not. So you guys have a double checking process. Jessica Wallen: Yes. And so essentially another part of the remote order entry was the aspect of remote invoicing as well to double check and make sure all the invoices are correct, the pricing is correct, your tooth cards are added to, you know, your removable cases. So you're charging for your teeth, things of that nature that are not getting missed. Because we all know teeth can get missed on invoicing quite rather quickly. Yes, yes. Elvis: You do remote billing too? Jessica Wallen: Yes. Elvis: So how do you know if something happens like internal to what you can't see in a picture? You know, I mean, bad example. But a, more expensive alloy is used or metal within a denture you can't see in a picture. How do you know that's done after the fact? Randy Berry: Well, the system that we were using will not let you invoice unless you have the metal weight. So that is up to the, to the laboratory to make sure that they enter the weight and the, the type of alloy that way. Because usually they have their code for like a hideo Yellow or a semi precious, you know, so therefore, that way we, that way we can verify that the coding was done. So it will not even let you. Jessica Wallen: Create it, let you invoice without a weight in there. Elvis: Interesting. Jessica Wallen: So at that point we would call the lab and say, hey, what's the wait for this so we can get it entered. Elvis: Got it. Make sure that somebody in the lab does communicate with order entry But what about other things that kind of happen mid production when things change? The lab's got to indicate it to you, right? Jessica Wallen: Correct. Correct. If things change, the lab will call and tell us, hey, this needs to be done or we had to do this or xyz. That's why I say it's very important to make sure that somebody in the lab does communicate with order entry. Elvis: It almost seems like you become more of a partner than just correct. I hate to use the term call center. Jessica Wallen: Right. Randy Berry: That's exactly right. It's not, it's by far not a call center because. And that's what I felt as the lab owner and when she came up with this idea and as we worked through this and then like I said, our, we got thrown into this with a large lab with seven different labs in Peoria and all around, you know, now we're doing work for a large lab in Alabama. I mean, this is starting to. It's unbelievable. What, what, you realize how inefficient you are by having a room full of people doing order entry? Barbara: Yeah. Randy Berry: And what the cost is. It's outrageous. If you're paying somebody. I think we. The, the numbers that I ran is if you're paying somebody around the eighteen to twenty dollar an hour mark, your cost per case entry is around $6 for everything. Barbara: That's very high. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Randy Berry: You're talking $6 for every case, minimum. Every. It's regional obviously, but you know, and with us it's a fixed fee and that, you know, again, that's based on volume, but it can be half that and you have no other out of pocket expense. You know, you're basically buying a camera. And you know, so what we're seeing is, the, the lab that we're working with down in Alabama, they've actually utilized two of those people to move into the laboratory. Elvis: Yeah. Barbara: That's great. Randy Berry: Yeah. They didn't get rid of them. We're not replacing anybody. What we did was they were able to utilize those people to become money makers. You know, they, they can, they can generate some money. Elvis: Yeah. Barbara: And we all know we need more people and to be able to move them around instead of downsize is. Is a great option for us as labs. Randy Berry: Well, and the other thing, as in a big lab, what we also have seen is case comes in, it says, call me. The order entry people aren't technical, so they just say, okay. They take it to where the department. Barbara: Head, it goes somewhere else anyways. Right, exactly. Randy Berry: So it. That's exactly. And then it sets on his or her desk until they can get around to it because we're all doing 10,000 different things. And so then m, oh, I gotta call that doctor. And then, oh, it's already too late on the east coast, so. Well, I'll wait till tomorrow. Barbara: So, ah, I do that too. I've got a stack of calls and I'm like, Jesus, do I. Do I do these or do I do these? And there'll be two, sometimes two, three days, maybe four if I'm being honest that I actually get to the call and then by that time, you know, you're behind the game so bad, then. Randy Berry: It'S rush, rush, rush. All the lab techs are mad at you because it's got to get, you know, it's got to get milled and centered and stained. Elvis: How many of those calls really didn't even need to happen? Jessica Wallen: Right? Randy Berry: That's exactly right. And so that's what I'm. So you're not wasting one of your employees time making these, you know, frivolous calls that it doesn't really matter because realistically, if a doctor has a question on a setup, you know, where I find it mostly is like, he wants certain. He or she wants certain things on setups or partials or design. That's where nobody in your order entry team is going to make those calls. So what happens is they automatically ship it off to the department. You deal with it. So then your department head gets bogged down, then they try to delegate it and it just, it just falls through the cracks. And I think that this is where things get missed. And like I said, good thing about remote entry is it makes you more efficient because when that work ticket hits your door, everything is done. It's ready to go into production, which is in the same day because we also have people in the evenings. So we have people, you know, on the west coast that cover, you know, that they work a few more hours later. Barbara: Yeah. Remote entry saves you a ton of money as a lab owner, Randy So how did you know that this idea was as brilliant enough to start a consulting service, Randy? Obviously, we didn't. Randy Berry: Like I said, I was just a struggling lab owner that was facing all the same challenges that we all face in the Lab, whether you're like a five man lab or 50 man lab. And it was the same exact things. And I've done it. I beat my head against the wall for 40 years. And then when Jess come along she's like, well, why don't we do this? You know. And what really started was she said, you know, my sister just had a baby, she's at home, why can't I work with her, have her do some cases for us? And I'm like, ah, this isn't, I don't like it. You know, I, I couldn't grasp the concept of me not having the, my hands on a case. Maybe it's just, that's just us as lab people, you know, give me, give me, give me and stack it all around us on our shelf and our, on our bench. And so it was me changing my mindset and listening to Jess saying, randy, we could do this remote. My sister could be doing this while the baby's taking a nap. So our remote entry people are paid per case. So if they're not entering they don't get paid. Jessica Wallen: Correct. And the labs. And the labs don't get charged as well. Randy Berry: And the labs don't get charged. So you're not paying anything. Jessica Wallen: Yes. Elvis: So you talk about you bill upon volume. So the more a, ah, lab does is the more they pay monthly. Jessica Wallen: That's for the technical side. Randy Berry: That's it? Yeah, that's if they basically want that technical. Elvis: Oh, what about case entry? It's no matter. Jessica Wallen: Case entry regardless, across the board. Case entry is $3 a case. And then if you want the technical aspect, that's where the monthly technical volume based pricing comes in. Elvis: Oh, so by this standard you mentioned a lot of big labs, but I mean small labs could benefit from this, correct? Jessica Wallen: Absolutely. Randy Berry: I was a small lab and it changed everything that we did because I'd no longer had, you know, Janelle and other people sitting there waiting on cases, worried about flipping it over and cleaning it up and getting ready to start shipping. So I stopped entering today because UPS came in at 11, not 8. Elvis: Yeah. Randy Berry: You know, and so when we know that this is, it's a daily issue and people calling in sick is a daily issue. People not wanting to work, people leaving. It's just you never have to worry about that again. And that was for me, that was the easiest thing for me to. That's what sold me on it was I no longer had to worry. When I got a case, I knew all the calls were made. Now there are still those guys who have talked to the lab owner or the person for years, and they still. Elvis: Really, really, that's what I worry about. Randy Berry: Yeah, well, those ones, they still get them. You know, we don't want to. Jessica Wallen: It's not a perfect process, and, you know, we can't make everybody happy. Randy Berry: But for the mass, you know, for 95% of the cases, it is seamless, it's flawless, and, it's efficient, and it's. As a lab owner, it saves you a ton of money, quite honestly. Photos and codes as well. It's my biggest headache is codes Barbara: So as you guys were going through all of this, what are some obstacles that you had come your way that you had to get around and figure out what to do? Jessica Wallen: Well, again, the photos. Photos and codes as well. The photos was a big one, just because if I don't have a good picture, I can't properly enter a case. Barbara: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: So that was a big, big issue at first. Elvis: I can't just dump a bag with 14 models and three different articulators in a pile and say, good luck. Jessica Wallen: Exactly. No. And that was. But that was an easy fix. You know what I mean? Barbara: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: I can't see this impression. It's upside down, silly. Can you please retake a photo? And that's something that's really easily fixed. You know, you just got to make sure, whoever you have, I mean, anybody can take some photos and scan a piece of paper. It's just knowing what we need to have in that photo, and it's very easy to fix that. You know what I mean? It's not hard. But another issue that we did, we. We found was codes. And that just takes time. I mean, it takes time. And so I create all of these code books for, each laboratory for remote order entry. And once I have those code books, they have them all in front of them so they can go through. And I mean, these code books are. Randy Berry: It's a bible. Jessica Wallen: It's a bible. Elvis: It must have just been massive. Jessica Wallen: Yeah, no. and they are. They're binders. And what I do is if I have to update a page in the binder, I'll email it out to the girls and tell them, hey, take this page out. This is updated. And they'll go to whichever binder and take that page out and put the other. The new page in. Because things are constantly changing. People do add codes and things of that nature. It's a bible for each lab. And I even go to the extreme in these Bibles, where I screenshot what a possible. Like if a doctor writes this, and I will screenshot it, put it in underneath that code. And then screenshot on the case entry in their system. This is what it should look like. Barbara: Got it. Elvis: To have one for each lab. Barbara: That's crazy. Elvis: I just remember my old lab when I had a lot to do with the codes. There were so many. Randy Berry: Oh, my gosh. Jessica Wallen: It's my biggest headache is codes. Barbara: I will say that implants. Randy Berry: Yeah, that's a whole. That's a whole. Jessica Wallen: That's a whole. Yeah, that's a whole. Nother ball game. Randy Berry: And I will. I will say that place like the. You know, in Peoria, where it was a large Lab, been around 100 years. You can only imagine, I think, that we literally. There was literally over 15,000 codes. They never got rid of anything. Nothing died. Elvis: So have a code for vulcanite dentures. Randy Berry: Yes. Yes. Barbara: But doesn't that give the lab the opportunity to reduce some of the bs? Randy Berry: That's exactly what happened. Jessica Wallen: Yeah. Randy Berry: Yes. Jessica Wallen: So. Yes, that's exactly what happened. And so in these code books, they would know the correct code to use. Randy Berry: Based on the pricing. Jessica Wallen: Yes. So based off of, you know. And that's where I work closely with the lab owners, to know exactly what they are wanting to be entered, how they want to see it on their work ticket. And that's how I code the Bibles. So that way all of the remote entry is doing the same code the same way every time. Barbara: Yeah. Makes sense. Jessica Wallen: And then you don't have to worry about the million other codes. Barbara: Yeah. Remote entry made it easier for remote order entry when we outsourced Randy Berry: So. And this. This all brings us the remote entry. So, as you guys know, you know, the lab we were working with in Peoria went through a, went through a buyout, and then it was a mass let go of, you know, 40 people in one day. Just gone. Jessica Wallen: In one department, one department gone. Randy Berry: I think, you know, it's not. It's not a secret. It's. It's just business the way we do things. Elvis: Sure. Randy Berry: This was right in the middle of remote entry. We had 200 cases, 200 partials. Okay. In the lab, in the lab from. From order entry all the way to being finished, that on that day, everybody was told to get up and leave. They're done. So we had nobody there to do it. I was running the laboratory side. She was doing all the entry. I had nobody. No technicians there. What do we do? So, of course, you start looking for outsourcing, which created remote outsourcing, so a small lab could add another dimension to their laboratory because she does all the outsourcing paperwork. So the. There's a. If, you're just a small crown and ridge lab, and you want to do some partials, you want to do some dentures. You could advertise it and we could enter it. Create the outsourcing, everything. All you have to do is put it in a box and send it. Wow. Elvis: so you rewrite the prescription to the outsourcing? Randy Berry: That is correct. Elvis: That was always like a headache because we, you know, every lab outsources to another lab, something, but you always had to rewrite the script. Jessica Wallen: So what I would do. So it made it easier for remote order entry when we would remote outsource because everything scanned in, it made it super easy. I would create, say we're setting because we had to figure out where partials were going. Right. So I created a document that essentially just had three drpd or Bertram outsourcing document. And we would. Because everything's scanned in, I would go in and I would screenshot what the doctor wrote and throw it on that document. And it would. It's a D or it's whichever lab, you know, it's your lab. But I would screenshot what the doctor wrote. It made things a lot faster rather than having to type every single thing out. Elvis: Oh, sure. Barbara: Oh, yeah. Randy Berry: Makes sense, you know, because, you know, for a partial, the doctor will sit down and write, I want to clasp on this tooth. You know, it's a whole list. So she's able to just screenshot. She whites all the, the, the pertinent information or that, you know, that we all worry about. Somebody's gonna steal our account because we all own doctors. and they'll leave us for $5. But yeah, you know, she whites all that out. So all that outsourcing paperwork is all created and ready to go. So like I said, anybody who outsources remote entry can do all your outsourcing paperwork as well. Which most labs are doing double entry for that right now. Elvis: Oh, yeah. Randy Berry: They get it into their system, then they have to put it into somebody else's system. Remote entry does all that for you. Jessica Wallen: Wow. Barbara: Easy peasy. Remarkable. Randy says remote entry is convenient for people who want to make money Elvis: Jessica, do you spray crayons anymore or is this. Jessica Wallen: No, all that. No, I don't have time. Barbara: There's no way you have time. I'm surprised you have time to get on this podcast. Randy Berry: We have a really good team of people, and a lot of the consulting will come from my side as far as technical, anything really high end or stuff that's above the order entry team. And we also have a couple other. Jessica Wallen: People at other labs that are technical. Randy Berry: Yeah, technical as well. So we, we pull from a group of certified master technicians like myself, I. Elvis: Was going to say, Randy, you bring 40 years of knowledge to this, that you'd be a great technical resource for a lab. Jessica Wallen: Oh, he is. He is. Randy Berry: You know, people call me all the time and just like you, I call you for implants because you're my implant guru. And I take a picture like Elvis. What is this? I don't even know what it is, you know. You know, I'm not shy about asking, you know, I don't know everything. Yep, I can do. I'm certified in all the areas you, know I've got my mdt, but I'm a dinosaur. You know, those, those. That just doesn't happen anymore. Elvis: So does everyone just work at home to do all this? So everyone's. Are you looking to add people to teams? Jessica Wallen: Yes. Elvis: Okay. I'm wondering if there's people out there just that are really into this, you. Jessica Wallen: Know, I mean, it's convenient. And you know, what I found is like my sister, for example, she's. She just turned 21. She had a baby a year ago, A year and a half ago. Two years ago. Two years ago. And for her, she wanted to stay at home, but she needed to find a way to make money, you know, and so it's a conveniency factor for anybody that does want to do remote entry because you do have the leisure of. Okay, yes, I do want to know, okay, when you guys are going to take lunch, you know, but at this time now, my remote girl, like everybody that's on the teams, you know, they're not making money unless they're entering a case. So they're all over entering cases for as long as they can. Barbara: Yeah, for sure. Jessica Wallen: You know what I mean? Randy Berry: Into the evening, everything, you know, the baby goes down for the night. They'll get up and put in cases. Jessica Wallen: You get a digital file that comes in and it's just, you have a massive digital folder that, you know, they'll work all the way into the evenings. But we really haven't found much of that because we don't really get scans late, you know what I mean? We don't really run into that issue. It's the eastern time coast that we run into that issue when, you know, it's no longer. It's 6:00 here, but it's 4:00 there, which my phone rings off the hook with doctors and up until 8 o'clock sometimes when they're trying to reach me. We promise our labs that, uh, we will have all of your cases entered within 24 hours Barbara: About cases do you guys have goals that they. They've got to get everything booked in within like a 10 hour timeframe or is it a little more relaxed at the beginning? Jessica Wallen: We promise our labs that, you know, we will have all of your cases entered within 24 hours. Barbara: Got it. Jessica Wallen: But the more we add to the team, the more it's not 24 hours. I mean, you're looking at. I mean, everything's entered before anybody leaves the lab. Barbara: Yeah. Barbara: That's awesome. Jessica Wallen: So everything's done that day. Barbara: Yeah. Jessica Wallen: And it keeps things moving in the lab. Barbara: Absolutely. That's why I asked. Because the two of them go hand in hand. Jessica Wallen: Correct. Because then you get tomorrow's shipment and you don't have all these cases sitting there. It's empty. Everything's moved. Randy Berry: Yeah. You're starting fresh. Jessica Wallen: You're starting fresh every day. Barbara: Okay, Gotcha. Elvis: I love this idea. After this whole thing came together, Randy thought maybe I'll be an outsourced frame lab Barbara: I gotta ask though, really quick, because we're coming down the pipeline, Randy. Is that why this. After this whole thing came together, is that why you thought, Maybe I'll be an outsourced frame lab? Like, where the hell did you get that? Randy Berry: That is exactly what. Because with us trying to find a good outsourcing lab, you know, whether via for partials, you know, Bertram's been around forever. I know Jeff and those guys very well. They do a great job. You know, there's a couple other labs that do frames, but when we ran into the position where they chopped us off at the knees, I was scrambling. Well, I can't take on that many in it, you know, and keep your turnaround times, which I get that, you know, we can't just dump on you 3drpd. We use China. I mean, we did everything. And what happened was I realized there is a huge need for partial frameworks. Huge. And I know that there's only a couple really good labs in the US that do a good job with frames. Like I said, Bertram is probably one of the best. There's a couple other really good ones as well. And I thought, you know what? But their turnaround times. Everybody's turnaround times have creeped up, you know, and one of the things that I. That I will be doing is because I did buy so many, and that's what I'm focusing on. We'll be running three shifts from the day I open the door. We'll have five machines. My capacities will be there. We will turn all the frames out within 72 hours. Elvis: That's nuts. Barbara: That's a nice goal. Randy Berry: So that if it. If it comes in Digitally, we are hoping to have them out in 48 hours, but no frame will stay in the lab longer than 72 hours. This way we can get it back to the lab. They have plenty of time to get the wax ups and the teeth on it. And, you know, I'm not getting it back to them where they have to set it up, wax it, you know, process, do it all one day. And that is one of the biggest issues, even outsourcing. You know, I know that, there's labs out there that are outsourcing to China that they're not telling their doctor. And that's, that's okay. I mean, do it. You got to run your business the way you want to. But the problem is it takes seven days to get it back from, you know, from China or Vietnam. You're not telling your doctor, and they allot you seven or eight days. You have a lot of work to do when it comes back quickly. Barbara: How soon are you up and running? Randy Berry: The machines are on the ocean right now. We should be open December 1st. And they're building my building as we speak. Barbara: Cool. Elvis: And you started with five of those printers? Man, that's, that's jumping in the deep end. Randy Berry: I, I didn't want one, I didn't want two because I didn't want to run into a capacity issue. Because I have a goal. I will turn, and as soon as I can't hit that, I'll order five more. Jessica Wallen: Yeah, our goal is to have five more within a year. So we'll have 10. These printers that we bought, they actually are coming out with an upgraded version that actually does twice the amount. Randy Berry: A little more. Yeah, they're high. More efficient. Jessica Wallen: Twice the amount with less machine. So our goal is to have 10 machines within a year. Randy Berry: Yeah, because my initial order was going to be 10 machines. My initial order was 10. And they're like, why don't you do five? And we have this new one coming out that's going to be more efficient. This, you might not need five more. You might only need two more. So I said, okay. But my initial order was 10 machines. Elvis: The company talked you out of it. That's funny. Awesome. what a great conversation. I love what you're doing. I think it's a great thing for labs to look into. How the hell do people get a hold of you? If they want to learn more, they. Jessica Wallen: Can email our certainteet consultingmail.com or, they can get a hold of Randy on his phone number, which is tell the world 219-851-2214. Randy Berry: Or they can get a hold of Jess. Jessica Wallen: My number is 219-393-8661. And they can shoot us a text or call or, like I said, email the certainteed consultingmail.com awesome. Elvis: I love it. Thank you so much. In our industry has been outsourced, but never case entry In our industry has been outsourced, but never case entry. And I think it's. I think it's cool. Randy Berry: I think, Elvis, like you said, you started in this world. I've drowned in this world. Randy Berry: We all do. And I think that if it's just one aspect from a lab owner, I don't care if you're three people or you're 200 people. If you can get your cases. Yeah. If you can get your cases in and they're entered correctly, that's the other thing. Correctly. It just helps us take on more work. Yeah, you can take on more work because that's not an issue. And that's what. You know, I've talked to one of the big labs down in Alabama, and they even stopped for a period of time, they stopped marketing because they couldn't take on more work. Because it wasn't that they couldn't do it. They couldn't get it in the system fast enough. Elvis: Yeah, it's a funnel, you know, it's a. It's a blockage in labs sometimes just getting the work in and getting it going. Yeah. Randy Berry: Because we're as technicians, once it hits the door, we'll get it going. You know, it's just getting it to that point. And that was my biggest struggle for all these years. And it's no longer a struggle. And it's no longer. I don't even think about it. I don't even look at it. I don't. I don't even touch it. They show up and, you know, the. I hear the printer going and they match up the work tickets, and that's just the way it works. Elvis: Awesome. Randy, Jessica, thank you so much. Jessica Wallen: All right, thank you. Randy Berry: You guys have a great day. It was great talking to you guys. We'll go from there. Yeah. Elvis: All right, talk to you soon. Have a good one. Jessica Wallen: Thank you as well. Randy and Jessica discuss a new way to streamline lab workflows Barbara: A huge thanks to Randy and Jessica for coming on the podcast and talking about this very interesting and needed way to streamline our workflows. And even more, it doesn't take much to get behind in a lab, as you know. And if you get behind when it comes in, you end up working even harder to make the delivery dates. So everybody head over to certainty-consulting.com to learn more and contact them to set up a conversation. Just imagine, guys, the people scheduling your cases are probably some of the most well versed people in the lab that could soon be doing something else. Thanks again, Randy and Jessica. Elvis: All right, everybody, that's all we got for you. Barb. I hope you feel better soon. Thank you and we will talk to you next week. Barbara: Have a good one. Elvis: Bye. take it back, Elvis. Take it back. The views and opinions expressed on the Voices from the Bench podcast are, those of the guest and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the host or Voices from the Bench llc.