DC Dental, the independent dental supplier dedicated to helping doctors run their small businesses more efficiently and profitably, announced today the launch of its one-of-a-kind, technologically-advanced warehouse distribution system for the company’s inventory of more than 30,000 dental products.
The new system is the culmination of a five-year development effort that required an investment of more than $2 million and over 3,000 labor hours.“There isn’t another warehouse exactly like ours anywhere in the world,” said DC Dental CEO David Charnowitz. “That’s because we started with our customer in mind and walked things back from there. Our aim is to instill in our customers the belief that when they order something from us, it’s going to be easy and help them run their practices more smoothly.”
“Dental practitioners are demanding price, value and transparency more than ever before,” said Charnowitz. “We’ve taken the lead in reshaping our offerings and delivery systems to focus on this growing trend.”
The streamlined, centralized ordering/distribution system unveiled today integrates elements from four advanced software platforms, each of which incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) through robotic automation. These AI software tools have been customized to deliver four key outcomes related to the customer experience: materials handling efficiency, auditability, processing speed and order accuracy.
-Efficiency in materials handling is crucial, according to Charnowitz, because “fewer touches mean fewer chances for degradation or damage and a better customer experience. Our system is expressly designed to minimize movement of items.”
-Auditability is at the heart of the system, noted Charnowitz. He said, “You can’t strive for distribution perfection if you can’t audit shipments. That’s why all of our processes are fully auditable.”
-Not only is the system built for speed – an order received by 4:00 p.m. can ship the same day – but order accuracy is maximized by cameras that monitor every step in the process.
The new system flows a customer order through three integrated material handling “zones:”
-Zone One – After each order receives its own uniquely identified packing box, which is assigned to a custom-designed picking cart, frequently used items are pulled from high-velocity flow racks using scan verification and pick-to-light technology.
-Zone Two – Next, custom-configured automated systems for storage and retrieval of smaller dental consumables, such as instruments, burs and diamonds, pick these tiny items into the shipment box. In what is the most challenging stage of the distribution process, this system element has doubled handling efficiency and accuracy.
-Zone Three – To make sure what comes in first goes out first, products are organized by expiration date on carousel systems that use complicated algorithms to track lot numbers. These carousels, operating on two levels, whisk product around in seconds.
AI prompts are built into each zone to ensure that customers are getting the highest quality supplies with zero errors. After a final verification check, the system completes the customer experience by generating a shipping label based on the customer’s preference.
During today’s system reveal at the suburban Baltimore warehouse, Charnowitz said, “Because we are a nimble company, we can keep our ear to the ground and will continue looking at the best and newest technology to make sure we are consistently delivering an excellent experience for our customers.”
About DC Dental
Since its founding in 2002, DC Dental has set a new high standard for service to independent dental practitioners, thanks to its unwavering commitment to value, large selection, faster delivery and top-notch customer service. DC Dental serves dentists throughout the country with a focus on the Mid-Atlantic region. For more information, call (877) 653-7500 or email sales@dcdental.com.
