Where does a dental lab workflow usually break?
A case can be missed when a notification is late, an inbox is crowded, a file stays on a portal or a work sheet is not printed. The issue is often the accumulation of small interruptions, not a single major failure.
What are the six useful steps?
Receive the signal, monitor the configured source, retrieve accessible files, identify the case, prepare the folder and sheet, then review exceptions. The last step always belongs to the team.
Why keep folders as the final destination?
The production team should find the case where it works already: in its local or network folder, with files and work sheet together. That avoids introducing another production inbox.
| Step | Manual or remote approach | Laboratory workstation approach |
|---|---|---|
| Detection | Check portals and email manually | Monitor configured sources and flag cases needing review |
| Filing | Create or locate each folder by hand | Apply the laboratory naming and destination rules |
| Printing | Find and print the work sheet separately | Prepare printing with the received case |
According to your laboratory
Small laboratory
Start with one workstation, one source and a simple destination folder. The goal is to make the first reception step predictable, not to change every production habit.
Growing laboratory
Agree on naming, destination folders and how incomplete cases are treated. Automation serves those rules; it does not replace them.
Several sites
Use a designated reception workstation. The team can access the folders through the laboratory network according to its own infrastructure and permissions.