People who are truly “great” bear a huge responsibility. Those of us who are “normal” benefit from their generosity, their ideals, and their contributions to the world. Then we get to go home at night and eat spaghetti without worrying that anyone is scrutinizing our every move. We’re permitted to blow up at our spouses for leaving their dirty socks on the floor and we can skip church if we come up with a good enough excuse. We leave the society shaping to the “great” people who fill their weekends with hard work, business travel, and philanthropy instead of renting DVDs like the rest of us. No wonder greatness is so rare.

If you come in contact with just one truly great person during the course of your life, consider yourself lucky. I do.

Today, I sat in front of the only truly great man I’ve ever met. With tears in his eyes, Dr. Dan Fischer recounted some of his personal history as he addressed his employees in the wake of a character smear. Amazingly, he was able to point out positives mingled with the pain caused by this situation.

Someone like me would brood all weekend about even a minor insult. Not Dr. Fischer. In the midst of the attacks on his character, this great man is determined to stay the course. We have 150 guests in town for a conference this week; Dr. Fischer stood before them today to summarize the allegations and give his side of the story. He then told these guests how LUCKY he is, choosing to focus on the number of hugs and supportive comments he received from his employees earlier in the day. He said his staff behaves the way true brothers, sisters, sons, and daughters should. Then he said, “Now let’s get back to dentistry.”

I’ve always admired how Dr. Fischer sticks to his core values. Today was just another example. From his initial involvement with these young men (the “Lost Boys”) and women abandoned by the FLDS, Dr. Fischer knew that he would be subject to public scrutiny; he always knew events like today’s were a possibility and yet, he persevered. That’s true courage. He has nothing to gain personally from giving millions to these FLDS outcasts in support of their education and mental well being. There was no benefit for sticking his neck out in Washington D.C. He presses forward with the cause, even after these personal attacks, because he knows that helping children is the right thing to do. He paraphrases Hubert Humphrey, who said that the moral test of government is how it treats and protects its most vulnerable citizens. That’s real integrity.

So, here’s to Dr. Dan Fischer: a truly great man who could use a hug. Won’t you please post your good wishes for him in response to this blog?

It’s a different experience, working for Ultradent. Before I came here nearly two years ago, I worked for two large, publicly-held companies. I worked for the first one for 15 years and the second one for just 1 year. I was accustomed to the protection offered by multiple divisions, standardized choices in healthcare, and decisions made by committee or people across the country or even in different countries. Things typically happened very slowly.

Then, after so many years working for the stock holders, I suddenly worked at Ultradent, where decisions ultimately rest with one man, rather than a board or a committee. Things happen fast – decisions get made and actions are taken, rather than endless meetings, discussions, and permission-seeking.

I admit, I thought twice about working for a small (relatively speaking) company owned by a single man. What about the safety and security provided by a large organization with offices all over the world? But here at Ultradent, we the employees can make choices as to what we believe is best for the customer or the patient, rather than what is best for the stock holders. I feel a more direct link with our dentists and patients because of this; there’s no ‘hidden customer’ (the stock holders) fighting each decision that might cost money with no clear ‘upside.’

Most of all, Ultradent has more of a personality than so many stock-driven companies, the personality of Dr. Fischer. He is able to lead his company, rather than follow the directives of the board or the whims of the stockholders. He can make decisions because they are the right thing to do, and not worry about how the board will vote on the decision.

I have worked for bosses I loved and with people I cared for deeply throughout my career, but Ultradent is a little different. I no longer work for an amorphous and not always benign corporate ‘parent.’ Now I work for Dr. Dan Fischer, who is around most days cheering all of us on and getting to know everyone who works for him, though there are more than 800 of us now.

What a great opportunity I’ve been given to work here!

As Ultradent's Information Technology VP, you probably expect to hear a lot from me about technology.  It’s hard to shut me up on this once I get started, but this time I’d like to share something more relevant for everyone.
 
This past Monday was our Labor Day Holiday in the United States.  Labor Day started in 1882 in New York City as a "day off for the working citizens." Today, it's often considered as the last chance for travel with the family,  a day of parades, and a day of rest.  For my family, it was a great way to wrap up our family vacation at a beach house in San Diego. My wife, our four children (aged ten, seven, four, and three- months), and some of my wife’s family spent a great week enjoying our children and each other.

When I think of the time I have spent working over the last twenty-nine years at Ultradent, it’s been highly rewarding. I enjoy the people we work with and what we do, I enjoy my industry, and I love seeing our growth.  At times, however, it has had a “cost” in terms of family. Before I was married it was common for me to work two to three days before going home for a shower and some sleep – there was and always is too much to do and not enough time to do it in. After I was married, these habits abated slightly, but not by much. It was during a particularly long and grueling project that my wife finally got thru to me on what I was sacrificing. I couldn’t continue to work on a laptop all evening and thru the night, oblivious to her and our children.
 
During that time, I also heard a great piece of advice from a consultant we were working with. His name was Marcel – we were all working together in the office on Saturday, as usual, and it was his wife’s birthday. After working a few hours, he excused himself very courteously by saying “It’s tougher to get a new family than a new job.”

I still enjoy pulling occasional all-nighters and I know there are many people working at Ultradent who make similar or greater sacrifices from time to time.  It’s amazing how much gets done in the quiet hours of the morning without interruption.  However, I often think of what Marcel said.  My young children are growing and changing so rapidly – an infant’s speech and mannerisms change in mere days, and as a responsible, caring parent, I really NEED to build strong relationships with each of my kids so I can be in a position to help as they mature. Beyond that, I ENJOY it – time with my wife and children is time I will treasure to the day I die, and these relationships are at least as important as any others I’ll ever invest in.  

We’ve added “Life Balance” to our Core Value of “Caring” here at Ultradent.  It can be a tough act to pull off. From time to time we all may slip and “fall.”  At the end of the day we’re only human, but we must keep trying.

Are there ways you’ve found to keep your life balanced? Favorite vacations, hobbies, and things you do with your family or alone to recharge your batteries and stay balanced with the other passions and work in your life? I’d love to hear from you…

We had another great group of Ultradent Elite offices in town last week. Dr. James Jesse and Dr. John Flucke were both there to lecture and we were lucky enough to snag them for some podcasts…video this time!

What total professionals! Both were so gracious and accommodating. We were a little late getting started with the recordings because of a meeting conflict, so Dr. Jesse hung out in R&D and Dr. Flucke “talked shop” with some engineers who were doing some durability testing on an upcoming product (but you’ll just have to guess what it was…my lips are sealed). Also, if we ever do an outtake reel, you’ll see Dr. Flucke having to do multiple takes because a moth kept flying in front of his face. In the end, though, these two doctors produced some excellent episodes for our podcast. You'll love hearing them talk about endo, composites, and light curing technology.  Stay tuned; as soon as Keith (our awesome A.V. guy) gets them edited, we’ll push them out to you…likely with CE credit available.

On the down side, I really wanted to record an audio podcast with two of our conference attendees -- Drs. Schuck and Flack from Minnesota -- but we didn’t finish the video podcasts until too late and I missed them. I was really excited about it because they were going to share some tips about serving patients whose insurance you don't accept. Maybe we can catch them over the phone sometime.

Are any of you passionate enough about a dental-related subject to record a podcast with us? Post your ideas in a reply to this post and we'll hook up!

Last week, I flew to Atlanta for the 5th Annual Customer Feedback Week. I represented Ultradent in speaking about how we use and collect customer feedback. I always knew Ultradent focused on customer needs, but I didn’t realize the extent to which this is entrenched in the organization until I started putting together this presentation.

One of the more obvious ways we do this is through the Allegiance system, which allows customers to be anonymous while giving us feedback, if they choose. The cool part about it is that since it’s a third-party system, customers can enter their email address, but still maintain their anonymity since the address is masked to us at Ultradent. Then we can respond through the system and take care of the customers’ needs, without them having to reveal their identities. Such an improvement to the anonymous letter, which may bring up excellent points, but which can never be resolved to a customer’s satisfaction since we can’t contact them. Try it out. You can access it through clicking "Contact Us" on our Website or by clicking here. You are, of course, welcome to send compliments as well as complaints. ;)

Then there is our new product development task force, which Dr. Fischer explained so well in his blog a few weeks ago. Everything in product development is focused on making dental “jobs” more efficient, cost-effective, or higher quality. Now, PermaFlo Purple is a product that came out long before this task force was assembled, but I think it perfectly fits the spirit of the new process. Some of the members of Roots thought it would be great if there were a colored composite to indicate the pulpal floor in case of endodontic retreatment. That’s how PermaFlo Purple came about (and in return, we donate a portion of the sales to Roots).

Ah, the Ultradent Elite. They are always so open to sharing ideas with us and we always solicit ideas from them when they come to town. Did you know that it was because of their comments that Ultradent perforated the tray packaging for Opalescence Treswhite Supreme? Now patients can whiten one arch at a time without worrying that the other tray will dry out in the package. We are so lucky to have such inventive minds among our customers and even luckier that they are willing to share.

There were a lot more things I shared at Customer Feedback Week, such as Lynne’s presence on the Dentaltown boards (always so helpful), the customer surveys we send out occasionally (look for more in the future), and our branding research…but this post could get really long, really quickly.

Suffice it to say, I’m so proud to work for a company that cares so much about its customers and not just the bottom line. Do any of you have experiences with my co-workers that reflect this? I’d love for you to post them in reply to this message so we can all pat them on the backs!

Inside Ultradent, a new team has been working on continuing to improve our new product development process. Ultradent already had a good process in place that withstands regulatory audits from national and international bodies, but upper management wants to ensure that we continue to develop quality products that are delivered to our market in a timely way and that function the way we intend them to, fulfilling market needs.

The new way of thinking is being developed by a cross-functional team called Delta Force. The proposed organization is shown in the chart below. Our existing organization is represented by the vertical columns. The functional vice presidents are represented by the different shapes at the top of each rectangle, or functional area (marketing, operations, QC, QA, etc.). Within that area, managers and other team members report to the vice president. However, in order to bring new products to market, these different functions need to work smoothly and efficiently together, so that all parts of a new development process are addressed by the experts on the Ultradent team.

The project team leaders, or core team leaders (represented by the shapes at the far left) lead the cross-functional teams to develop new products. We’ve always had these leaders, but the new element is the project controller, who coaches the core team leaders and ensures smooth communication across functional areas. This is the person who will help ensure ALL projects are resourced, and who will help management to understand where resources are going at any given time on new and maintenance projects.

Chart: Cross-functional Project Team Model: 

Tools are being developed and put into use by the Delta Force team to create this more robust product development process, and to strengthen the cross-departmental communication and working relationships. These tools and processes will ensure that Ultradent continues to develop robust, high-quality products that meet all of our customers’ requirements.

I recently spent a couple weeks in San Francisco for two separate conferences. I’m thrilled to be home but the time was very productive.

itSMF Conference:  My first week was spent covering ITIL - the Information Technology Infrastructure Library. This is a globally recognized collection of Best Practices for IT Management.  With me was our ITIL Team – ITSM / IT Operations Senior Manager, Service Desk Manager, Change Manager, and Problem Manager. We participated in three days of courses and sharing experiences with other companies classes and sharing from other companies at varying stages of ITIL adoption. Notables included Toyota on Lean and Continuous Improvement processes applied to ITIL,  Barclays Global Investors on IT Budgeting and Costing, InfoGraphics for complex training illustrations, and many others. On Thursday we took a cram course and subsequently passed our fundamentals certification tests for the next major revision, ITIL V3. This is said to be the last “major” change – incremental refinements are expected going forth.

Oracle OpenWorld: My second week again in San Francisco was with our Oracle Apps Senior Managerfor this annual conference. With Oracle’s acquisitions of the last few years, they are now the world’s largest Enterprise Software company – and this meeting is insanely huge – fifty THOUSAND people. One of the great advantages however is the opportunity to rub shoulders and have conversations with many other customers, key consultants, as especially Oracle management. A great time to voice concerns, discover direction, and find solutions. Our plans for 2009 at Ultradent have changed based on some of these conversations, including chats with two separate Oracle vice-presidents and a key Oracle Product Manager. Interactions like this help us avoid jumping into an upgrade too soon, and are a good reality-check on the efforts we are putting into Business Intelligence and other key projects.

A very busy but productive two weeks!

This time I visited our branch office in Tokyo. My last visit was three years ago when our office just opened. We spent a great portion of our time working the website, customized CRM solutions and other support issues. I also met with one of our largest dealers. I have to say from a week of observation that the Japanese people are some of the hardest working and most professional people on the planet! I look forward to my next visit, and to success with the projects we’re now working together on.

I would like to introduce you all to the department I work in at Ultradent, Regulatory Affairs. We have a group of five folks that works diligently to support Ultradent’s enormous product line.

Here’s our group:

 

Pictured left to right are Ruth Gardner, Marie Hess, Diane Rogers, Corey Jaseph, and Karen Kakunes. Diane and Corey are managers, Ruth and Marie support international registration efforts, and Karen prepares technical files and supports the whitening line.

One of the main regulatory duties is to work with project teams during the design phase before a new product is brought to market. There are a number of international standards specifying product design and performance, called ISO standards (for International Standards Organization), and RA ensures that our products are tested to and meet these standards. Regulatory people also help the project team to assign a risk classification to each device, based on what kind of adverse effect the device can have on patients and users of the product. Of course, the risk classification systems are different in every country – e.g., Canada is different from the US, and both are different from the EU (European Union) and Japan. Because of this, people in regulatory have to have a grounding in many different countries’ laws.

Another important regulatory duty is to prepare product submissions for the US and EU so that we can sell our products legally. In the US, this is a submission called a 510(k) and this document is sent to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), who reviews and then ‘clears’ the product. It takes a number of months to prepare the submission and it takes 30 – 90 days to hear back from the FDA. For the EU, a technical file must be prepared, specified by the European Medical Device Directive (an EU law). The technical file is reviewed by a consultant called a Notified Body, someone who has been approved by the EU governing body to audit to its laws. Both the technical file and the 510(k) take time and effort to prepare and are the result of working with many teams throughout the company.

Regulatory’s other main duty is to provide documentation to distributors and consultants so that UPI products can be registered in over 100 countries throughout the world. Every country has different requirements and needs. Many countries have not translated their laws into English, so distributors and consultants within that country prepare the submissions. Our team supports these efforts by providing information about our products to these countries. These activities must be done when a product is first registered in a country, and many countries also have periodic re-registration requirements, so our team is kept busy around the clock and year round.

These are the three main activities in Regulatory Affairs. We do a lot more than this, but these are our first and highest priorities, ensuring that our products are and continue to be legally registered in the markets that we sell them in.

The Associated Press called me for an interview a couple of weeks ago. Allegiance, who powers our customer feedback system, referred them to me for a story about how companies use technology to save money during the downturned economy.  I was expecting a few questions about how we use Allegiance, but the reporter was really interested in EVERYTHING Ultradent is doing to save money this year.

I must admit, I wasn't prepared for the type of questions the reporter fired off; I was not exactly the right person to interview for this story.  I thought it would be a great opportunity to brag about our great company, though, so I told her I'd go on a fact finding mission.  I met with Dirk Jeffs, Kris Beynon, Mark Brinkerhoff, and even briefly with Dr. Fischer.  What I learned was enough to make anyone proud to work here.

First of all, it's probably important to define the impact this economy is having on us -- we're certainly better off than many companies in the country or even in our industry.  Dirk Jeffs told me that the overall dental consumables market is down by 5-7% due to the economy, but Ultradent’s domestic sales are relatively flat.  He said the biggest drag on our top line has been the increased strength of the U.S. dollar this year compared to last year. The currency exchange has impacted our international sales to some degree.

Since we're so fortunate, we haven't had to take drastic measures like large-scale layoffs.  Any company would be irresponsible not to consider the current economy, though, so it was nice to hear our leaders talk about internal mentality shifts. The general consensus was that we now think of costs in terms of people when weighing decisions, e.g. “This expense would pay the salaries of three people.”

Our 30-year-old company has had the advantage of being a privately held company with a visionary leader, so our priorities have always leaned toward progression and improving oral health care globally. Not being beholden to stockholders, there have been times we have considered 5-10 years an acceptable length of time to recoup our investments. Now we are looking at things in terms of “needs” instead of “wants.”  We continue to invest in strategic projects, though the payoff time line is more closely considered now and we tend to focus on investments that have a quicker or more dramatic impact on revenue.

We have also reconsidered our shipping options. In the past, we have paid our shipping company for delivery within a 3-5 day window. We now save half of our shipping costs by paying for ground shipments instead of air shipments; our shipments are guaranteed to be delivered in five days. Of course, if a customer wants an order more quickly, they can pay for expedited shipping, but we have chosen to eliminate expensive shipping where less expensive shipping will suffice. There is no reason for us to pay double the freight charges for orders unless our customers need the materials immediately.

We've started using cost-saving technology, as previously mentioned with Allegiance. This customer feedback system helps us collect, respond to, and track customer feedback efficiently and without paper.

Another cost-saving technology, Webex, is an online conferencing tool we now use to save expenses for training our outside sales staff.  Dr. Fischer said the technology helps us to be better stewards of our capital by meeting online instead of flying all reps to corporate headquarters multiple times per year. Between online meetings and smarter staffing of trade shows, we have been able to reduce corporate travel by 25%.

We also use Webex to help our customers save money.  So far, we have hosted two continuing education Webinars, for which the dental staff members were able to earn three CE credits each. We pay a nominal monthly fee to use the system, plus a per minute charge for each conference attendee who dials into the toll free Webex line. Most conference attendees have opted to listen to the audio over their computer speakers or headphones instead of dialing in, however, so our cost is minimal and the benefit to the attendees (our customers) is great. We always schedule the Webinars on Fridays when most dental offices are closed, so they don’t have to rearrange patient schedules. The attendees are able to earn continuing education credits for their state license renewal from their own home or office instead of incurring costs of travel, days out of office, etc. Also, we usually charge around $395 per dentist to attend a live continuing education event, but the Webinars have been free to this point.

Within the company, we have formed two committees:

$1 Million Club
Has a goal to save $1 million this year through initiatives that present a low impact on employees. Examples: 

• Negotiating lower fees with the vendors who take care of the plants inside our building - Adjustment of travel policy, which still fits within IRS and DOL guidelines but reduces overtime, etc.
• Leveraging technology we already own that hasn’t been fully taken advantage of (e.g. Setting up an automated, direct connection between our bank and the Oracle system we use for operations has saved ½ person’s time. We always had this capability, but never made the time to configure it.)
• Coordinated purchasing effort – After investigation, we found that having multiple administrative assistants throughout the company order their own supplies has contributed to over-purchasing and varying price models for the same types of items. Coordinating these efforts more tightly is saving us over $200,000 per year in office and event supplies.

Operations Excellence
All employees from the Operations team are working together to make our systems more efficient and save money. The internal philosophy is to work smarter and encourage an atmosphere of change. Employees receive bonuses when they come up with true cost saving ideas. We are trying to encourage the area/department experts to think about cost savings in their own areas and then share a piece of the corporate savings as a reward. Employees have come up with ideas big and small that they have to map out and justify. This has saved us in labor and system costs, with employees contributing valid, implementable savings ideas of up to $60,000 per year.

So, after all this fact finding, a tiny blip about our company was mentioned in a few publications (and I was unfortunately misquoted about the extent of our layoffs), but I think they did their best to convey our message. You can read this story in a lot of regional papers across the country or on Yahoo.com. 

I'd like to applaud everyone at Ultradent who is working so hard to be financially responsible in this time of economic difficulty.  I'm always grateful to work here and this year, that point seems especially poignant.