2017 was an exciting and busy year for Arklign. As we push full-steam into 2018, we wanted to be sure to remember the innovation, learning, partnership and growth of last year. Here are some of our highlights:
Arklign Case Relationship Management (aCRM) continued to gain momentum with new Insights module and doubling of user base.
Within 1.5 years of launching aCRM, we have seen significant adoption of the platform, especially with our group practices. It’s great to see that our assumptions on the value of the platform are being validated as more practices jump on board. We spent the most of 2017 working closely with the practices on aCRM to highlight areas to improve their practices and also receiving feedback on how we can improve our platform.
One of the key features we launched in 2017 was our Insights module. This module gave our practices a holistic view into how their cases performed with our laboratory. We are the first company to provide this much visibility in the dental lab industry and feel will transform the way dental practices work with their dental laboratory.
We partnered with Straumann to grow our implant business and developed a complete implant digital workflow.
With the dental industry moving towards digital technology, we expanded our systems so that we can now receive scans directly from any intraoral scanner, allowing us to design and mill Straumann Authentic custom abutments with precise accuracy. We invested many man-hours tuning our 3D printing system and testing 3D printed models to ensure that our proprietary system prints Straumann Authentic Implant models with consistent quality. With our complete implant digital workflow, we can turnaround a Custom Abutment case at large volumes in 10-12 days.
Metal-free restorations continue to rise.
The move towards metal-free restorations, specifically Zirconia, continues to rise. In 2017, 60% of our Fixed cases were Zirconia while 30% are PFMs and 10% are Other such as Emax and FMC. This is a significant shift from 2016 when 48% of our Fixed cases were Zirconia, 45% PFMs and 7% Other. Almost all Arklign-affiliated dentists are aware of Zirconia and the majority prefer to offer their patients Zirconia as their top restoration, which tracks to the findings presented by LMTmag.
Practices/Dentists that used our aCRM Smart Rx spent 23% less time on clarifying case instructions.
In 2017, Arklign saw that 45% of our communication time with our practices was spent on clarifying case instructions on cases that were written on paper prescriptions. This time was significantly reduced by 23% for cases that were sent through our Smart Rx.
On average, it took 2 days before we received a response from our doctors and in some cases, we did not hear from doctors until 16-40 days after the doctor was informed, leading to case delays and patient rescheduling that equates to an approximate $446,700 in lost time. aCRM’s smart Rx is our solution to this common issue. Depending on the product selected, we ask for all the information necessary as you fill out the prescription so we can move forward with a complete set of instructions that allows us to fabricate the case, saving you, your patients and your practice time and money
Arklign reached a Net Promoter Score of 86, rivaling that of Amazon and Google
The Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a survey tool that can be used to gauge the loyalty of an organization’s customers by asking one simple question: “How likely is it that you would recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” Scores can be as low as -100 and as high as +100. To put Arklign’s score of +86 in perspective, we are on par or better than Google (+50), Amazon (+61), and Apple (+89). We see this as a validation of our commitment to a customer-centric company culture and will continue to seek improvements and ways to add more value to our customers in coming years.
We increased our footprint.
Growth came in all forms in 2017. With an increased volume and drive to be more efficient, we found we needed more office space and expanded our HQ from 6,200 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft giving us a little more wiggle room for the future.
Our mouthguard made to the Mixed Martial Arts ring!
Arklign proudly sponsored MMA fighters from around the world with our custom mouthguards. Go Diego Herzog and Jenny Huang!
2017 was a big year for us and we’ve got more planned for 2018. Stay tuned to hear more from us soon. Happy new year!