Posted in Posts
‘Opening new career paths in our industry is vital’: This month, Ashley Byrne discusses the importance of investing in education and professional development in a dental lab. Professional development has always been one of the most important factors in running my lab. From day one, we have invested heavily in education and team development. We’ve…
Posted in Posts
Ashley Byrne reveals some hard truths about the real meaning of trust and the ‘incalculable’ benefits of having a team who feels trusted. ‘I trust my team’, is so often said. But how many employers actually trust their team completely? When we say, ‘I trust my team’, what do we actually mean? More importantly, what…
Posted in Posts
All dental labs are at risk of cash flow problems and debt. Here, Ashley Byrne discusses the best method for dealing with debt recovery without destroying customer relationships. Richard Branson famously quoted, ‘Never take your eyes off the cash flow because it’s the life blood of the businesses’, and he couldn’t be more true. Companies…
Posted in Posts
With labs at the cutting edge of dentistry and undergoing enormous changes, Ashley Byrne discusses the value of outside influence and looking beyond the lab industry. We all focus strongly on making false teeth and making the best false teeth we can. We look at other labs, we look at social media of other techs…
Posted in Posts
This month, Ashely Byrne explains how dental lab technicians and their teams can help to combat the time crisis that is developing in dentistry. As I glanced at the pile of boxes arriving from the post man, one box caught my eye. On the outside of my lovely environmentally friendly shipping packs was the lab instructions: ‘Darren…
Posted in Posts
This month, the Dental Lab Expert breaks down the decision to sell your laboratory, integrate into a corporate group or remain independent. Over the last decade, we have witnessed increasing acquisition activity of dental practices into groups, and even further, the acquisition or mergers of groups into larger corporates. With several of these groups now owning…
Posted in Posts
With health and safety considered an annoyance for many, Ashley Byrne provides a dental technician’s view on why it’s an asset to be proud of. ‘It’s turning into a nanny state!’ was one comment. ‘Who has the right to tell me what health and safety I have to use at work?’ was another. Health and…
Posted in Posts
‘I’ve never been this excited about the future of our profession’: With Corus expanding into the UK market by joining forces with Byrnes Dental Lab, Ashley Byrne discusses what the partnership really means and how he plans to disrupt the dental landscape. Ashley, your lab has just joined forces with Corus. Can you tell us…
Posted in Posts
‘It’s our time to really step up’: this month, Ashley Byrne discusses all of the things we can look forward to in 2023, calling it ‘the year of opportunity for the dental technology industry’. In my last post I spoke about the 2022 summary which, for me and my team, was stressful, manic, overloaded, successful…
Posted in Posts
Ashley Byrne, the Dental Lab Expert, reflects on the trials and tribulations of 2022 and what the industry needs to prepare for in 2023. By my own standards, 2022 was flipping hard work! As I write this, we sit in the middle of a postal strike, couriers almost collapsing under the additional volumes, and work…
Posted in Posts
Some client relationships just don’t work. This month, the Dental Lab Expert, Ashley Byrne, discusses the tricky topic of how and when to fire a client, and the benefits of doing so. I had to think carefully about the title for this months article, for fear of sounding arrogant or egotistical. Clients, dentists for the…
Posted in Posts
‘We all need as much help as we can get in these crazy times’: As he heads home full of new ideas and itching to get back to his lab, Ashley Byrne discusses why overseas conferences are worth the time, money and hangovers. I’m writing this on a plane heading back from several days in…
Posted in Posts
Ashley Byrne discusses the salary crisis dental technicians are facing and how to encourage people into the profession. For many years dental technicians have been poorly paid. There is a ton of evidence to back that up. With many papers and studies quoting less than £29k (in some, less than £24k) as an average salary,…
Posted in Posts
This month the Dental Lab Expert, Ashley Byrne, discusses why you shouldn’t undervalue your services when turning to digital technology. The old story of a ship engineer springs to mind. A large shipping company bought a second-hand boat on the cheap as the engine wouldn’t start. None of their engineers could get the old boat…
Posted in Posts
‘There has never been a better time to be a dental technician’ – Ashley Byrne explores the evolution of dental technology in the past 25 years, and how it has transformed from an archaic mess to aspirational art. Whilst this article is about the history of dental technology, it’s hard not to tell a little…
Posted in Posts
Ashley Byrne explains how he has built a company culture in his dental lab and why other labs need to start focusing on their culture too. Your company culture is probably the most important thing you can invest in. And yet, it’s often put to the back of lab owners’ minds because we focus on…
Posted in Posts
Ashley Byrne explains why finding the right partnerships and outsourcing could really help strengthen your dental lab. When I say ‘working partnerships’, I don’t mean your business partner (if you have one). I mean the people and companies you choose for supplies. And – for the purposes of this article – for outsourcing actual lab…
Posted in Posts
This month we hear from our regular Lab Expert columnist, Ashley Byrne, and find out more about his life away from the lab. Tell me about where you grew up and what your family life was like? Ashley Byrne: My dad was a dental technician/lab owner and my mum ran the financial side of the…
Posted in Posts
Ashley Byrne explains what dental labs can take from other areas of manufacturing to help solve dental lab challenges. I’ve spoken in this column before about the challenges our industry is facing. A lack of dental labs, scarcity of dental technicians, and a surge of dental lab work – and this is a global problem.…
Stay updated with relevant information about this webinar
