Dental Tribune U.S. Edition

Industry News DENTAL TRIBUNE | November 201112A AD NSK uses more than 17,000 pre- cision parts to build its high-speed rotary cutting instruments and acces- sories, which include handpieces and tips used by dental professionals for restorations, prosthetics, endodontics, oral hygiene, lab work and surgery. Considering the market’s ongoing demand for ever-more precise, strong and compact instruments, that’s not really surprising. The surprising part is this: Out of those 17,000-plus parts, NSK manufac- turers more than 85 percent of them in house. The company even designs and builds the equipment it uses to manufacture and test those parts – so it can ensure micron-order accuracy. It’s all part of an obsessive focus on quality control that dates back to the company’s founding in Japan in 1930. Today, NSK products have proven their worth in more than 130 coun- tries — including the U.S., which in 1984 saw the company’s first overseas At NSK it’s all in house: Researching, developing, manufacturing, testing, improving expansion with establishment of NSK America, now called NSK Dental LLC. The philosophy of building the machines to build the parts to build the product has followed the com- pany into every market it enters. The organization’s overall management structure puts control at regional levels to ensure prompt product deliv- ery and responsive after-sales servic- ing. Just as important, it’s within the various regions that the company con- stantly solicits feedback from users of its products. The goal is to be able to swiftly respond to local needs. This ability to quickly respond to local demand trends goes directly back to NSK’s in-house control over every step of the research, develop- ment and manufacturing process. As an example, because of growing inter- est in products that combine mechan- ics and electronics, NSK has formed a specialized group of engineers look- ing specifically at such applications. Also supporting the company’s quick-to-respond product-development efforts are its in-house electro magnetic compatibil- ity (EMC) standard test facilities. EMC standards for medical equipment are stricter than those for general con- sumer appliances. Ensuring EMC compliance at the earliest stages of research and development helps NSK shorten the overall product-develop- ment process. It’s all about the hand Control of all aspects of the develop- ment process helps NSK ensure timely regulatory compliance, improve reli- ability and speed up development time. But even more critical to NSK is the direct channel its processes create between end users and product devel- opers. With its dental instruments in particular, much of the focus goes directly to the hand of the end user. “Handpieces and the Human Hand — Powerful Partners® ” is the company’s core branding message. A guiding philosophy is that a medical apparatus must work in the dental professional’s The S-Max pico from NSK, with the world’s smallest head and neck size, was developed based on dentist feedback expressing an unmet need for a smaller-head handpiece. (Photo/Provided by NSK Dental LLC) Quality control achieved by controlling everything GNYDM BOOTH NO. 233