Please activate JavaScript!
Please install Adobe Flash Player, click here for download
ePaper created 2016-06-10, 15:45:54 | version 1.38.0
business 38th APDC 23 Lisa was designed to fulfil high demands for efficiency, safety and quality An interview with W&H Product Manager Alejandro Ramírez n Quick and efficient work and achieving the best hygiene standards in dental practice were the goals of W&H in developing its latest product in the field of sterilisation. The newly launched Lisa is an innovative device offering high sterilisation efficiency. Demanding patients, more stringent legal conditions and the pursuit of greater economic efficiency of the dental practice translate into greater challenges for dentists. Equipped with state-of-the-art functionalities, the new Type B steriliser from the Aus- trian manufacturer seeks to address these through efficient and secure working processes. Essential market needs were established from Euro- pean dentists during product develop- ment and incorporated into the prod- uct specifications. According to W&H Product Manager Alejandro Ramírez, Lisa is setting a new benchmark in the dental market. In this interview, he explains how the dental practice ben- efits from an optimised workflow with the device. today international: Mr Ramírez, what is the significance of the new Lisa to the hygiene process in dental practices? Alejandro Ramírez: The new Lisa steriliser is equipped with the latest technologies and offers high sterilisa- tion efficiency in modern dental prac- tices. The focus of the latest Lisa is the optimisation of working processes. It can easily be integrated into existing hygiene protocols and supports com- pliance with legal requirements. What customer needs were the fo- cus during the product development phase? The main factors considered dur- ing development were speed, ease of use, comprehensive traceability and ergonomics. All of these aspects are directly linked to efficiency and, of course, to customer experience. Speed is a purely engineering topic to be worked out in-house, but ease of use and ergonomics were topics for which customer feedback was extremely im- portant and valuable. Different ques- tionnaires were distributed during the field test, and the answers pro- vided us with comprehensive cus- tomer feedback about how the new unit was perceived and what features still needed improvement prior to the product launch. To what extent were customers in- volved in the process? This is indeed an important ques- tion. While there are general hygiene and asepsis rules worldwide, the way customers work with products differs from country to country. Customer needs too are slightly different owing to local regulations, cultural specifics or the general market environment. For these reasons, we decided to carry out the largest field test ever conducted by W&H Sterilization. Our main objective was to cover a wide spectrum of daily uses. Reliability is clearly key. We had units running in field test sites for more than 18 months, validating and ensuring the reliability of the unit for the cus- tomer prior to its market launch. Over- all, we tested more than 40 Lisa steri- lisers in eleven European countries. What technological features charac- terise the new Lisa in particular? The efficiency and speed of the cycle using the patented Eco Dry tech- nology is probably one of the most im- portant technological highlights. Eco Dry+ is the result of three years of internal engineering work, in combi- nation with two partnerships between W&H and European universities, in pursuing the highest sterilisation effi- ciency in terms of speed, energy, water consumption and drying quality. The improved connectivity and new user interface open a world of possibilities in terms of customer ex- perience and workflow. In addition, the component modelling and soft- ware simulation work completed prior to the field test phase gave us tremen- dous confidence, which was reflected in the durability and reliability expe- rienced in the market testing. You mentioned Eco Dry technology. What benefits does this technology offer to customers? Eco Dry technology is a patented algorithm that allows Lisa to calcu- late the drying time according to the mass of the load to be processed. In order to dry 4 kg of instruments, the energy and time needed are greater than for drying 2 kg. While conven- tional sterilisers have a fixed drying time for each sterilisation cycle, Lisa calculates the load being sterilised and adapts the drying time to the load mass automatically. This feature al- lows Lisa to offer one of the fastest— if not the fastest—Type B sterilisation cycles for an average load (2 kg). This saves clinicians a great deal of time, around 30 per cent for an average load compared with a conventional Type B cycle. Thanks to Eco Dry tech- nology, the customer will also experi- ence a reduction in the energy con- sumption of the steriliser, as well as an increase in the working life of in- struments, as the instruments have reduced exposure to high tempera- tures during the shortened drying phase. What functionalities does the new Lisa provide in terms of traceability? Traceability has always been an important topic for dental practices and the new Lisa user interface and improved connectivity have allowed us to take the device to the next level. User identification and related op- tions have been made simpler, while the customer experience has gained from the new colour touch screen and intuitive menu layout. The new Lisa Mobile App, allow- ing the operator to monitor the status of up to four sterilisers in real time with a smartphone or tablet from within the practice, is an important component. The app also allows ad- ditional back-ups of the cycle history with a high level of security. All of these innovative functionalities enhance the customer experience, the high technical value of Lisa and, of course, the positioning of the Lisa steriliser in the forefront of this mar- ket segment. All of this allows medium-sized dental clinics to reduce their invest- ment in traceability by only buying one label printer. The connectivity al- lows Lisa to remotely save the cycle reports to a server, and this offers two advantages to customers: firstly, the ability to back up the cycle history on a separate server; and secondly, the digital storage of the cycle reports on the practice’s own management system. How do you think the new Lisa is going to influence the hygiene work- flow in dental practices? The goal of our Lisa steriliser is to make the workflow more efficient. This is achieved with the afore-men- tioned improvements in speed, sim- plicity and compliance with stand- ards and guidelines. It is important to consider, however, that sterilisation is just one step in the hygiene workflow and that other W&H products in- volved in the reprocessing and infec- tion control processes are just as im- portant as Lisa. One example is our Assistina 3x3 fully automatic cleaning and lubri- cation unit, which offers automatic internal and external cleaning of turbines, as well as of straight and contra-angle handpieces, including lubrication. The cleaning step is cru- cial to ensure the instrument is pre- pared correctly for the sterilisation process carried out by Lisa. Combin- ing the Assistina 3x3 and the new Lisa enables a complete handpiece reprocessing time of less than 20 min- utes. Therefore, for the hygiene pro- cess, we have to consider different W&H products working together and offering added value to the practice workflow. Thank you very much for the inter- view. 7 According to W&H Product Manager Alejandro Ramírez (right), Lisa is setting a new benchmark in the dental market. Eco Dry technology is a patented algorithm that allows Lisa to calculate the drying time according to the mass of the load to be processed. “The focus of the latest Lisa is the optimisation of working processes.”