Dental Asia March/April 2023

DENTAL PROFILE
details on it. Those details will make
those machines unique and different
from others. One of the things that set
us apart is the overengineering of our
products, for example with the z-axis.
I focus on our machine’s reliability
because it is for the dental industry.
If they have an urgent task and their
machine is broken, they will have trouble
and will lose their case. Long life and
reliability are unique features that set
us apart. To build this kind of machine,
we need to consider some technology
or details more than others. It is more
about engineering than technology —
but that is still my responsibility. I need
to ensure all the product quality is the
same.
Other than reliability, are there other
areas of focus that set Ackuretta apart?
Wu: We put a lot of effort into ensuring
that the accuracy is as high as possible.
With 3D technology, printing is the
goal — but from a dental perspective,
dimension accuracy is crucial. A
patient’s mouth is very sensitive. For
instance, if there is hair in your mouth,
you can feel it. And the size of a hair is
only 100 microns (0.1mm). So, we need
to make sure our product accuracy is
less than 100 microns. The size you
design and the size you come up with
must be very close — less than a 0.1mm
difference.
next products, we will consider those
requests.
How long does it usually take to
develop a new product?
Wu: Usually, from start to finish, we need
one year. But the loading throughout
the year varies greatly. The first three
to six months are the most important.
They are spent mostly on planning,
evaluating, designing, simulating,
coding, and more. In those first six
months, there is almost no output — but
the key here is not output, but rather
to ensure that we are not going or
choosing the wrong way; and come up
with a low-risk plan.
Part of the conceptualisation includes
looking two to three years ahead and
ensuring that our design will be suitable
then. We don’t want it to be irrelevant
to the market after a year. Hardware is
difficult to upgrade, whereas software
is much easier to upgrade. So, we must
ensure that the hardware will still be
suitable for the market. The last six
months are to run reliability tests, then
if we need to modify anything or make
adjustments, we can do that, and then
launch two to three months after that.
What has changed or progressed the
most in the past 10 years in terms of
technology?
Wu: The basic technology is no different
than what has originally developed 30
to 40 years ago when it was known as
prototyping. It was owned by global
companies that handled the basic
patent — which meant that no one
could make a 3D printer without being
licensed by the company’s patent.
Ten years ago, the patent expired,
and everyone started making their 3D
printers.
How do you incorporate customers’
feedback in designing and building a
product?
Wu: Our customer support team has
a very close relationship with our
customers. They help them if they have
any questions, and give them solutions
to their problems. Once a month,
we have a meeting with the support
team. They update a data sheet with
all the problems that customers have
had. Some problems are due to user
error, and some are due to machine
issues — they will discuss which
issues are most urgent or serious.
We will get new requests and new
specifications, and then when
we start to design or plan our
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