A Crowning Package In 1994, Andrew Jakson started Dental Tech Laboratory in Amherst, N.Y., to provide crown and bridge prosthetics to 15 area dentists. Eleven years later, the company has grown to a full-service dental laboratory with 29 employees. Despite its growth, Dental Tech Laboratory still prides itself on being "the hometown lab" for western New York. And Jakson wanted that hometown feel reflected in the packaging materials used to transport prosthetics to dentists. For three years, Paul Winkler has supplied Dental Tech Laboratory with printed products, including invoices, statements and envelopes. Jakson approached Winkler, a sales representative with Forms In A Wink, to provide an eye-catching package that serves as a tray to hold crowns and bridge work. Previously, the lab used a white corrugated box imprinted in two colors with its name, contact information and a list of its products and services. "Jakson is definitely a think-out-of-the-box owner, no pun intended," says Winkler, whose distributorship is based in North Tonawanda, N.Y. "He wanted to incorporate an attractive tray device that includes aspects of the Buffalo area." Jakson told Winkler he wanted a 4-color box that would slip over the corrugated boxes that hold dental prosthetics. "He said, 'I need the boxes at X price,'" says Winkler. "It was my job to see if that was feasible." Winkler turned to a trusted manufacturer, Columbus PaperBox in Columbus, Ohio. He sent the company a sample of the corrugated box. It suggested several options, including a ready-to-use rigid box and one delivered flat that the customer could construct prior to usage. To save on storage space, Dental Tech Laboratory opted for the latter. Columbus PaperBox created a blank prototype with custom folds and die cuts, which the lab approved. Then the lab sent digital artwork, created by a designer at a dental supply company with whom it partners, to the manufacturer. The top of the box features a photo of a smiling woman, the lab's name and logo and its mission statement. The four sides depict photo montages of smiling faces and western New York landscapes, such as the Buffalo skyline and Niagara Falls. Dental Tech Laboratory's name also is imprinted on each side. Columbus PaperBox produced 5,000 boxes, which measure 7 1/2 x 6 x 4 inches when folded. The lab places sterilized crowns and bridges inside an 8 x 5-inch, 2-color plastic bag. The bag is imprinted with the company name and logo and includes spaces to write the doctor and patient's name. The lab then places the filled bag inside the corrugated box and slips the 4-color box over that. It delivers the boxes via courier to dentists' offices. In addition to an attractive package, Dental Tech Laboratory had other criteria: The box needed to be durable enough to withstand storage, folding and delivery and still look good. "We hit every single one of those goals, and the customer had no qualms whatsoever," says Winkler. Forms In A Wink is now working on a reorder for the box. Winkler credits much of the success on the project to a solid relationship with Dental Tech Laboratory. "We have a good rapport with this customer," he says. "We're on the same page and understand the quality they want." Have a solution? Click here to be featured in Solution of the Week