Chamlion: Leading Brand Giant in the Dental Digital Revolution

Recently, EqualOcean had the privilege of interviewing Wang Zhitao, the CEO of Chamlion, to discuss its unique aspects and keys to success in the field of dental 3D printing. The following are excerpts from the interview:

Customer Orientation Strategy 

Chamlion is renowned for its wide product coverage and strong competitiveness. The CEO emphasized that the key to becoming a brand lies in serving more people and meeting the needs of more customers. He mentioned that Chamlion has nearly 300 distributed cloud factories worldwide and adopts the C2M (Customer-to-Manufacturer) model to scale up teeth production through 3D printing globally. This automated production method is unique worldwide. This innovative approach enables Chamlion to provide efficient, fast, and high-quality products while reducing customers' traditional production costs. Chamlion's products and services have quickly gained market recognition, establishing a strong brand image and competitive advantage.

Chamlion's main customers are distributed in different regions worldwide. The CEO explained that the global dental market is primarily driven by North America, Europe, and China, with China accounting for over 20% market share and Asia, Africa, and Latin America contributing to 20% of the revenue. In China, Chamlion has already covered 30% of its target customers, becoming a leader in the Chinese market. Meanwhile, Chamlion has also begun expanding into overseas markets, having established nearly 30 cloud factories in North America, Europe, and Asia. In the future, Chamlion plans to establish more digital manufacturing centers in the United States, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Turkey, Vietnam, and other locations to strengthen its global presence.

Market satisfaction is an important indicator of company achievements. Chamlion has achieved significant results in market satisfaction. The CEO pointed out that the core of the company is customer stickiness, dedicated to helping customers save costs and improve efficiency. He emphasized the company's four key points: fast interaction, product quality improvement, reducing customer costs, and helping customers increase revenue. In the domestic market, Chamlion maintains a customer repurchase rate of over 95% and a customer churn rate controlled between 3% and 5%. In the overseas market, cooperative customers remain stable, and the partnerships are strong.

One-stop  Digital Solution

Chamlion is committed to providing a one-stop dental 3D printing digital solution and leading the industry's digital transformation and upgrade. The CEO emphasized that Chamlion's research and services focus on customer production processes, aiming to provide more production automation processes to improve efficiency. The company conducts comprehensive research in materials, automation, and software control to address the problems of customers' inefficient discrete production processes and traditional production processes. Chamlion's goal is to achieve automation for most production processes after customers place orders, allowing customers to only complete the final mile of delivery. Chamlion's leading position in the digital field is derived from China's leading role in global digital development. The company will export Chinese technology to North America and Europe, providing high-quality and cost-effective dental products worldwide.

During the overseas expansion process, the company faced differences in policies across different countries. The CEO mentioned that each country has different requirements for medical device compliance. To meet local medical regulatory standards, Chamlion must study and comply with the laws and regulations of each country. Additionally, the company also faces challenges in talent recruitment and management. To address these issues, Chamlion dispatches teams to core countries, cultivating local sales, technical, and delivery capabilities. At the same time, the company needs to study customs policies and logistics transportation issues in different countries. These challenges require dedicated foreign trade teams for research and resolution.

Steps to Global Expansion

Regarding the acceptance of Chinese technology in Western countries, the CEO stated that the company took some time for validation. By cooperating with top local clients, Chamlion showcased the advantages of Chinese technology and won over customers through data and sample comparisons. Cooperation based on solid capabilities progressed quickly. The company first established a small number of production lines in core countries, validating the acceptance of the technology through market feedback. Within a year, Chamlion established cloud factories in core countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. Based on market feedback, the company plans to rapidly expand its scale in the second half of the year, expanding into more countries and regions.

In its overseas expansion, Chamlion leveraged accumulated resources in equipment sales and established direct channels with end customers. The CEO emphasized that the company adopts a direct sales model, similar to Starbucks, directly engaging with end customers for sample testing and establishing delivery centers or cloud factories. Additionally, the company participates in international exhibitions to showcase Chinese technology and establish connections with local laboratories. These strategies have helped Chamlion quickly reach multiple countries, achieving rapid market expansion.

Does the establishment of numerous production lines in different countries bring financial pressure to the company? The CEO acknowledged that it does require capital follow-up. Chamlion's business model is relatively complex, including the closed-loop of materials, software, and automation. It requires capital support. In the past two years, the company has gained recognition and support from mainstream domestic and foreign investment institutions, raising nearly CNY 400 million in financing, and providing financial security for the company's rapid market deployment.

Growth Plan For the Future 

In terms of technological advancements, Chamlion will focus on several key areas: Firstly, the company will concentrate on enhancing design. The CEO pointed out that efficiency in design and related software development and designer training is crucial at the global forefront of 3D printing. Therefore, improving design efficiency and cultivating professional design talents will be the company's future focus.

Secondly, automation is another important area of focus for Chamlion. From a single laser printer to an entire automated production line and unmanned factories, the construction of intelligent factories has become a development trend in the industry. In addition to improving the performance of existing tools, coordinating with automation equipment and realizing more automation features such as coding and intelligence will drive the development of unmanned factories.

Furthermore, Chamlion will prioritize process control improvement. Process control is crucial for delivering high-quality products and requires the development of relevant software algorithms. The company will strive to overcome these challenges and continue to allocate significant resources to research and development in design, automation, and the public domain.

In addition to expanding its sales scale and entering international markets, Chamlion also plans to deepen its presence in the dental field and gradually extend into other body parts. The CEO stated that the dental industry has enormous market potential, with a global market size exceeding USD 30 billion and an annual compound growth rate of over 15%. In the future, the company will use 3D printing technology to expand into the manufacturing of titanium alloy spinal columns, hip joints, knee joints, and even heart stents. The manufacturing of these high-precision products will become a key direction for the company's research and development in the medical device field.

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