D&S Dental Laboratory: After 40 Years, People Are Still Its Purpose

When Dick Pilsner started D&S Dental Laboratory in 1972, his first "employee" was his grandmother who showed up on the first day to help answer phones and stayed for months, eventually taking over pickup and delivery. Worried she was working too hard, Dick spoke to her doctor—also his doctor—who said, "She's healthier than you...now stop eating hamburgers at the bench."

But Pilsner—and his wife, Sally—never stopped being concerned about their employees and that has been the culture at D&S for the last 40 years. Now with three locations and 77 employees, the Waunakee, WI laboratory remains true to its mission: focusing on the internal customer. "We want to have a community at work, rather than just a workplace," says Pilsner. "We started off as a 'ma-and-pa' business and, although we can't operate like that anymore, we can't lose sight of the original philosophy: that it's all about each other."

For example, in 1998, aware of the pressures...