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Overview

A case is the main object in Pilot. It represents a specific instance of work for a customer, such as a dental restoration, orthodontic treatment, or other service. Each case contains detailed information about the work to be performed, the products used, and the associated production schedule.

Case Information​

Every case in Pilot contains the following information:

Core Fields​

  1. Case Status: The current stage in the case lifecycle (see Case Lifecycle below)
  2. Patient: The patient's name for whom the work is being performed
  3. Casepan: The physical pan identifier for the case
  4. Customer: The doctor-office pair for whom the case is being created
  5. Due Date: When the case needs to be in the doctor's office
  6. Ship Date: When the case needs to be shipped to meet the due date. This is automatically calculated based on the due date minus the number of days the shipping route takes (accounting for Saturday/Sunday shipping availability)
  7. Invoiced Date: When the case was invoiced. This can only be adjusted after invoicing but before the case goes into a statement
  8. Shipped Date: When the case was shipped. This can only be adjusted after shipping the case

Organization and Tracking​

  1. Case Type: User-defined dropdown values for categorizing cases
  2. Patient Appointment Date and Time: When the customer expects the patient for their appointment (can also be used to track custom shade appointments)
  3. Tags: User-created tags with colors for easy filtering and organization
  4. Custom Fields: Additional fields configured in Admin → Settings → Custom Fields

Notes​

  1. Doctor Notes: Notes provided by the customer for this order
  2. Billing Notes: Lab's internal notes that will appear in the "Memo" field on the case invoice

Shipping Information​

  1. Shipping Route: By default selected from the customer's office default shipping route, but can be changed as needed
  2. Charge Shipping: Whether to charge the customer for shipping (uses the shipping route's "Cost to Customer" property)
  3. Tracking Number: The tracking number of the shipment (when applicable)

Case Lifecycle​

A case goes through several stages in Pilot, each representing a different phase of the case lifecycle. Understanding these stages is crucial for effective case management:

Case Statuses​

  1. Entry: This status is intended for the pre-production phase. It is assigned in two situations:

    • When a case is accepted through our IOS portal and the "Go Live" flag was off
    • When a case is created manually, and the "Go Live" button was not pressed

  2. Live: This status is intended for the production phase, indicating that the case is accepted and the products are being manufactured. It is assigned when the "Go Live" button is pressed or if the case is accepted through the IOS portal with the "Go Live" flag on

  3. Invoiced: This status is used when a case has been invoiced

  4. Closed: This status is used when the invoice was finalized and the case is "closed"

  5. Deleted: This status is used when you don't want to proceed with the case but want to keep a record of it. Deleted cases can have a deletion reason (e.g., "Cancelled"). You cannot delete invoiced and closed cases

System Flags​

In addition to having typical lifecycle statuses, cases can simultaneously have other states that are binary flags (true/false):

  1. Hold: This flag is used when a case is temporarily paused or requires additional information before proceeding. A case on hold can have a hold reason specified under "Dropdown Values" in settings

  2. Outsourced: This flag is used when a case is sent to an external partner for production or fulfillment. To outsource a case, you need to have Outsourcing Partners set up

    Outsourcing Rules
    • Only cases with status "Live" can be outsourced
    • You can only outsource to the same outsourcing partner once
    info

    Every outsourced case can be returned from outsource or the outsource can be cancelled

    info

    If a case has any products with an outsourcing production template, Pilot automatically re-creates the production schedule based on that template

  3. Shipped: This flag is used when a case is shipped. Once the case is closed, shipping/unshipping is not possible

Actions in Entry Status​

While a case is in Entry status, you can:

  • Go Live: Schedule the case and move it to production
  • Put on Hold: Temporarily pause the case with a hold reason
  • Delete Permanently: Remove the case completely from the system
  • Delete with Record: Delete the case but preserve a record with a deletion reason (e.g., "Customer Cancelled")
  • Merge Cases: Combine this case with another case in "Entry" or "Live" status if it's a duplicate. This moves attachments and scans from the source case to the destination case

Actions in Live Status​

Once a case moves to Live status, you can:

  • Invoice: Create an invoice for the case
  • Ship: Mark the case as shipped and create a shipment
  • Outsource: Send the case to an external partner

Printing Options​

Once a case is in Live status, you can print:

  • Work Ticket: Production documentation for the lab
  • Draft Invoice: Preview of the invoice before finalizing
  • Package Label: Label for the case package
  • Crown Label: Label for individual crowns or units

After the case is invoiced:

  • Invoice: The actual invoice can be printed

After the case is shipped (with non-local shipping routes):

  • Shipping Label: Carrier-provided shipping label

Creating a Case​

Requirements​

Every case must have the following:

  • To Add Products: Customer
  • To Go Live: Patient name, active customer, and (unique) casepan if those settings are enabled
  • To Ship: Office shipping address and a shipping route
  • To Invoice: A billing account associated with the customer, and the customer with "Active" status

Optional Components​

Cases can have additional components, such as:

  • Line Items: Each case can have multiple line items, which represent the products or services provided. Line items can be added, modified, or removed as needed
  • Production Schedule: If you have configured production tasks and templates
  • Linked Cases: If you have a remake or a multi-stage product, you can link cases together (see Case Linking and Remakes below)
  • Exception Tasks: Ad hoc tasks that need to be performed on the case. For example, if a case came in with distorted scans (or no scans at all), you need to communicate it to the doctor, assign the task to someone, and give it a due date
  • Custom Fields: Additional fields that you can add to track information not covered by default fields
  • Attachments: Non-scan files associated with the case, such as photos or other documents
  • Scans: Digital files that represent the patient's dental anatomy, such as STL, PLY, or other 3D scan file formats

Case Tabs​

Activity Tab​

The Activity tab contains all case communication and key events:

  • Comment Threads: Internal lab communication
  • Message Threads: Doctor-lab communication
  • Call Logs: Calls related to this case
  • Case Warnings: Automatically-identified issues
  • Case Actions: Important events that occurred on the case

Learn more in the Activity Tab documentation.

Events Log Tab​

The Events Log tab provides comprehensive audit logs for every single activity and event that happened on the case, including:

  • Who made changes and when
  • What fields were modified
  • Status transitions
  • Production task updates
  • Communication history
  • And much more

This detailed audit trail ensures complete transparency and accountability for all case-related actions.

Case Linking and Remakes​

Understanding Rounds and Remake Rounds​

Every case has two important tracking numbers:

  1. Round: The sequential number in the case chain (1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc.)
  2. Remake Round: The sequential number of consecutive remake connections (0, 1st, 2nd, etc.)

When a case is created initially, it's the first round and not a remake (remake round = 0).

Linking Cases​

Cases can be linked together to track relationships between orders. This is useful for:

  • Remakes: When a case needs to be redone due to quality issues, patient changes, or other reasons
  • Multi-phase products: When a product is completed in multiple stages

How Linking Works​

When linking cases:

  1. Select Remake or Non-Remake Connection:

    • Remake connection: The new case becomes the next round and the remake round increments
    • Non-remake connection: The new case becomes the next round but the remake round resets to 0

  2. Round Progression:

    • Each linked case always increases the round number
    • Remake rounds only increment when two or more adjacent linked cases are remake connections
    • Once you link a case that is not a remake, the remake round resets to 0

Linking Rules​

Linking Constraints
  • You cannot link TO a case that was already linked to (no branching)
  • You cannot link FROM a case that is already linked to another case (no multiple children)
  • You can only link to the last case in the chain (maintain linear progression)

Linking with Remake Connections​

When creating a remake connection (manually or via automated suggestions), you can:

  1. Select which line items to bring from the linked case
  2. Mark line items as remakes or regular items
  3. Specify remake reasons for each remake line item

This detailed tracking allows you to understand exactly what is being remade and why.

Automated Remake Identification​

Pilot helps you identify potential remakes automatically:

From IOS Portal​

When you accept a case from the IOS portal, Pilot automatically identifies if the case is a potential remake based on:

  • Office(s) from the scanner mappings
  • Patient name
  • Optionally, notation (configurable in App Settings)

If matches are found, you'll see a yellow pulsating button with the number of potential remakes identified.

Manual Case Creation​

When creating a case manually:

  1. Enter the patient name and select a customer (in any order)
  2. Pilot will search for potential remakes
  3. If found, you'll see the same yellow pulsating button with the number of matches

Creating Remake Connections​

Once you create a remake connection (link) to another case:

  • The current case is marked as a remake
  • The line item remake menu becomes available
  • You can track which items are being remade, remake reasons, and remake units

Combining Shipments​

If the setting is enabled, Pilot will automatically recommend shipments to combine your current case into. This helps streamline the shipping process and can reduce shipping costs.

The algorithm works as follows:

Pilot looks for all shipments created between the last and next pickup time specified on your shipping route that are from the same shipping provider. If potential shipments are found, a dialog appears with recommended options:

  • Combine the current case with an existing shipment
  • Create a new shipment with the current route and add cases from a selected shipment into this new one
  • Create a new shipment for the current case only

Best Practices​

  • Use case tags to organize and filter cases by type, priority, or other criteria
  • Link remake cases immediately to maintain accurate tracking and prevent confusion
  • Add detailed doctor notes to ensure clear communication and reduce remake rates
  • Leverage custom fields to track lab-specific information that's important to your workflow
  • Review the Events Log when investigating case issues or tracking down specific changes
  • Use billing notes to communicate important information that should appear on invoices