Laboratory equipment: Making decisions about what to buy and why

In today’s fast-changing working environment within the life sciences, it is vital that you, as the manager of the laboratory, establish answers to several important questions. These questions include: What kind of equipment can I afford? What specific equipment will be useful? And what should I look for in an equipment seller?

Just as best practices in the lab are constantly evolving, so are the answers to these questions.

As the CEO of a life science supply company that is attuned to the 21st century marketplace, I have some insights to share that might help with these decisions.

To begin with, if your lab depends on funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Research Council of Canada, The Canadian Institutes of Health Research or some other funding body, you are already aware that the question of what equipment you can afford can change as funding levels vary considerably from year to year.  Although it is hard not to be pleased with the $1 billion increase that was built for example into the 2014 NIH budget, it is also not clear what lies ahead for biomedical research enterprises in the coming years. Of course I do not know your individual funding situation, but generally speaking, it is critical to keep abreast of funding bodies budget negotiations and study the final budget to evaluate your purchasing options.

On a related note, a recent study conducted by Frost & Sullivan on behalf of the Laboratory Products Association (LPA) asked researchers to identify the most important factors involved in choosing new lab instrumentation. Respondents uniformly chose four items: lower purchase costs, lower operating costs, increased accuracy and easier-to-operate capabilities. Such considerations are likely to grow in importance in the next few years; according to the LPA study, overall growth in the lab product market is expected to grow 2.1 per cent in 2014 to $39.4 billion and 2.7 per cent in 2015 to $40.5 billion. The U.S. lab product market is expected to grow 1.3 per cent in 2014 to $15.2 billion and 2.6 per cent in 2015 to $15.6 billion.

Turning to specific purchasing decisions, your individual needs will of course vary; but certain trends are clear today in 2014. Products particularly in demand in the modern lab these days include devices for protein electrophoresis and nucleic acid electroporation, and electroporation. Another area of in-demand equipment is spectrophotometers.

The rise of Big Data within the life sciences is influencing equipment purchases as well. Specifically, I am seeing a general uptick in interest inDNA/RNA separation equipment, as well as equipment designed to facilitate cell-based therapeutics. There is a growing sentiment that treating patients with cells might one day become as common as it is now to treat the sick with drugs made from engineered proteins, antibodies or smaller chemicals, and I believe that purchasing decisions will evolve in the coming years to mirror these endeavors.

Aside from questions of what equipment to buy, there is a separate trend influencing lab purchases in 2014: more than ever, lab buyers are learning that the particular companies with whom they do business matters a great deal. In the U.S., the vast majority of life science products that researchers receive come from a very small roster of  manufacturers. As a result, these customers might not be getting the best value possible in terms of service, prices and information.

In the future, I believe customers will not only be seeking to purchase products alone; they will be looking for greater value in terms of more personal customer service and guidance.

In turn, equipment manufacturers should aim to help each and every one of their customers to become more efficient in their work and fulfill their specific objectives. Customers are not merely looking for a box to show up on their doorstep with the products they have ordered; they expect to receive a more personalized level of support.

The customer wants to see reasonable prices and good value; good suppliers have always provided these, but great suppliers go beyond this. The best companies don’t just offer good products at competitive prices but also offer support to their customers before, during and after the purchase.

Going forward, value and price will remain important in equipment purchasing decisions, but the ability to provide client-on-demand consultation, specific advice based on clients’ need to boost productivity, and personalized support, will reign supreme. The best suppliers will employ salespeople who have specific knowledge of the features and benefits of the products they sell, and who are willing to visit your lab to demonstrate its operation. It is definitely worth inquiring whether a supplier
offers this level of service prior to making a purchasing decision.

Likewise, the skill levels of the clinical diagnosticians using the lab equipment should be given some serious thought before making a significant purchase. Will the end-users require additional training on how to properly operate the equipment or how to optimize results, and is training provided online or offline and at what cost? Will the end-users have unlimited access to online usage, maintenance and vendor performance reports and will those reports be provided at no cost?

An additional consideration if one purchases new equipment is whether to buy a service contract. A service contract can include many services beyond a general warranty, such as software updates, calibration, certification, preventative maintenance, priority service and/or additional discounts on upgrades. Service contracts can be costly, and one can either discuss options with colleagues or make one’s own informed decision.

In the end, your due diligence regarding the above criteria will help determine what considerations coincide with how to best serve a laboratory. It is important to choose wisely when making such a significant purchase; do not rush things. The final purchase will ultimately come down to the right piece of lab equipment that meets the majority of your wish list needs and is the most beneficial to everyone involved. The perfect solution for purchasing lab equipment for a lab is out there; one just needs to do the necessary homework to find it.