As an industrial business owner, you know that the equipment your staff utilizes makes or breaks your business. Give them low-quality equipment and your staff will have no choice but to turn out low-quality products. To avoid compromising the integrity of your products, we encourage you to take these things into consideration when buying new lab equipment.
Price is a must when considering purchasing any new equipment for a business. However, it shouldn’t be the only deciding factor. It’s a good idea to do some quick surveying of average prices for the new equipment that you need. Then, construct a viable budget to ensure that you give yourself limitations on how much your business can comfortably spend on the new lab equipment. It’s never a good idea to really start researching products without first having a budget in mind. Nine times out of ten, you’ll find that you spend more money when you don’t have a budget set as compared to having a budget set from the very start.
The contract with the supplier of the equipment is another thing to consider. Most of the time, you won’t be purchasing your products directly from the manufacturer. Rather, you’ll be purchasing them from the various suppliers which stock products, such as the Sutherland 2000 Rub Tester. You want to ensure that the supplier which you’re using to purchase your lab equipment has a service contract for the products. This way if you have problems with your equipment later down the road, you know who to call to get your equipment serviced.
The newest lab equipment can be extremely effective, however, that’s only the case when your employees know how to run it. When it becomes time to purchase updated equipment, you must think about employee integration. Will your staff need a quick day of training to be updated on the new piece of technology or will they need a full week of training? The amount of training is an important consideration as well as who will be doing the training. Many suppliers will offer on-site training for more specialized equipment for an additional fee. This is something you should consider in your final price.
The actual environment that the equipment will be utilized in is another consideration you need to bring to the table. You don’t want to purchase equipment which cannot be used in the environment in which your lab offers. For example, if you have a cryo-lab that is chilled at specific cold temperatures to help with your business’s testing, you’re going to need lab equipment which can withstand those cold temperatures. Consider the actual environment that each new piece of equipment will be used in and make a list of the necessary features that product must have to function correctly in that environment.
Purchasing lab equipment can seem like a big task at first. If you take the time to consider all of the things that are listed out above, you’ll be sure to purchase equipment that meets your needs. It’s always worth it to take time to consider major equipment purchases as they can be quite costly and not something you want to have a mishap with.