Service Contract News! Cedex Cell Counters, Chemistry Analyzers and the Cellavista!!!

Good News! And Timely! Just today, since only a few hours ago, I can offer service contracts on the Cedex Cell Counter and the rest of Innovatis' instrument line.

For our friends in GMP/pharma labs, this means an actual, factory-certified service technician can come to your very own lab, and using certified actual parts and training can actually PM or repair your Cedex Automated Cell Counter!

Some have suggested cell counters really don't need regular maintenance, but they usually count chunks of precipitate and consider their error acceptable. Imagine- making pharmaceutical drugs for your children with 'acceptable artifact error'!

Seriously though: I used to work for Innovatis, and I've been inside these Cedex instruments. It's pretty complicated (I work on robots, and I think these are tricky). There's a microscope inside the classic model, with stepper motors connected to the stage and focus knobs.

But then there's the CuBiAn XC Benchtop Chemistry Analyzer- and its precursor the Daytona. These have refrigeration, motor drivers, liquid handling and data acquisition. If you're using one of these in a clinical lab, or in pharma development, you should definitely get it checked out periodically.

THEN there's the Cellavista. This is why I joined Innovatis, and wow it's cool. But nobody in North America- hardly anybody in the world knows how it works or how to fix it!

We're looking forward to traveling to Puerto Rico and Japan, but right now domestic laboratories (US) with Innovatis products should contact Monster Laboratories for a service quote.

Application Support for Laboratory Robots

Looking for ways to let academic labs and startups know about a service I offer. For a few years, I've been installing and troubleshooting robots in the lab. I've handled most brands, most models, and I've actually worked in the lab performing the work the robots are expected to do.

It's not all obvious. Someone with a pretty good background could probably work their way through an installation, but you'd burn a lot of time. And if you need parts, how can you be sure?

I also train. So when I install a robot, I'll train the users to operate it.

Lab Robotics Application Support

Monster Laboratories is now offering Application Support in our Training program. One of my favorite things about selling robots is the installation and training part. I really like the manual work, playing with the doodads and set screws, but especially with Tecan instruments, the transition from wonderment to 'I can't wait to use this!' is gratifying.

I've spent a decade using and fixing and installing robots and training people to a starting point. Now I want to go the extra step and lend my experience to turning a big, heavy object into an essential member of the laboratory.

PCR prep, plasmid and nucleic acid separation, ELISA, chemistry, all kinds of applications are possible. But the perspective must be a little different than the point of view of the lab tech at the bench, performing the steps one at a time.

Call Monster Laboratories for help getting your robot to do what you want.

Used Lab Equipment and the Computers They Need

We've been requiring our customers to provide their own PC when they buy an instrument requiring a controlling computer. The reason is simple: I hate computers. I've been through four in the past 6 years. If we provide a computer, I'm pretty sure I'll have to handle support questions, and I don't want to support a PC.

However, due to an ongoing experience at a University- a real one, not some Bob Jones brainwash institute but a major state University, we may have to reconsider.

In December, I shipped a Tecan Genesis robot. Then, at least a month ago, my client placed an order and completed the request procedures to get a regular PC loaded with Windows XP, which is the only operating system we should be bothering with. His request is still bogged down in administration.

If I'd provided the computer, the IT department would be presented with a simple fait accompli. Instead, we set up an installation at moderate but significant expense, and there was no PC. We had to scrounge a loaner from a friendly lab, loaded of course with Win7, so the WinNT software simply didn't work.

These robots run on software using server technology and stacked databases, and most of them were built on Windows NT. The scheduling juggle has apparently gotten a lot faster or more complex. I had to leave without completing the installation properly, even though all the pieces of the application appeared to be working by the end of it.

And, of course, we had to have Charles from the Help Desk come out to the lab about four times to authorize the installation of the software.

So I guess I need a PC tech now.

Tecan Genesis Service

We really like to work on Tecan Genesis robots. We think they're the best robots available (Of course, the EVO is sweet!), and we have lots of experience in the field, in our shop, and in actual laboratories.


Contact us to see about keeping your Genesis robot on the road. We do routine service, preventive maintenance, repairs and modifications.


PAX,

Used Lab Equipment

A quick list of newly acquired instruments:


1 Tecan Carousel HS- for Genesis or EVO

2 Cedex automated cell counter (trypan blue exclusion)

1 Packard Multiprobe II HT EX

2 Beckman Biomek 2000

1 Tecan Genesis 150/8/ RoMa- ready

3 EMBLA cell/plate washers from Skatron




We also have several XP3000 dilutors for Tecan Genesis /Freedom robots.

All States World Cargo

All States World Cargo did a pretty good job shipping instruments for me, at least for machines traveling over 10,000 miles. Recently they carried a pallet to California from Philadelphia. The recipient wasn't there to receive- twice. Still, there is no acceptable excuse for destroying the instrument by mishandling.

This was a Biomek 2000, alone on a pallet. It was padded, and it only weighs about 75 pounds. When it arrived, nuts had walked off their bolts, and the controller board was jostled too much.

We sell Biomeks for $10,000, but this one was supposed to help someone who got a non-functioning unit from another vendor. So I charged him less than that with the stipulation he'd trade it in here when he outgrew it.

In all, AllStates World Cargo cost me at least $16,000 in lost inventory and cash. Shippers don't seem to give a crap when they fail their customers though. UPS screwed me with indifference. A storm in the midwest made their train late or something stupid like that. Professional shipping is one area where accountability is apparently optional.

I'm thinking about suing AllStates though.

Inventory Check 06 2009

Hi!
Today we have:
TWO Cedex cell counter and viability analyzers, both with carousel-style autosamplers,
TWO Beckman Biomek 2000 liquid handling robots,
One Packard Multiprobe II HT EX,
One Tecan Carousel HS (For Genesis-EVO),
Skatron EMBLA washers,
Plate Readers,
and some molecular biology stuff.