Hi, it’s Ryan Andrews here. I am REUZEit’s Chief Innovation Officer and have been an integral part of the company’s overall development. Over the past 10+ years, my vision of creating a circular economy through Surplus Asset Management as a service has propelled the company to what it is today. Today I’m sharing a story on lab equipment redeployment, our dedication to a thorough triage process, and how REUZEit helps biotech labs save money.
When discussing lab equipment redeployment with our clients, one of the biggest hurdles to overcome is the general view towards used lab equipment. Often, I have seen that scientists look at used lab supplies with little trust because of some experience they have had in the past. Maybe they bought something on eBay or from an auction house in the past, and it arrived utterly unusable, leaving them with a useless paperweight. To make matters worse, this would leave them even more behind schedule and scrambling to find a new item to replace. I completely understand and see how this could leave a negative impact. Who wants to risk money gone to waste and schedule setbacks?
Compiling the Gap List
I was in South San Francisco working on a project build-out, a new site location for one of our clients; they were moving from a 30,000 sq ft facility to a 200,000 sq ft facility. While we were in the war room discussing the timelines and actions that needed to be complete, a common discussion is the Gap List and its corresponding budget. The Gap List is comprised of the assets required to be purchased to get the departments up and running. Assets on the Gap Lists can be anything from furniture to analytical equipment to building utilities.
Hesitation to Purchase Used Lab Equipment
I brought up to the group that we can log in to their company’s private REUZEit portal to identify any potential assets that their company already owned from all locations worldwide, which could be redeployed for this project. As a typical response, I received some pushback for the same reasons I discussed above; worries about malfunctioning machines were the most prominent concern and mainly came from the R&D lab manager, Rick. Rick had told me some stories of buying used laboratory equipment and that he just was not comfortable taking the risk. Because their budget was restricted for capital expenditure, we had to get creative.
I explained to Rick and the rest of the team that we have designed a very detailed process within our Asset Intake Procedure (AIP) to address this particular issue. We understand the feelings towards used lab equipment and feel we have developed a method to mitigate the risk of receiving a giant paperweight at your dock.
The Triage Process
First, we designed a triage process based on value; the higher the value, the more thorough the process. Why not apply all the same process? Well, because it simply is not necessary to do complete systems performance tests on an office chair. Its condition, like that of many low-value assets, can be identified very quickly. However, more expensive and typically vital assets need much more attention because the result of it not working when the end-user received it would be drastic. The process is similar to the Certified Pre Owned process at many car dealerships, where manufacturers like Ford or Chevrolet will have a specific “30 point check” that the car would go through to give buyers faith that it’s not a lemon.
Make sense?
So, once it’s triaged into a particular value class, each class has a process to follow in order to move onto the next phase of the asset vetting process. This is where we apply a classification to each asset. This classification, labeled Class 1, 2, 3 or 4, is applied based on a set of parameters each asset must meet to qualify that condition.
Classes 1 and 2 are considered “turnkey” and/or otherwise working systems. Class 3 “needs work but is repairable,” and Class 4 is “as is”. For example, a typical Class 1 instrument will have 10-12 detailed pictures, multiple performance tests completed, and all components to work as intended when manufactured and checked out by one of our in-house service technicians. On the flip side, a Class 4 would have 1-5 pictures and far less time spent qualifying the asset.
I then explain to Rick that we only allow Class 1 and Class 2 systems to be visible and available for redeployment on the REUZEit platform. We do our absolute best to ensure a lemon is not received.
So what did Rick do? Stay tuned for Part 2! We can’t wait to tell you about the incredible resolution to this story.
REUZEit
Whether you’re searching for innovative chemistry lab equipment or looking to replace broken lab equipment, REUZEit offers low-cost solutions that work as hard as you do. Browse the best surplus and gently used biotech and pharmaceutical equipment on the market! Check out our USA-based store or our European Store to shop discount laboratory equipment.
