Another challenge for the service contractors concerns advancements to the industry, which have made things harder.

"There is a tendency to buy a lot of robotics, which is a reaction to the fact that lab technicians are becoming difficult to acquire so they have to make things more automatic and use less people," Johnson says. "That makes it harder for us because that must be serviced by the manufacturer, so we don't get into that. Some things don't lend themselves to robotics."


On the other hand, John Baker, regional director of service operations for NovaMed Corporation, which services various research lab equipment modalities, feels there is more acceptance and a heightened interest in second source, used and refurbished equipment.

"The biggest challenge is educating the consumer that there are other resolutions to their service and maintenance needs besides the OEM," he says. "Hospitals and their biomed departments already know this, but many private research companies and university research labs are using OEM servicing solely because they are unaware of the competition out there."

Baker also sees vast changes in the equipment being a positive for those in the used and refurbished markets.

"Equipment is getting smaller; a piece of equipment that used to take up half a lab bench is now no bigger than an inkjet printer," says Baker. "Also, thanks to advanced detector technologies, the need for radioactive sources is dwindling. This eliminates the headaches and risks that come with the need for a hot lab or handling and storing radioactive elements."

For years, the physician office lab market waited patiently for the next benchmark chemistry instrument to be announced as the extremely successful systems designed specifically for in-office diagnostics were aging without any suitable replacements.

"Chemistry manufacturers launched and often shelved new systems without any clear new benchmark system emerging," says James Donoghue, president of MDLaboratory Services, which has been installing, training, troubleshooting and providing emergency field service on POL instrumentation since 1985. "Some manufacturers joined, or very nearly joined, their failed products in obscurity."




The large and constantly growing demand provided too great a temptation to unprepared sellers without a reliable product to offer. Certain companies took the most successful concepts of their best selling equipment and incorporated advanced materials and technology to offer reliable instrumentation designed to last.

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