This article was originally posted on our LinkedIn
All laboratory professionals have, at one point in their life, had to run the gauntlet of lab supply procurement. They may reach out to their neighbors to borrow leftovers, maybe go on Amazon, however, they all inevitably end up on one of the “big three” distribution websites. Subsequently this leads to the realization that the extra ten 15mL conical tubes Chuck needs to harvest one last cell culture before the weekend, will turn into either an Amazon order from “Conical Kingdom USA” in a (barely) sterile pack of 25, or a full case of 500 from one of the big boys.
“Well, we definitely won’t buy from Conical Kingdom USA as we are a professional laboratory and the packs were probably manufactured in someone’s bedroom using a $50 particle counter so they can claim an “ISO 8″ environment,” you tell yourself. But what about the case of 500? I mean, if you need some extra tubes right now, you will probably run into this same issue in the future so you might as well get the full case. This happens to many a lab, and in reality, these are the labs with boxes of unused and unopened inventory that have made their way onto the break room table.
Running a lean operation means every dollar and every inch of space counts, and the traditional distribution model caters to neither of these.
Maybe I am cynical as I used to be the rep missing my commission check because Susan decided to get a four year supply of pipette tips, and that’s all I knew how to sell, or maybe this is an issue that nobody has wanted to fix yet?
I’m not going to spend too much time here as I just remembered tubes do expire, and I’m trying to figure out how I will return the thousands worth I just purchased, if Saguaro doesn’t work out! Like me, many labs, big and small, struggle with waste due to expiration. This quote is from an NIH article in 2022:
“Over the past year, 12.94% (37,488.76 US$) of laboratory commodities were wasted due to damage and expiration, while the average stock out date was 58 days.”
Their paper was focused on large facilities, imagine the waste at a smaller facility. Lean labs typically burn through consumables slower than large ones. I used to sell $10,000 worth of tubes to a low to mid size account here in Arizona, like clockwork each month. I also had a very small client in the veterinary space who would purchase one case of pipette tips every six months. These are extreme examples, but nonetheless, there are products which lean run labs need that traditional channels simply don’t offer in reasonable package sizes. If you are stuck in that situation, not only will the excess take over your back room, but you will be burning money on lost inventory if you can’t use them before they expire (just like me ha).
Bulk ordering sounds like a great idea, until you are wrapping up an experiment and run out of pipette tips. Again, all you need is 15 but you are stuck between a barely sterile pack from Tips Plus USA or a case of 1000 from distribution. Small labs don’t have the cash flow of a fortune 500 or a large hospital network and every dollar counts.
When small labs have too much money tied up in consumable inventory, it takes away from other needs including equipment repairs, hiring new staff, or solving new issues.
Bulk purchasing is for huge, high throughput labs, not the ones shopping on eBay for a used centrifuge (no warranty included). Lean labs need flexibility, not “case-locked” capital pretending to be usable inventory.
The example I have here is a little…out there, but bear with me! As the wise Michael Scott once said, “Well, well, well…how the turntables.” When the tables do turn in the laboratory procurement environment, it is the smaller labs who get flung right off of them (and into all those leftover boxes of Chuck’s conical tubes). Picture this, your lab is running at peak efficiency thanks to the wise decision by management to implement Ranin pipettors into your workflow, increasing the lab’s throughput by 293%. Your team gets a year supply of name brand pipette tips, at the cost of a salary bump. A few months later however, Ranin’s patent expires and the market is flooded with hundreds of “off brand” high-quality Ranin compatible pipette tips at significantly lower prices, and you can’t benefit from the new prices until next year.
Bulk purchasing locks lean run labs into yesterday’s prices, products and decisions.
Lean labs need lean inventory so they can make quick decisions and pivot as necessary. And once again, the traditional distribution system fails.
Did you really think I was going to give you all this hot take content without promoting the business? I feel (even with my short three years in the field) that people are beginning to despise the big manufacturers. Whether this is due to their subpar buying experience or just because Chuck told you his tube story, the theme I noticed was that disdain for distribution was mostly prevalent in the small labs. This is where I hope Saguaro Scientific can step in.
There is a white space between Amazon and Avantor, where the small but serious scientists purchase. That is where Saguaro Scientific lives, and where we will remain.
A dream with no inventory bloat, minimal waste, and small enough quantities to not feel trapped. Exact inventory counts, quick responses to questions, and package quantities that actually make sense for smaller labs. And hey, if you do need to buy bulk, we won’t make you setup an account to get a discount.
If your labs are running lean, shouldn’t your suppliers be too?