News

Award for Thermo Electron

Thermo Electron Corporation has recently been presented with two Omega NorthFace ScoreBoard awards for excellence in customer service. The awards were established in 2000 by the Omega Management Group Corp. to recognize companies that receive high scores when rated by their own customers for their product quality, technical support, documentation, sales and marketing, field service, account management and training.

Omega surveyed more than 3000 of Thermo's customers during 2004 to evaluate two unique areas of customer service — installation satisfaction and field service. Results indicated that 97% of respondents would recommend the company's products and services to others.

Ronald George, Services Product Manager for Thermo Electron's scientific instruments business, comments: "We at Thermo Electron Corporation not only offer exceptional service to our customers, but we also try to exceed their expectations, a fact that explains our established loyal customer base. It is our policy to conduct regular surveys among our customers and we use the valuable input from these surveys to further develop our comprehensive laboratory services. By monitoring customer feedback and satisfaction levels, we are able to ensure that our customers are receiving the highest quality service possible."

Shimadzu celebrates anniversary

The Shimadzu Corporation is celebrating its 130th anniversary. It was founded in 1875 by Genzo Shimadzu to support Japan's commitment to the advancement of science.

Shimadzu has grown to become a $2 billion multinational corporation. The corporation consists of three major divisions: Medical Diagnostics, Aerospace/Industrial and Analytical Instrumentation, and has offices in over 70 countries around the world. It is reported that Shimadzu is one of the world's largest manufacturers of analytical instrumentation and environmental monitoring equipment.

It is famous for products such as the SolidSpec-3700 Series and the UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer in 2004. Shimadzu scientists recently worked with major pharmaceutical companies to develop new technology to advance the drug discovery process.

Partnership to help with AIDS in poor countries

Guava Technologies Inc. has announced a partnership with AHF Global Immunity to help tackle the problem of AIDS in countries with limited resources. The partnership aims initially to take low-cost diagnosis and treatment monitoring to five sites in rural locations in Uganda and South Africa. If this proves to be successful then the two companies hope to incorporate the Guava EasyCD4 testing system's use into HIV and AIDS clinics around the world.

"With many resource-limited areas of the world now gaining access to more affordable anti-retroviral drugs, accurate but simpler, more portable and less costly methods of CD4+ testing are urgently needed. We are pleased to collaborate with Guava technologies to bring such testing to several regions of Africa where the need is especially great," said Henry Chang, Executive Director, AHF Global Immunity.

Waters secures UK deal

Waters Corporation today announced that its flagship chromatography data solution, Empower Software, has been deployed in gas chromatography laboratories by Avecia, a leading global fine and speciality chemicals company based in Manchester, UK.

Sold with Waters^® Ultra Performance LC™ and HPLC instrumentation, Empower Software allows scientists to collect data and control multiple instruments — from Waters as well as third-party vendors — and report on their findings using an intuitive interface for increased productivity.

According to Robert Leask, Procurement Manager at Avecia, "Empower was compared against an intense list of user requirements for CDS.

Its comprehensive capabilities were major factors in the decision, especially the software's computer validation and 21 CFR 11 features." Leask also said that the company's decision was influenced by Waters' reputation as an industry leader with a successful CDS track record. "Post-sales service, training and support were other major considerations in the purchasing decision," he added.

The company has installed thousands of server networks since the release of its Millennium^® software, in 1992, the first chromatography data software to feature an embedded Oracle^® relational database that simplifies the organization and retrieval of scientific data. This feature has given regulated laboratories competitive advantages in terms of complying with the requirements of 21 CFR Part 11.