Instrumentation Service Contracts: Opportunities for Differentation published by BioInformatics, LLC in July, 2008. This report consists of 136 pages and the price starts from US $ 1600.
Abstract
Overview
With many service models to choose from - in-house, original equipment
manufacturer (OEM), multi-vendor, etc. - service providers must innovate to
find new ways to demonstrate customer value. To competitively position
maintenance and service contracts, life science suppliers need to understand
how scientists use their instruments and the contribution such equipment makes
toward sustaining laboratory operations. Just as instrument technology is
evolving to meet the changing needs of labs everywhere, so too are the
dynamics of instrument service as labs search for a better way to balance
risk, quality, and costs.
This report was designed to help companies evaluate and optimize their
maintenance and/or service contract offerings to better respond to the needs
of today' s life science labs. It demonstrates that a single maintenance and/or
service contract may not be a good fit for every customer. In support of this
critical finding, the report provides an in-depth market overview and
competitive analysis of the most common types of contracts offered in today' s
life science market.
Data in this report suggest that, in addition to dependability and
responsiveness, customers prefer personalized service that offers maximum
flexibility. While almost one-half of maintenance and/or service contracts are
with the OEM, other models, especially in-house and multi-vendor, are viewed
as attractive alternatives. While customer satisfaction with and preferences
for service contracts are presented collectively, profiles for five major
OEMs: Agilent Technologies, Applied Biosystems, Beckman Coulter, Bio-Rad
Laboratories, and GE Healthcare are included. Significant differences by
market segment are also highlighted in the report.
In order to maintain a competitive edge, life science suppliers should
proactively manage their customers over the entire duration of the contract.
Knowing how best to structure one' s maintenance and/or service contracts will
help to not only serve customers better and increase customer satisfaction,
but also enable suppliers to manage such contracts more profitably. Specifying
the fine print in a maintenance and/or service contract can prove challenging,
but with proper management, contracts can be a major source of revenue for
suppliers. Among the Key Findings Contained in
This Report....
- Real-time PCR and HPLC instruments most frequently have service and/or
maintenance contracts
- 49% of maintenance and/or service contracts are for a single-year duration
- One-third of service contracts are around 10% of an instrument' s purchase
price
- 36% of scientists who are disappointed with service would give contract
providers a second chance and request a contract extension
- Senior lab personnel typically procure maintenance and/or service contracts
- 41% of respondents are interested in consolidating maintenance and/or
service contracts with a single OEM
This report will help you to....
- Identify the companies whose instruments are most likely to be covered
under some type of maintenance and/or service contract and scientists' level
of knowledge about these contracts
- Discover the types of instruments that most commonly have maintenance
and/or service contracts and specify the percentage of “new”
versus “used” instruments typically covered by such agreements
- Detail the types of services typically included in maintenance and/or
service contracts and indicate whether these services are
“standard” or require an “upgrade”
- Specify the entity (e.g., OEM, on-site service engineers, etc.) that
manages maintenance and/or service contracts for instrument (s) and the major
advantage each type of entity offers its customers
- Determine the level of customer satisfaction with the performance of
maintenance and/or service contract providers with respect to timeliness of
service, range of services offered, service dependability, and cost
- Quantify various parameters of the customer-contractor interface including:
- a) Time spent on activities related to average service calls,
- b) Various costs associated with maintenance and/or service contracts,
- c) Duration of maintenance and/or service contracts,
- d) Ease by which custom maintenance and/or service contracts are
negotiated,
- e) People involved in the decision to procure maintenance and/or service
contracts
- Assess the overall value of maintenance and/or service contracts
- Identify the most important and least important features of maintenance
and/or service contracts
- Evaluate scientists' preferences for key maintenance and/or service
contract provisions including type of uptime guarantee, frequency of
maintenance visits, and response time
- Specify the type of compensation preferred by scientists if maintenance
and/or service contract terms are not met
- Identify reasonable exclusions for maintenance and/or service contracts
- List the OEMs that currently offer the “best value”
maintenance and/or service contracts
- Explore the level of interest on behalf of labs in consolidating multiple
maintenance and/or service contracts
- Reveal the reasons why scientists would not be interested in participating
in multi- vendor service contracts
Methodology
Instrumentation Service Contracts: Opportunities for Differentiation iis based
on responses to a 27-question online survey conducted by BioInformatics, LLC
(Arlington, Virginia, USA). 528 scientists who regularly use a piece of
instrumentation for which their laboratory has a maintenance and/or service
contract participated in this survey between April 29 and May 9, 2008.
The electronic questionnaire was fielded to registered members of The Science
Advisory Board. BioInformatics sponsors The Science Advisory Board, an online
community of more than 37,000 scientists, physicians and healthcare
professionals from around the world. The Science Advisory Board is divided
into two panels Research and Clinical) and “convenes” regularly
via the World Wide Web to voice their opinions on a wide variety of issues
relating to biomedical research and clinical technologies. These experts -
representing all aspects of the life sciences and medicine - have agreed to
make themselves available to participate in our online research activities.
The Science Advisory Board members who participated in this study were drawn
from the Board' s Research Panel.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Significant Findings
- Market Overview of Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Competitive Analysis of Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Perceived Costs and Value of Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Customer Satisfaction with Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Customer Preferences for Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Receptivity to Multi-Vendor Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Conclusion
Methodology and Questionnaire
- Questionnaire Overview
- Questionnaire Design
- Demographics
- Questionnaire: Your Experience with Maintenance and Service Contracts
Presentation of Survey Data
- Your Experience with Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Evaluating Your Lab' s Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- The Terms of your Lab' s Maintenance and/or Service Contracts
- Your Ideal Maintenance and/or Service Contract
- Demographics
- Operational Research Budget
- Role in Instrumentation Selection
- Market Segment
- Job Position
- Geographic Region
- Area of Research
Appendices
- Appendix A: Insights and Perspectives
- Appendix B: Cross-Tabulations of Survey Data
- Appendix C: Other Publications
- Appendix D: About BioInformatics, LLC
- Appendix E: Our Valued Clients
Demographics
Market Segment
- Respondents=528
- Academic
- Pharmaceutical/Biotechnology
- Hospital or University Medical Center
- Government
- Contract Research
- Private Research
- Medical Device/Diagnostics
- Healthcare Network/Facility
- Commercial Testing Lab
- Group/Private Practice
- Other
- Managed Care
Job Position
- Respondents=528
- Staff Scientist
- Lab Director/Supervisor/Coordinator
- Graduate Student/Research Assistant
- Professor/Teacher
- Principal Investigator
- Post Doctoral Fellow
- Laboratory Technician
- Department Head
- Quality Assurance/Quality Control
- IS Manager/Specialist
- Physician
- Other
- Purchasing Agent/Buyer
- Administrator
- Medical Technologist
- Pharmacist
- Production/Manufacturing
- Bioengineer
- Materials Management/Purchasing
- Nurse/Nurse Practitioner
Geographic Region
- Respondents=525
- North America
- Europe
- Asia
- Australasia/Pacific
- Central/South America
- Africa
Area(s) of Research
- Respondents=528
- Molecular Biology
- Biochemistry
- Biotechnology
- Cell Biology
- Microbiology
- Genetics
- Immunology/Virology
- Drug Discovery/R&D
- Protein Chemistry
- Bioinformatics
- Biomedical Technology
- Pharmacology
- Neuroscience
- Other
- Pathology
- Physiology
- Toxicology
- Biostatistics
- Organic Chemistry
- Biophysics
- Agriculture
- Plant Biology
- Food Science
- Hematology
- Zoology
- Anatomy
- Ecology
- Forensics
- Process Engineering
- Veterinary Science
