Take a short break from your lab duties and helps us make an artistic decision - select our "Celebrating 20 Years" logo. March, 2013 marks our 20 year anniversary of providing "analytical solutions to analytical problems." It has been an interesting 20 years, and next month we will share some stories and memorable moments.
Vote early, vote often! :) Click here. The polls close tomorrow.
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This Month's Less Stress Solutions
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Three Myths About Learning Chromatography and Chromatography Software
One of the most common visits I make is to help labs either get a method set up, or just introduce them to HPLC equipment and chromatography data system software. A typical visit is two or three days. In that time I can usually get the lab staff started on what they need to know so that they can begin using their equipment. They will not know everything, but they should be able to generate some results. With an understanding of how the equipment/software is designed, they are better prepared to learn more.
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If the lab has been using the equipment/software for a period of time (say, a month or two) before I arrive, they will usually be able to perform some basic operations. However, their skills and efficiency are often limited. I hear questions like, "I could not get the system to ... (behave the way I wanted)," or "Why did it ... (do something I did not want it to do)?"
I can answer these questions easily in most cases, and watching the "lights go on" with chromatography analysts is one of the great joys of this kind of work. But I often think to myself, "if you had called me a month earlier, I could have saved you most of the time that you spent learning by trial-and-error."
So, why don't labs call sooner (or at all)? The reasons can be summarized by three common myths about laboratory activities:
Myth #1: Easy to Use Means Easy to Learn
You can train almost anyone to put a vial in a tray and click a button to start the system. However, someone must first set up the system to make it usable, and then program the software to do the work and calculations, and then be available to recognize when the system is not working correctly and what to do about it. None of these is easy to learn, and could take months, if not years, of experience to master.
Myth #2: We Do Not Have Time for Training; We Need to Get Things Done Now
One student recently told us that he "learned as much in the four days of training as he had in the previous four months of trying to learn it in the lab without help." I believe his estimate to be fairly accurate. In one day of training, I can make the same progress as you would in about a month of trial-and-error mistakes. I you had called earlier, we could have saved you a month of time, that you could use to "get things done."
Myth #3: This Training is Not a Good Investment
If you have been following these newsletters, you know that we like to calculate Return on Investment (ROI) for our activities.
ROI = 100 * (Benefit - Cost) / Cost
Assume that we can save you three months of your time and the instrument's availability by providing three days of training. If you and the instrument, combined, cost the company about $50/hour (a conservative estimate), three months will cost the company more than $24,000. By eliminating the three month delay, we are providing a benefit of $24,000. The cost for such a visit might be $7,000. Your ROI is:
ROI = 100 * (24,000 - 7,000) / 7,000 = 2,430 %
Show this calculation to your management, and they will say the numbers are wrong. But even if my assumptions are wrong by a factor of ten, this is a good investment. With a factor of 100 error this is still a good deal.
Learn to look beyond the simple cost of these investments, and think about the benefits that are produced - more efficient operation, fewer mistakes and problems, start producing sooner, and less stress on everyone.
Contact us for more details to see if we can help your lab.
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Agilent Software/Hardware Training
Is your Agilent equipment not being utilized to its full capabilities? We have more than a decade of experience training users to fully understand and use the software and hardware. These highly rated events are sponsored by Agilent at their North American Training Center in Atlanta, GA, and feature lectures with a hands-on laboratory.
Introduction to HPLC and the HPLC ChemStation
April 9 - 12, 2013 (seats available)
October 8 - 11, 2013 (seats available)
This course provides complete operations training for ChemStation B.04.03. Everyone learns something new.
HPLC OpenLab ChemStation Operation
April 23 - 26,2013 (seats available)
July 23 - 26, 2013 (seats available)
Learn all the features of this new software program.
Infinity HPLC Maintenance and Troubleshooting
May 8 - 9, 2013 (full, no seats available)
August 21 - 22, 2013 (seats available)
Learn how to maintain your 1220, 1260, and 1290 instruments.
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"Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science."
– Henri Poincare
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Regards,
Merlin K. L. Bicking, Ph.D.
President, ACCTA, Inc.
651-731-3670 |
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SPECIAL OFFERS
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| Our newsletters frequently discuss ROI issues for laboratory improvements. If you would like more information, or would like a free analysis, please contact us. |
PRIVATE WEBINARS
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We know it can be difficult to adjust your activities to our webinar schedule. We can now offer any of our webinars for private presentation at a time that is convenient for your laboratory. Write to us for more information.
The following topics are also available for private presentation:
- Secrets of the ChemStation (Parts 1, 2, and 3)
- Reducing Integration Errors in Chromatography (Parts 1 and 2)
- Understanding the Calibration Curve
- Practical Laboratory Statistics
- HPLC Basics for Quality Staff and Auditors
- Best Practices in HPLC Column Selection
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