10 Useful tips on purchasing HPLC

HPLC technique is fast emerging as a popular analytical technique and the system is finding a prominent place in most industrial and academic research laboratories. Once you have identified your need and narrowed down on your applications you will start your search for the make which will meet your requirements within your available budget.
The market is flooded with suppliers who make tall claims about their products and services. It becomes a tough task to select the make that will best meet your requirements. First of all you have to consider which all manufacturers are there who provide after sales support in your territory. This information should be collected on the basis of personal experience, opinion of colleagues and professional contacts and finally the Internet.
Your task has been made simpler by providing a brief listing of some of the renowned manufacturers with their location, website and trade names of HPLC series under offer :
Serial No. | Manufacturer | Website | Location details | Available Series |
1. | Agilent | http://www.agilent.com/ | Santa Clara, CA, USA | Infinity 1200 Series |
2. | Beckman Coulter | https://www.beckmancoulter.com | Illinois, USA | Gold HPLC System |
3. | Buck Scientific | http://www.bucksci.com/ | East Norwalk, CT, USA | BLC Series |
4. | Bio Rad | http://www.bio-rad.com/ | Hercules, CA, USA | Biologic HPLC Systems |
5. | Cecil Instruments Ltd. | http://www.cecilinstruments.com/ | Cambridge, UK | Adept HPLC |
6. | GBC Scintefic Equipment Ltd. | http://www.gbcscientific.com/ | Melbourne, Australia | GBC 1100 Series |
7. | Hitachi | http://www.hitachi.com/ | Tokyo, Japan | Primaide HPLC |
8. | Jasco | http://www.jasco.com/ | Easton, MD, USA | LC-2000+, X-LC-3000 UHPLC |
9. | Knauer | http://www.knauer.net/ | Berlin, Germany | Azura, PLATIN – Blue UHPLC and HPLC +, Smart Line |
10. | Perkin Elmer | http://www.perkinelmer.com/ | Waltham, MA, USA | Flexar HPLC |
11. | Shimadzu Corporation | http://www.shimadzu.com/ | Kyoto, Japan | Nexera, Prominance |
12. | Sonntek Inc. | http://www.sonntek.com/ | Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA | Ulti Mate 3000 HPLC systems |
13. | Tosoh Bioscience | http://www.tosoh.com/ | Tokyo, Japan | G5, G7 and G8 analyzers |
14. | Waters Coperations | http://www.waters.com/ | Milford, USA | Alliance HPLC, Breeze HPLC, Acquity UPLC |
15. | Young Lin Instrument Co. Ltd. | http://www.younglin.com/ | Anyang, South Korea | YL-9100 and YL-9300 HPLC |
Now that you have narrowed down on your choice I would like to offer some suggestions which will help you to zero down on your choice.. These tips are based on my professional expertise gained over 20 years as part of major instrument supplier teams. The tips are not limited to making a choice of HPLC system but are equally applicable to the complete range of analytical instruments.
10 Purchase Tips
- Always base your decision keeping your requirements in mind. Suppliers have a tendency to underquote to suit your limited budget or even oversell if they come to know that there is no limit on your funds.
- Seek feedback from users on abilities of supplier for providing high quality service support and technical training
- You could be offered entry-level isocratic models but such systems with limited accessories will not meet your analysis requirements and actually your requirement could be for a quaternary system with a number of other accessories.Latest version softwares should be offered and updates should be provided free of cost as and when available.
- Apart from main instrument and accessories the supplier should also include essential spares and consumables such as plungers, autosampler needles,syringes, vials, caps, O-rings, spare lamps, guard columns, etc.
- To start with consider reputed makes and try to locate their local distributors.
- An important consideration would be post installation servicing and maintenance support. Preferably the local distributor should have trained manpower for such functions. HPLC is not a plug and play instrument. Without specialist and prompt support services the downtime can prove to be very expensive.
- The quoted prices should be CIF,ie, insurance should be covered up to your doorstep. Open the cartons only in presence of supplier representative and make proper documentary record of damage, if any.
- In case the supplier or his representative are based locally they should not be paid extra for installation, commissioning and operator training.
- The instruments should be covered under warranty for at least one year from the date of installation and commissioning.
- The supplier should be asked for a written commitment that spares should be available for at least five years if the model is discontinued.
I hope by keeping in mind the offered suggestions you will continue the useful lifespan of your system.
Dear Sir,
It is a very useful idea for the users intending to buy an HPLC & specifically the first time users. I have personally experianced that vendors try to underquote & pitch for the configuration which fits into the customer budgets rather discussing openly with the customers on application oriented approach.
Secondly the vendors in most cases miss out in quoting for essential spare part kit or the start up kit which should make up the entire package.
Great going & best wishes in bringing out customer awareness programmes.
Best Regards
Rahul Yogi
Business Develeopment Manager (HPLC) – Clinical Diagnostics
+91 9313834994
I think you missed one important Manufacturer: ThemoFisher (Dionex) and their UltiMate 3000 LC Systems. http://www.dionex.com
Yes it got left out through oversite. Likewise there are several other reputed manufacturers which may have been left out
Nice article sir…
Hi ,
Thanks.Please do contribute for suggestions and topics which you would like us to cover
Sir,
thank you for the informative article.
Abhishek,
Thanks for the appreciation. Please do get back in case you require any further suggestions.
I will be thankful to you on your advice for analysis of NEEM oil -Azadichtine, and neembidin contents with HPLC technique. I am searching for suitable HPLC system and necessary spares. Budget is in moderate range.
Dear Dr. Joshi, please share some details of the method so we can help you select a suitable configuration.