10 Useful tips on purchasing HPLC

High Performance Liquid Chromatography Instrument

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 :

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

1.  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.
2. Seek feedback from users on abilities of supplier for providing high quality service support and technical training
3. 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.
4.  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.
5. To start with consider reputed makes and try to locate their local distributors.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. In case the supplier or his representative are based locally they should not be paid extra for installation, commissioning and operator training.
9. The instruments should be covered under warranty for at least one year from the date of installation and commissioning.
10. 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.