How Beckman Coulter improved customer satisfaction, expanded OQ sign-ups with an MVS

Keeping up with growing customer demand is a problem many companies would like to have, yet it can be challenging to solve. To meet increasing enrollment in their OQ program, Beckman Coulter improved efficiency with the MVS.

Increased positive feedback from customers

With the use of the MVS for Level 3 Operation Qualifications (OQ3), Beckman Coulter’s customers have been more satisfied with their Beckman Coulter instruments and the OQ process

Increased enrollment in the operational qualification program

As the number of instruments with specified accuracy requirements grew, demand for Beckman Coulter’s OQ services also grew. The MVS helped service teams meet increasing demand by making service visits more efficient and streamlining troubleshooting.

Works with 1 – 384 channel instruments

With the flexibility to work with instruments that have anywhere from 1- to 384-channels, the MVS can be used with the complete range of Beckman Coulter’s automated liquid delivery devices.

Product used: MVS® Multichannel Verification System
Application: Calibration, volume verification, liquid handling
troubleshooting

SITUATION

To meet changing customer needs, Beckman Coulter has increased the number of automated liquid handling instruments that have specific accuracy specifications in their SOPs. This change also increased the demand for Beckman Coulter’s optional Operational Qualification program.

CHALLENGE

Before getting an MVS, Beckman Coulter was using a photometric method to verify automated liquid handler performance. However, this technology only provided precision data and customers also wanted proof that the instrument was dispensing accurately.

In addition, the photometric method was time-consuming, as it was mostly a manual process.

SOLUTION

To satisfy customer demand for accuracy and precision data, and to provide stronger assurance of the integrity of results produced by its equipment, Beckman Coulter upgraded its Field Service Operational Qualification level 3 (OQ3) with the MVS.

Since the implementation of the MVS, Beckman Coulter has seen an increase in positive feedback from their customers as well as shorter, more efficient service visits (which also makes customers happy).

The challenge: meeting growing customer demand for data on accuracy

Operational qualification (OQ) by a third-party service provider is important for most life science laboratories, especially those in the clinical and pharmaceutical markets, as it is a way to demonstrate that an instrument performs within specifications and meets regulatory compliance.

OQ of automated liquid handling devices is especially important as these instruments play an important role in data integrity. Which is why many of Beckman Coulter’s customers opt into the company’s Field Service OQ program, including users of the Biomek® FXP, Biomek® NXP and Biomek® 3000 Laboratory Automation Workstations (liquid handling devices designed for drug discovery laboratories) and VidieraTM NsP (Nucleic Sample Preparation device geared for hospital and reference laboratories).The challenge for Beckman Coulter was providing OQ service customers with data on both accuracy and precision.

Before upgrading their service with the MVS, the company had been using a photometric method to verify automated liquid handler performance, which only provided data on liquid handling precision and not accuracy. However, as the company increased the number of automated liquid handling instruments with specific accuracy specifications in their SOPs, a growing number of customers wanted proof of instrument accuracy as well as precision. For Beckman Coulter, the solution was to use an MVS for all level 3 OQs.

The solution: switching from a manual photometric method to the MVS

With the MVS, Beckman Coulter’s OQ3 provides more information to customers for a full assessment of liquid delivery device performance, facilitating assay validation and method transfer. In addition, the automated documentation feature eliminates the time-consuming and error-prone step of manually recording results. The MVS measurement results are also traceable to international standards, allowing comparability of all Beckman Coulter devices regardless of model, location, or number of dispensing channels.

Since the implementation of the MVS, Beckman Coulter has seen an increase in positive feedback and the number of laboratories enrolled in the optional Operational Qualification Program. As Beckman Coulter continues its phased rollout of the new MVS-based Field Service Operational Qualification program and specifies accuracy requirements in the SOPs for a growing number of instruments, the demand for its services continues to expand. Because service representatives can more efficiently complete service visits and more accurately diagnose and solve issues, Beckman Coulter can meet this need and enhance customer satisfaction in its instrumentation.

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