Hi Doug,
Thank you for bringing to light a subject that has long been an issue for
scientists considering changing from OEM to Independent Service Providers.
Many manufactures have raised this red herring in an attempt to discourage
customers from trying independent service organizations, ISOs. Tritech has
provided an alternative to OEM service since 1987. We would never ask our
customers to sacrifice quality of service for cost savings. There would be
no value in that. Since our inception we have competed successfully against
the premier service providers within our industry, Beckman Coulter, Packard,
Sorvall and now BD. Many of our accounts are government facilities that have
very strict requirements for response time as well as up time. From single
instrument agreements to the NIH, where we serviced over 1000 units annually
for five years, this issue never became a reality.
This is a common concern for customers considering a service provider other
than the OEM. First lets look at where the OEM obtains their parts. They
obviously do not manufacture each part that goes into their instrumentation.
The OEMs rely on component manufacturers to supply them with the parts they
assemble into their instrumentation. Some of their parts are specifically
designed and built around their products and are OEM specific. These parts
are sometimes back ordered due to availability problems, this would be true
for all customers not just ISOs. To treat ISOs parts orders differently
would constitute unfair restraint of trade. Tritech does not depend on
"just- in- time inventory" for emergency service of our customer's
instrumentation. We maintain our own inventory of parts in our facility; OEM
specific parts are ordered and inventoried ahead of time. The OEM is only
one option for parts resources. Our primary resource is the companies that
actually manufacture these parts. We research and second source these parts
and buy direct. We also rely on NISA, the National Independent Service
Association, which is a network of independent service providers throughout
the US. At our facility we can provide component level circuit board repair,
as well as high precision machine tool capabilities which can fabricate
machined parts over night if necessary. If you take a hard look at who has
more resources for parts, the ISOs have a wider array of resources than the
OEMs.
I would like to invite anyone interested to come and tour our facility in
Annapolis, Maryland and see for themselves the resources of our
organization. If you want to know the truth about the quality of service
ISOs provide, ask their customers, not their competition. Any quality ISO
would be happy to provide references on request.
Respectfully
Mark Circo
President / CEO
Tritech Field Engineering Inc.
"circo@tritechinc.com"
----- Original Message -----
From: Douglas S. Smoot <rin0dss@bumed30.med.navy.mil>
To: cyto-inbox
Sent: Thursday, July 20, 2000 10:36 AM
Subject: Service Contracts - Summary
>
> There have been a number of requests for answers regarding the service
> contract issue and the viability of the third party option. I asked about
> Tritech (for B-D service), and ABS - Alternative Biomedical Services Inc
> (for Beckman-Coulter service). I have enclosed the responses in quotes
for
> those companies. There was also a discussion on the e-mail list about a
> year or two ago about other service options, about paying a company that
> would call Becton-Dickinson or Beckman Service for you, and that you would
> pay a fee and they would bet the service would be less. I think that is
> called Asset management, but I don't really know much about the
contracting
> business. So, I have also included one comment concerning that issue as
> well where they used a company called Novamed. I checked the Purdue Web
> site this morning, and both Tritech and Alternative Biomedical Services
are
> linked in the commercial Web Site directory onder Cytometry Services. I
> hope that these comments are helpful and provide cost-effective
alternatives
> for labs fighting for research or clinical dollars.
>
> There was one comment about ABS (Alternative Biomedical Services):
>
> "We have been using ABS for 18 months to service 3 XLs and find them very
> professional, competent, cost effective, and available when I need
them.
> I rate them better than my Coulter service."
>
>
> There were two comments about Tritech. One mentioned that he knew a B-D
> repairman who went to work for Tritech. It was someone he trusted. There
> was one other comment regarding Tritech:
>
> "I now have a service agreement with Tritech to cover my 2 FACScans and 2
> Caliburs. I dont have a service contract as such but have them do 2 PMs a
> year plus as much phone support as I need. I have always found Ray
Lannigan
> a very agreeable and knowledgeable fellow, he took care of my benchtop
> instruments when he worked for BD. I have such an agreement as we are way
up
> there in the middle of nowhere and it would not be practicle for him to
come
> all the way up here every time. He will send me parts and tell me how to
> install them."
>
> One person responded using a company called Novamed, which from the
> description looks more like Asset management rather than a service
contract,
> but provides a similar benefit for the user. That message is as follows:
>
> "We used a third party provider, Novamed, for service on our SCAN and
Calibur.
> The actual service was done by B-D. Novamed is "betting" that you will
use less
> service than is included in a service contract. They discount the B-D
contract
> price by about 15% and based on your service experience they rebate most
of the
> savings. the bottom line is that we saved about 50%. They do equipment
in
> general, not just flow cytometers."
>
>
> There was one generalized negative comment, that didn't seem to be from
any
> specific experience, but from general anxiety regarding the issue of 3rd
> party service. I actually talked to a representative about that issue,
and
> I am meeting with a representative from Tritech later this month. They
> believe they can provide the appropriate service. Anyway, that message of
> concern is as follows:
>
> "I have allways been against this option. First the equipment you have is
> very specialized. the boards in the instrument are not standard and by in
> large are only available through your cytometer manufacturer.
>
> And guess who would be last in line if they need them for their customers.
>
> I assure you will wait longer and in the end, and this company will have
> to go to the cytometer manufacturer to effect anything other then a simple
> repair. Best of Luck in the future"
>
>
> These are actually all the comments that I received. I trust that they
are
> useful.
>
> Doug
>
>
> {-----------------------------------------------------------------------}
> Douglas Smoot
> NIDDK-Navy Transplantation & Autoimmunity Branch
> Naval Medical Research Center
> AFRRI Building 46, Room 2415
> 8901 Wisconsin Avenue
> Bethesda, MD 20889-5603
> voice: 301-295-1843
> fax: 301-295-6484
>
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