Currency fluctuations and economic turbulence not only produced a shift among IBO’s 2015 list of the top 30 analytical and life science instrument, aftermarket and lab product companies, but also yielded a calendar year sales decline when translated into US dollars. Total sales for the top 30 companies (see page 6) as reported in US […]

New public and private funding commitments were announced for clean energy R&D at this month’s UN climate summit. As part of the new Mission Innovation initiative, 20 countries, including China, Saudi Arabia and the US, plan to double their current combined $10 billion in spending on clean energy R&D within five years. The US accounts […]

Despite indications that the global economy is continuing to slow, the outlook for sales growth within the instrument and lab product industry is positive. In late October, 15 industry executives completed the online IBO Business Climate Survey. The respondents were IBO subscribers and other solicited participants, each representing a unique company or business unit. The […]

Over the last several years, after the fall of iron ore and coal prices, mining companies have reduced spending on projects and exploration. Some major firms have cut capital spending by more than half. Now some investors are pushing companies to seek growth opportunities, believing that the current strategy leads to missed opportunities. One type […]

The second of IBO’s biannual features on new labs highlights facilities from the academic, government and industrial sectors, spanning a variety of disciplines. The table on page 6 lists some of the largest planned academic lab buildings as well as facilities for drug development. Also featured in this article are labs for agriculture, disease and […]

Lansing, MI 8/27/15—Neogen has purchased UK-based Lab M, a developer, manufacturer and supplier of microbiological culture media and diagnostics systems for the food, water, industrial and clinical markets, for an undisclosed amount. “Lab M’s prepared media is a new product line for us, and its patents and licenses will greatly enhance our efforts to develop […]

This year’s winners of IBO’s Design Awards for portable instrument utilize industrial design to integrate portability and utility. These battery-powered, instruments are designed for transport and use outside a lab. Gold Award The 2015 Gold IBO Design Award for portable instrumentation goes to DetectaChem’s SEEKERe colorimetric system for explosives and narcotics detection. The 2.6 x […]

The steel industry is experiencing globalization, with causes including excess production capacity, the highest of which is in China. Worldwide growth in steel demand slowed to 0.6% in 2014, with 0.5% growth in demand predicted by the World Steel Association in 2015. Correspondingly, in 2014, global steel production experienced a slowdown in growth to 1.2%. […]

The oil industry continues to cut costs as crude oil prices remain depressed. The cuts are now spreading to oil producers, having initially affected oilfield service companies starting a year ago. Graves & Co. estimates that the oil industry has shed more than 150,000 jobs. Providers of oilfield services and drilling contractors have accounted for […]