As is usual for our annual forecast issue, IBO selects a firm from our industry as “company of the year.” In designating the company of the year, IBO recognizes an analytical- and life science–instrument maker that has accomplished technical, operational and financial achievements. Such achievements are a function of strong financial performance, market leadership, innovative product introductions and key strategic investments. It is appropriate that the 10th company-of-the-year designate should be industry pioneer PerkinElmer. While the company has achieved many milestones over its eight-decade history, we celebrate its accomplishments in this transition year, as PerkinElmer has led the way in adapting to the challenges and opportunities of the industry.

PerkinElmer has positioned itself exceedingly well with respect to the changes taking place in the lab marketplace. First and foremost, PerkinElmer’s balance in terms of its market emphasis, which it has developed for several years, was very much in evidence in 2014. Its business is well diversified between the Human Health and Environmental Health business areas from both a sales and profits standpoint and without an overemphasis in any particular market or technology, making it less vulnerable to market vagaries.

PerkinElmer’s strength lies in its emphasis on the applied markets of diagnostics, food testing and environmental analysis. The company is the world leader in newborn and infectious-disease screening and is rapidly establishing itself in emerging markets where growth is exploding. It is a leader in food-testing technology, which has been expanded through its recent acquisition of Perten Instruments (see IBO 11/30/14). PerkinElmer is likewise a major supplier of a broad range of instrumentation found in environmental labs worldwide.

PerkinElmer also has another strategic asset in its OneSource services business, which is the number-one supplier of a broad range of lab services including lab IT, compliance, asset management and multivendor instrument service and repair. In addition to providing services for its own and its competitors’ products, OneSource is also a very profitable enterprise that is growing faster than the product portion of the industry and is less susceptible to market downturns. The company was also successful in adding to OneSource’s capabilities through the acquisition of Ceiba Solutions (see IBO 10/31/14).

PerkinElmer is also a prodigious developer of advanced-technology instrumentation for both human and environmental health. This includes the Opera Phenix, a confocal high-content screening system; the Janus chemagic automated nucleic acid workstation; the Lamina Multi-label Slide Scanner, with advanced digital-pathology capabilities; a novel real-time air-quality sensor network; the EnSight Systems multimode plate reader with labeled and label-free detection; the LabChip GX Touch automated gel electrophoresis system; and the Solaris Optical Imaging System for small- and large-animal imaging.

PerkinElmer is a growing, profitable provider of advanced instrumentation with name recognition that is envied and attests to its many contributions to the industry. The company is also quite attuned to today’s market realities and continues to develop the technology solutions for humankind’s most pressing requirements.