Laboratory asset management (LAM) is an enterprise-level service that has become an important component of large, multinational companies maintaining accurate appraisals of their lab assets. It includes services such as scheduled and preventative maintenance, instrument repair, managing warranties, instrument and component purchasing, compliance and calibrations, instrument lifecycle planning, and instrument relocation. LAM services are extremely customizable, depending on the user’s service needs and number and/or type of instruments to be covered.

One of the biggest benefits that LAM offers is a single source of service for asset management. While the majority of LAM providers are major global instrument manufacturers themselves, their LAM services are not exclusive to a specific instrument manufacturer. While this level of support is somewhat reserved for large broad-based manufacturers with worldwide reach, medium-size companies can also offer enterprise-level support, albeit on a smaller scale.

The cost-reduction benefits of LAM are both direct and indirect. On average, LAM can save companies up to 20% in service costs. Because the majority of LAM vendors often provide an engineer on-site, companies benefit from cost-saving measures like the elimination of travel costs associated with obtaining service from the original equipment manufacturer. Furthermore, quick on-site support alleviates scientists from the technician duties and allows them to concentrate on their work, increasing productivity.

Inventory tracking is also a benefit of LAM. In a large laboratory, it is often a challenge to keep track of different analytical instruments from various vendors. LAM’s ability to trust inventory tracking to a single source enables scientists to better manage their inventory records, which aids regulatory compliance by ensuring that the instruments get the required maintenance/calibration in a timely fashion. Furthermore, lab management can more easily know when to retire underperforming instruments due to age and/or poor performance.

The current LAM offerings come from Agilent (Laboratory Resource Management), Thermo Fisher Scientific (LifeCycle Enterprise Solutions), PerkinElmer (OneSource), Waters (AssetCARE, Empower-Driver Services), GE Healthcare (Scientific Asset Services) and Beckman Coulter (SiteMAX). All of these vendors offer their LAM services with capabilities that span beyond their own instrumentation offerings. Furthermore, these LAM vendors typically provide instrument transfer and redeployment services worldwide.

This half-billion-dollar market is a fast-growing segment of the laboratory service and support business. While the broad-based LAM vendors with an extensive global reach dominate the market, smaller vendors are expected to contribute to future growth by offering customizable asset management solutions on a smaller scale.

Laboratory Asset Management at a Glance:

Leading Suppliers

• Thermo Fisher Scientific

• Agilent

• PerkinElmer

Largest Markets

• Pharmaceutical

• Biotechnology

• CRO

Service Cost

• $50,000–$500,000 annually