Search Thermo Fisher Scientific
Top Considerations for Success as a Biotechnology
CRO / CDMO Service Provider
Deliver on your commitments on time, in-scope and on budget
As a biotechnology service provider or contract researcher or manufacturer, you are an expert in your field. And your goal with every project is to deliver results to your client on time and within budget. We have assembled a series of considerations to help you achieve that goal with maximum efficiency. Before you begin your next project, take a moment to reflect, make your plans, check your lab for readiness, and align with your client on all deliverables. Are you doing everything you can to make this project a success? Is there anything you want to address now, before you begin? Consider the solutions we can offer and let us help you achieve your goals.
1. Stay current
Biotechnology is a field that is constantly evolving. As new breakthroughs are patented and new companies form, new techniques and tools need to be evaluated to see if they fit your workflows. Are you current on the latest technical developments to streamline workflows, save resources, and pull the most data out of each run?
Your clients want to save time and money and reduce their time to market. Prior to an initial project consultation, ensure your knowledge is current by reviewing product-related posters, talking to our sales representative, visiting our on-line learning centers, and speaking to our technical support and field service teams.
2. Build a plan of action
Write down every step in the process during the project planning phase. If you draft an outline of the report up-front, you can work with your clients to uncover issues that require additional thought. For example, how can you streamline your process, or process samples in batches to maximize productivity and spend more time on data interpretation, not data generation?
Balancing the time needed for preparation with ambitious development timelines can be challenging but having an experienced partner can help. Thermo Fisher Scientific offers many solutions that increase speed to results such as faster protocols and hands-free instrumentation.
3. Consider your experimental controls
Positive controls, negative controls, onboard controls: consider all necessary experimental controls. No matter how many times you have repeated this process, having onboard controls maintains your data integrity. In the unlikely event you get unexpected data, your controls will help you determine why.
Many of our products include detailed protocols, accessible from our website. In addition, our technical support team is always available and happy to help design your experiment or troubleshoot your protocol before you begin, or even while you are working.
4. Check your equipment
In an ideal laboratory, every instrument works perfectly every time it is turned on. Setting up and maintaining that ideal laboratory takes a great deal of effort. Make sure all of your equipment is in working order – calibrated, clean, and operational. If there is regularly scheduled maintenance that you’ve been delaying, now is the time to get that done.
Do your instruments have current service contracts? Have you kept up with calibration and maintenance schedules? Connect with our field service engineers to keep every piece of equipment in working order when you need it.
5. Ask for help
Everyone has a unique field of expertise. But not everyone is good at everything. If you are unsure of a new technique or method, talk to our in-house experts, and request their assistance or participation.
If you need support approaching a new technique or method, Thermo Fisher Scientific has a team of experts for every instrument and reagent to help support you in achieving your goals. We provide training, protocols, how-to guides, publications, and one-on-one support for our customers.
6. Present your data
Envision your client’s success. What format will you present in to support the points they want to make to their team? Have you done the calculations to determine how many data points they will need to see statistically significant differences between test and control groups?
Explore our intuitive software offerings to assist in experimental design and help you visualize how your data can advance the team’s knowledge and deliver answers faster.
7. Maximize efficiency
Logistics: we all have an instrument that is the workhorse of our laboratory. Everyone needs it, and it can be challenging to fit everyone’s schedules together to optimize its use. Reserve instrument time and space before you need it. Consider creating a sign-up sheet if there isn’t one already. You want to make sure it is available when you need it, and available for your team when they need it, too.
Explore our instruments, software packages, LIMS and notebooks for managing the logistics in your lab.
8. Stock your basics essentials
Chemicals, media, pipettes, vials, and gloves…the list goes on and on. Make your list of essentials, check that everything is in stock, and order what you need to ensure that you don’t run out. Having to re-order supplies mid-project can cause costly delays.
Use our inventory management and easy online ordering tools to understand your usage rates and always be prepared with the reagents and consumables you need.
9. Verify your results
As your clients move from discovery to technical verification, have you proposed the best orthogonal technology to use? For example, NGS followed by qPCR or mass spec followed by ELISA. Verification technologies depend on experimental criteria such as the number of analytes and/or the number of replicate samples needed for statistical relevance.
We offer extensive consultation on experimental design and have helped clients for over 30 years advance their projects to the clinic.
Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. We invite you to explore how we support biotechnology service providers.