Tricks of the Trade

How big distributors rig the game so they always win.

What do we do at LPS?

What is LPS’ new approach to Scientific Supply?

There are many things in life that you can do but realize there are others who can do the same thing faster, more efficiently and more proficiently.  Things like:  Cleaning your house.  Changing the oil in your car.  Investing.  Decorating a house. Doing your taxes, just to name a few.

The Lab Supply Sales Rep Changing Roles In this post we will take a look at the lab supply sales rep. What do they do? What makes a “good” rep? Do customers want reps to make actual sales calls in the age of the internet?

Parafilm - Impacted by refineries closing during the pandemic and a worldwide shortage of paraffins.

Sterile Latex Gloves - Still on allocation, but the situation is gradually improving.

Glass vials - Glass tubing used for vaccine vial manufacturing causes global shortage.

Syringes - BD is focusing on medical but other brands are available so be flexible.

Microplates & Petri Dishes - Corning is still on backorder, but shows some signs of relief.

Executive Summary

Supply chain disruptions continue to plague our industry.  This letter focuses on the critical worldwide shortage of plasticware, it’s causes, the current status and the forecast for when this will be resolved.

The supply chain for many items used in labs has been disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will take a look at what items have been impacted, how manufacturers large and small have handled it and explore the reasons for the disruptions and what can be done about it.

LPS’s purpose is to save its clients money throughout the P2P process.  From the initial list of items, LPS asks its clients to specify whether or not alternative but equivalent products would be considered for their orders?  The default answer we use is “yes.” However, when the initial orders are placed and the end user gets to see the alternative product that was selected, there could be push-back.  People resist change.  Is there a better way to manage the change?

Ordering the routine supplies you need to operate your lab is a routine task on most days.  But when things go wrong and you can no longer perform testing, the costs can skyrocket. In a manufacturing environment, if the product cannot be validated to ship, the costs to the business can be in the millions of dollars per day!

The LPS tagline is “A New Approach to Scientific Supply.”  What is that new approach?  How is it different from traditional distributors or resellers?  Why is the LPS approach an improvement over your current purchasing system?

Anyone who has ever had a really good rep service your lab knows that they are a nearly indispensable asset.  What makes a rep good?