New analysis of the market for liquid handling says the need to eliminate research bottlenecks to meet increasing throughout demands spurs the uptake of automated systems
Ambitious project goals are compelling researchers to eliminate bottlenecks, increase throughput and boost productivity in laboratory research.
Automated systems, including automated liquid handlers, are fulfilling this need by speedily and conveniently carrying out manual, time consuming routine procedures.
But even as the market expands rapidly, the primary challenge for manufacturers will be to deliver more sophisticated instruments to researchers at mutually beneficial prices. Automated liquid handlers are playing a critical part in completing the automation process.
Demand for these instruments is, therefore, spiralling across an ever-expanding installed base of high throughput laboratories, facilities and initiatives.
End users across diagnostic, proteomic, genomic and metabolic research environments are ever more dependent on automated liquid handlers to perform complex and specialised tasks.
This, in turn, is encouraging technological development and innovation.
At the same time, however, researchers are demanding that increasingly complex features offered on the higher priced systems be made available on lower priced instruments.
These end users perceive additional features not as a luxury, but as an integral part of the functionality of the instrument.
As manufacturers attempt to address these demands by increasing functionality, while maintaining stable or decreasing prices, their gross profits are being eroded.
Offering a possible way to achieve greater correspondence between the manufacturer and end user, Frost and Sullivan research analyst Sinead Igoe says:" Increasing flexibility of design or the number of potential accessories will enable the creation of instruments to meet various needs and ensure profits".
She adds, "Although high flexibility is often a competitive advantage, manufacturers also need to be cautious to couple high flexibility with a certain level of ease of use".
Ease of use is likely to be a primary concern as flexibility and system complexity grow.
This is likely to be a particularly thorny issue in high-turnover laboratories and shared-use facilities where considerable training is required to enable proficient use of complex instruments.
Improving awareness of high-level customer service and support is expected to assuage such anxieties.
"Focusing on accessory features that provide added value to the end user can result in increased market share percentage.
"Increasing the level of support and services provided to researchers following purchase of the instrument, could improve adoption of instruments" says Igoe.
The drug discovery market is acting as a significant catalyst in the growth of automated technologies.
Faced with the need to distill the most promising drug candidates from amongst a rapidly increasing number of potential drug targets, the biopharma industry is seeking tools that can speed up the drug discovery process.
To this end, automation will need to function at highest productivity levels.
Also, as competitive pressures increase and patents lapse, there is added need to cost effectively produce new drugs.
Due to attributes of reproducibility and reliability, automated liquid handlers are expected to facilitate reduced costs; thereby attracting greater investments from the drug discovery market.
Today, liquid handlers are a large, dynamic and rapidly growing segment of the lab automation market.
New analysis from Frost and Sullivan, World robotics in biology: liquid handling market, estimates total market revenues to expand from $555 million in 2002 to $1215.8 million by 2009.
In 2002, diagnostics applications constituted the largest segment for liquid handlers, followed by genomics and proteomics.
The need for higher throughput in numerous, newly launched proteomics initiatives is likely to provide the greatest impetus to sustaining market growth in future.
The current competitive environment spans international companies such as Tecan and Beckman Coulter, with an extensive product range, to Zymark, which is a near pureplay laboratory automation and robotics firm. Smaller, niche participants also operate in specific markets.
As competition intensifies and new companies enter the market, the current pecking order is likely to be challenged.
"Players from other markets are recognising the potential within the segment and applying expertise and technology already established in the market to proteins," says Igoe.
"Along with innovative products, the new players can also bring customer loyalty and brand recognition, which some of the smaller players may not have, enhancing competition".
To gain competitive advantage in this rapidly evolving market, all manufacturers will have to raise product and company awareness through marketing activity.
As new and innovative instruments with better features emerge, it will become incumbent on manufactures to make end users aware of potential applications.
This will help increase both speed adoption and increase installed base.
The Frost and Sullivan report, A459, costs US$3950.
