THE ZEFSCI BLOG
Q&A – The Truth About Multivendor LCMS Service
OEM service plans for LCMS equipment are by far the most prevalent servicing option for most labs. But that doesn’t mean they’re the best option. In this post, we answer some of your most common questions about multivendor LCMS servicing.
What is multivendor LCMS service?
Multivendor LCMS service is a different kind of LCMS equipment service arrangement. In most cases, labs everywhere have their servicing contracts for their machines under the original equipment manufacturer (OEM).
Multivendor LCMS services are provided by firms (like ZefSci) separate from the OEM. These service arrangements cover a variety of maintenance, repair and refurbishment services for LCMS equipment regardless of the manufacturer.
What makes a multivendor LCMS plan different from the OEM service plan?
There are a lot of differences between a multivendor plan and your OEM plan. It’s best to describe these differences in terms of the tangible benefits they provide for your lab. Let’s get into a few of the benefits you can expect from a true multivendor LCMS service provider.
How does a multivendor partnership work?
When you sign up for an OEM service plan, you’re only signing up for the servicing for the equipment made by that OEM. If your lab has LCMS equipment from different manufacturers, that means managing multiple service plan contracts.
Under a multivendor LCMS service plan, your equipment is covered under one service contract. That means one account and one account manager as a point of contact. Consolidating your LCMS equipment under one contract makes everything much easier to manage.
On top of that, moving to one provider creates a partnership relationship rather than a provider/customer relationship. A multivendor service provider will be an integral part of your science. People are more accountable and invested in a partnership, and that will be reflected in the flexibility and quality of the service. Which leads us to the next two benefits.
How does multivendor service delivery work?
OEM service plans are restrictive. In a traditional OEM service contract, you call up the vendor, and they put in a ticket. In the time it takes them to respond, another machine might break.
Once the engineer gets on site to make the original repair, they’re not scoped out to make the repair on the other machine. So, you’ll have to start the process all over again, even though someone was just on site.
Under a multivendor LCMS contract, you can get service on multiple machines in the same day if something else happens to break before an engineer makes it on site. A multivendor LCMS engineer is also well-versed in machines and platforms across manufacturers.
Multiple machines from multiple manufacturers? A hybrid front-end and back-end? That’s no sweat for a multivendor engineer.
Is there a difference in service quality?
In general, service is secondary for OEM’s. Their main goal is to sell lab instruments. They don’t invest in service nearly as much. They hire new engineers and train them only in their machines.
When you work with a multivendor LCMS service provider, you’re working with a company whose main product is service. To that end, a multivendor LCMS provider will only hire true veterans of the LCMS industry – engineers with years of experience working with equipment from many different manufacturers. That experience will translate to faster repairs and better overall maintenance of your machines.
At the end of the day, there’s not a secret to OEM servicing procedures. OEM manufacturer engineers don’t do anything more than what a multivendor LCMS engineer knows how to do.
How do multivendor service costs compare?
When you wrap all these benefits up, you would expect a multivendor service provider to be more expensive than the OEM. In fact, the opposite is true. Multivendor service plans are less costly in terms of both cash and lab downtime prevented.
What is the risk in switching to a multivendor service plan?
It’s a daunting proposition leaving the LCMS service plan that you know and getting unnerved by the risk is understandable. LCMS instruments are vital to any lab’s operations, so switching from a known to unknown is a risk.
But in this case, the benefits outweigh the risk. A multivendor LCMS service provider is viable alternative to the OEM service plans. Keep your lab up and running with quality and diverse services all geared around your critical LCMS systems.
If you want to experience, true expert-level, multivendor LCMS service, get in touch with ZefSci. We can get you a quote.