Automation
Figure 7: Interest in potential applications for small-scale benchtop automation
Liquid Dispensing Sample Prep
qPCR & Next-Gen Sequencing Workup
Cell-Based Assays ELISA
Dose-Response Maintenance
Analysis Aspects of Cell 35% © HTStec 2011
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% % Interested in Application
43% 43%
51% 58% 81% 79%
Application areas for small-scale benchtop automation
Of a list of potential application areas for a small- scale benchtop systems survey respondents showed greatest interest in sample prep (81% interested) and liquid dispensing (79% interested), followed by qPCR & next-gen sequencing (58% interested) and cell-based assays (51% interested). All other application had less than 50% interest (Figure 7).
Purchasing plans
27% of survey respondents were actively looking to acquire automation technologies to overcome benchtop bottlenecks, and interest in purchasing small-scale benchtop automation over the next few years was high.
Figure 8: Factors most influencing small-scale benchtop automation purchasing decision
Product reliability/robustness Repair and service support Price
Flexibility (complexity vs training) Application support/knowledge Speed/throughput
Ease-of-use (accessible to minimally trained bench scientists)
Walkaway automation offered Training
References of other scientists Vendor brand/reputation
using system 3.25 3.17
1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00 4.50 5.00 MEAN RATING SCALE 1 to 5, where 1 = not important and 5 = very important
© HTStec 2011 4.58 4.26
3.99 4.02 4.11
3.79 3.81
3.67 3.69
Product reliability/robustness was rated as the factor which was most important in the choice of a vender for a small-scale benchtop automated pur- chases. This was followed by repair and service support, and then price. Rated least important was vendor brand/reputation (Figure 8).
Figure 9: Reason for purchasing a small-scale benchtop automation
Updating existing unit 20%
New system – first time user 51%
New system – experienced user 29%
© HTStec 2011
The reason given by the majority (51%) of sur- vey respondents for planned purchase of a small- scale benchtop automation system was a new sys- tem purchased by first-time user. This was fol- lowed by 29% new system purchased by experi- enced user, and then only 20% updating an exist- ing unit (Figure 9). So it would appear that new small-scale automation is creating a market among scientists that previously were not adopters of automation. Respondent’s 2011 capex purchases on small- scale benchtop automation were broken down into the following components: 40% generic ‘open’ automation platforms; 17% dedicated or ‘closed’ automation platforms; 16% other (not assigned to anything); 14% automation that links multiple instruments; and 13% automation applied exter- nally to an instrument (Figure 10).
Latest developments in small-scale benchtop automation Agilent (
www.agilent.com) offers two levels of modular Benchtop automation for life science applications. BenchCel Workstations are driven by the BenchCel Microplate Handler which combines labware storage with microplate handling for compact robotic configurations. The BenchCel is configured with two, four, or six labware storage racks and can integrate with up to four adjacent devices arrayed in a linear format. Agilent recent- ly introduced the BenchBot Robot for more com- plex BenchBot workstation configurations. The
30 Drug Discovery World Winter 2011/12
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