Chromatography
Specialty Chromatography Detectors: Make or Buy? Carlo Dessy, Testa Analytical Solutions,
cdessy@testa-analytical.com
Liquid Chromatography of any kind - HPLC, UHPLC, GPC/SEC, Ion Chromatography or FPLC, is based upon the specifi c characteristics of the utilised separation column to provide a suitable environment for a particular application or investigation. As such, creating an optimised separation is often considered to be the core of an individual liquid chromatography system. Separation alone, however, does not supply answers, it just creates the correct preconditions whereby chromatography detectors are able to reveal the ‘secrets’ of your sample.
Chromatography detectors have undergone signifi cant development over the past 40 years, from simple single fi xed wavelength UV detectors to now the widespread use of specialty detectors designed for specifi c tasks or problems. Chromatography detectors of just 5-10 years ago look almost primitive in their capabilities compared to today’s new generation of specialty chromatography detector technology. Signifi cant advances in performance have been coupled with major advances in usability and reliability.
When a liquid chromatography manufacturer evaluates whether to develop in-house (make) or partner with an external company (buy) a new, specialty detector - performance, whilst important is not the only factor to be considered. The same make or buy evaluation also applies to fi nancial considerations, they are indeed important, but not decisive alone. In most circumstances, the decision about whether a new specialty chromatography detector should be developed in-house or sourced under an OEM arrangement from an external partner, is led by a relatively complex decision matrix which considers aspects of three different key factors (know-how, resources, time). Each of these factors, in a new development, need to be carefully considered and assigned a decision weighting according to their individual contribution to the desired resultant product, according to the company general policy, particular situation, market situation and outlook.
It is important to note, that it is nearly impossible to generate a typical development decision table, as such a table is intrinsically specifi c to the particular situation of the organisation in the process of deciding how to develop their desired new specialty chromatography detector. However, each development project does have some common decision process that can be considered and looking at these can be helpful as a starting point.
As previously mentioned, the three fundamental factors infl uencing decision making are:
A) Know-How B) Resources C) Time
The Necessary Know-How for the Task
The ‘Know-How’ category is probably the most challenging of the three, as it requires prior deep knowledge of the desired product to lead to a solid evaluation. First, it is necessary to assess what type of Know-How is required; is new research needed or is the project more of an engineering development? This is typically the fi rst point to be made clear. Engineering must be evaluated under different branches of the discipline - mechanical, electronic and fi rmware/software engineering. Table 1 summarises how to defi ne internal availability of the know-how necessary to complete the development.
Know-How Table
Select parameters relevant to the internally available Know-How aspect for the project. Answer with Yes or No to each question and determine the importance of each parameter by assigning individual weights to them. A Yes with a high weight (10) means the parameter is very important and possible in-house. A No with a high weight (10) means the parameter is very important and diffi cult to achieve in-house.
Table 1. How to defi ne internal availability of the necessary know-how to complete the project.
Yes / No Weight (1-10)
Is research necessary for the project?
Is prior experience available?
Is Mechanical Engineering necessary?
Is Electronic Engineering necessary?
Is Software Programming necessary?
No No Yes Yes Yes 1 7 2 2 5
Important factor
Comments
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