Supply Chain Disruptions and Your Lab
Industries across the globe are experiencing increasing disruption of deliveries due to supply chain issues. As the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and there are many weakened links now. For labs across North America, India and Europe, who rely on deliveries of gas cylinders to provide their lab instruments with the gas necessary to complete their analysis, this is causing massive backlogs. And while it’s impossible to say when this situation could end, analysts are forecasting that worsening delays will continue well into 2022 with pessimism growing among shipping executives who are expecting the disruption to continue even into 2023.
Alternatives to Gas Cylinders
With so much uncertainty surrounding deliveries of much needed gas supplies, it is only a matter of time before labs start to look for alternatives to this situation. Switching suppliers is really the only option if your lab continues using cylinders, but the producers are not the problem – it’s getting the gas to your doorstep that is holding up your analysis. The risks associated with gas cylinder supply with regards to lab productivity is beginning to reach a tipping point. At what point is this disruption costing you more than just money? And at what point should you be looking at viable alternatives to your current situation?
The time is now.
Until recently, we didn’t have to give a second thought to how the products we buy would be delivered to us. No longer. With the incident on the Suez Canal in March 2021, which saw one of the world’s busiest trade routes blocked by a container ship for 6 days, the lasting ramifications of the Covid pandemic on shipping infrastructure, and increasing climate regulations to limit carbon emissions in the shipping industry – it is something we must factor into our buying habits now and in the future.
Take Control of Your Lab Gas Supply
But you can take control of your supply now. You can remove the uncertainty surrounding your gas supply. A PEAK gas generator is the sustainable solution to the current situation. With one delivery, many of our generators are truly plug and play, so you can have a supply of on-demand gas the day your generator arrives. From that point on, your lab gas supply is yours to control. Whether you require nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen or zero air; 100cc per minute or 1000 liters per minute, PEAK has you covered.
A selection of PEAK Scientific gas generators
With an on-site gas generation solution, you get the independence you need from disruptive supply chains which provides you with the most important thing - uninterrupted analysis in your lab. In terms of replacing conventional gas supply methods with a gas generator there are multiple benefits. There is a clear return on investment with a nitrogen generator as opposed to the rental of gas cylinders. Not only is there a clear ROI here, but it appears this will increase as Air Products has announced a North American price increase for liquid and bulk industrial gas products of up to 20%. With the increasing cost of steel, components and other key raw materials, Air Products are not the only gas cylinder supplier implementing price increases – Norris Cylinder, Chart Industries, and Worthington Industries are just a few suppliers who have announced price increases of between 3-9%. As stated before, finding a cheaper competitor is an option, but you will still be faced with the uncertainty around continuing supply chain disruptions.
By taking your lab’s gas generation into your own hands, you will truly have the freedom to work as your lab intends and PEAK is here to support you every step of the way. No matter where you are in the world, we promise to keep the downtime you experience to a minimum.
With our industry leading on-site service, it is our commitment to be with you within 72 hours worldwide (48 hours in mainland US) should you experience any difficulties with your generator. Not only that, we have introduced PEAK’s industry-leading Visual Support which can provide real time technical support through the use of your mobile phone’s camera so our technicians can see the issue immediately and help you to solve the problem without needing an engineer to visit you.
Lean Management
Another benefit to having an on-site gas generator is how easily it aligns with the lean management principles, such as 5S and Six Sigma, which is becoming ever more popular across the industry. With a gas generator you can streamline your workflow while reducing the amount of waste you have in your lab. Not only that, a PEAK gas generator is easily integrated into your lab, taking up minimal space and causing very little disruption to the lab unlike having to regularly swap out gas cylinders. Gas cylinders are consistently at odds with the principles of lean management due to the nature of changing cylinders repeatedly, disruptive workflow, and general safety concerns associated with them. With an in-house gas generator your lab can remain organized, standardized, reduce health and safety risks, and see a return on investment within three years.
At PEAK, we truly see ourselves as your local gas generation partner and we want to support you and help your lab to achieve its full potential. By removing the obstacles you face with your gas supply, you can maximize uptime and focus your time on the things that truly matter to your lab.
