2016 UTILIZATION BENCHMARK REPORT

1 1

2 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS

I NT RODU CTION 2

O UR METHODOLOG Y 3

Th e s t at is tic s 4

UT I L I Z ATION ACR OSS I NST R UME NT C LASS 5

I nter preting t he d ata 6

I NS I GHTS 7

I M PA C T 9
 2

INTRODUCTION
Novel work is performed in laboratories across the globe: from discovery biology to quality control to process
optimization. A critical component of the modern laboratory are scientific instruments. These devices range
from the simple (e.g. mass balances) to complex (e.g. HPLCs). However, as laboratories enter 2017, new
priorities and a continual drive for greater efficiency requires evaluating critically how these instruments are
used.
 3

OUR METHODOLOGY
TetraScience is an Internet-of-Things platform for In this report, we visualize and tabulate insights of
R&D labs. We connect scientific instruments and instrument utilization across our customer base in
experiments to a single online dashboard. Operations the life sciences industry. The goal is to establish
managers, scientists, and informatics teams leverage industry-wide benchmarks for instrumentation across
our cloud-based software to improve the quality of the sector. Given the lack of tangible utilization data
science and operational efficiency of their labs. One available to date, we believe this report will provide
key product we provide customers is TetraScience insights to instrument usage and lab efficiency as a
Utilization. TetraScience Utilization enables key whole.
enterprise groups - from scientists to lab operations -
to view instrument availability in real-time and produce To help readers of this report derive meaningful
on-demand reports of utilization intelligence across conclusions and apply insights to their own
their entire fleet. laboratories, we focused on three specific types of
chromatographic instruments: mass spectrometers,
Using a powerful combination of software and HPLCs, and UPLCs. These chromatography systems
sensors, we are able to produce insights from are mainstays of most wet laboratories and are
instrumentation across the industry. TetraScience commonly used across industry segments.
serves 50+ enterprises ranging from pharma to oil &
gas to academia. Our product can generate reports
of instrument utilization for individual instruments or
Usage Patte
entire fleets. Utilization Es
timates Generated By
ed
Demo User
Sep 19 2016
Fleetwide utiliz
Between Aug 19
Grouped by "Ty
ation and analy
2016 and Sep 1
rns Report
tics data for 10 i
9 2016
nstruments
0 instruments Report Generat a week pe" Generated By
lytics data for 1 24 Hours, 7 days Demo User
ilization and ana Reporting Hours rk Report Generat
Fleetwide ut 9 2016 America/New_Yo ed Sep 19 2016
2016 and Sep 1 Timezone Reporting Hour
Between Aug 19 s 24 Hours, 7
days a week
" Timezone
Grouped by "Type America/New_Y
ork

Idle Legend
In Use Less Usage
ser ek
Legend Mass Spec More Usag
e
o U 6 we
Dem 9 201 ays a
By Sep
1 , 7 d ork
ted d ours w_Y
era
Gen nera
te 24 H ca/Ne
eri Mass Spec 9 744 hrs 30 %
tion Aug 19 - Sep 1
e urs Am
ort G Ho

0
Rep orting zone

iliza Aug 19 - Se
Rep e % used
Tim 100 %

Ut p 19
80 90
70 Sun

e nt 1 OFF 30 % 50 60 8% 110 hrs Demo Instru Mon

744 hrs
c
40 Tue
i 30 ment 2
me
v
20 Wed

3
stru 10

De
tion) 0 Thur
o In Usage (% Utiliza

64.
266 hrs Demo Instru Fri
Dem 6 % 20% Sat

gle
ment 10
for 1 ment 2
ata 19 20 Demo Instru

Sin tics d e p ICS 326 hrs Demo Instru

naly nd S ETR IDLE Sat 25% ment 9
N M
nd a 016 a ATIO Demo Instru
ment 10
n a

7
2 LIZ
atio ug 19 UTI Fri 399 hrs Demo Instru
ment 7

35.
Utiliz een A
30%
%
ment 9
Betw Demo Instru Demo Instru
G Thu 34% 455 hrs ment 8
ork RAT
IN
w_Y OPE ment 7
INFO /Ne d Demo Instru Demo Instru
ICE erica We 460 hrs
ment 1
DEV Am 35%
pec EEK ment 8
ss S A W Tue Demo Instru Demo Instru
Ma ple
r N IN 729 hrs
ment 4
sa m ATIO 55%
LIZ
Auto UTI n ment 1
ciex URLY Mo Demo Instru
AB S HO
0
550 Sun e ment 4
API sag Demo Instru
o re U
Dem ment
1
Mo
ru d
Inst s 6 an
ys hour 201
 4

Th e Stat is tic s

Sample Size: 50+

! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! +
Industries in our customer base: 5

PHARMA B I OT ECH OIL & GAS HOSP I TALS AC AD EMI A

Instrument types: 3

M A S S S P E CTRO M ETER HPLC U P LC

 5

UTILIZATION acros s i n s tru me n t cl as s

Through our investigation, we observed substantial differences in usage between different scientific instruments.
Of the three main types of chromatographic systems, cohort-wide benchmarks are as follows:

M A S S S P ECT ROMET ER

Average 22.4 %

Interquartile Range 23.0 %

HP L C

Average 13.0 %

Interquartile Range 15.5 %

UP L C

Average 6.7 %

Interquartile Range 5.8 %

 6

I nterpr eting t he D ata

As a point of order, to interpret this data properly, one must understand how our platform reports utilization. Utilization
in a given period of time is reported based on all hours in the time range. If the time range was 1 week, we would assume
that the total hours are 168 hours (7 days * 24 hours/day). If an instrument is continuously in use during the entire 168
hours of a full week, our analyses would report 100% utilization. Similarly, if an instrument is used continuously only during
the 9-to-5 work week, our analysis would report 25% utilization.

With this understanding, a few interesting characteristics become clear:

Mass spectrometer utilization is quite high in comparison to other chromatographic systems.

1 Why is that? Across our customer base, it is apparent that mass spectrometers are quite expensive in
comparison to UPLCs or HPLCs (in some cases 10x more expensive). As a result, there are likely fewer mass
spectrometers in a given facility than other chromatography systems. Fewer available instruments suggests
that those available would be more heavily used compared to counterparts.

There exists a measurable, but smaller, difference in usage between HPLCs and UPLCs.
2 Further investigation suggests that our customers employ UPLCs in more specialized applications. Though
these applications are mission-critical, the frequency of measurements are fewer than general HPLCs.

Based on the metrics shown above, how does your organization’s capital equipment stack up? If you want to compare the
performance of your instruments with these industry benchmarks, contact us to learn more.
 7

INSIGHTS
Mass specs usage is 2x to 3x longer than that of HPLCs or UPLCs
1 The length of a run, combined with overall usage, is an interesting way to assess utilization of your fleet. Our
data shows that most mass spectrometers have extensive run-times; such lengths are a consequence of
most mass spectrometers being attached to autosamplers, devices that periodically feed samples into an
analytical instrument.

Holiday periods impact experimental productivity by 50%

2 Let’s take a look at 2016 Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday; the holiday itself occurs on the
same day of the week every year (Thursday) and results in a partial week of work.
 8

I N S I G H T S ( c o nt.)
In Figure #1, one can see how lab utilization changes
through the holiday period.
Instrument
Utilization During the week prior (November 14 - November
30%
18), usage is steady. However, as Thanksgiving week
approaches, vacations appear to begin earlier in the
24%
week as instrument utilization decreases until reaching
18%
a low percentage on Friday, November 25 (the Friday
right after Thanksgiving day).
12%
Interestingly, instruments are still somewhat in use on
6% Thursday, November 24, likely because of longer-term
runs that extend from Wednesday in to the following
day (Thursday).
11/14 11/21 11/28 12/5

As people return to the laboratory after Thanksgiving,

Figure #1: utilization appears to increase substantially above
Plot of utilization versus date for a characteristic lab (60+ pre-Thanksgiving levels. One could posit that staff are
scientific instruments) in the pharmaceutical industry. racing to finish projects before the end of the year.
 9

IMPACT
As laboratories examine their instrument utilization, insights unique to their fleet provide improve operational efficiency
and drive capital decisions in 2017. Across our customer base, TetraScience Utilization has delivered a substantial ROI
that translates to savings of 10%-13% on capital and servicing budgets. Moving into the new year, these organizations
have found that this treasure trove of utilization data enables them to make data-driven decisions about new investments
and ways to leverage existing capital to meet evolving R&D needs.

To learn more about how TetraScience Utilization can impact your lab, head over to www.tetrascience.com
 Mission control for R&D
TetraScience connects your lab instruments to a single online dashboard
so you can manage experiments and access data.

Learn more:
www.tetrascience.com

Twitter:
@TetraScience

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/tetrascienceinc

LinkedIn:
www.linkedin.com/company/tetrascience