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Our customer in Western Australia had two automated PQ machines supplied by another vendor that were discontinued. These systems were very slow, taking around ~1 minute per sample. It often dropped samples and frequently stopped, reducing productivity and increasing the turnaround time of customer results. The customer reached out to HF to see how we could assist them in improving their productivity and also help to create safer working conditions.
HF provided a new PQ that is faster, more reliable and doesn’t drop samples. It also integrated perfectly with their existing Analex PQL instrument.
The PQ instrument sits in a high-quality, fully interlocked cabinet and has the capacity for two trays of 50 samples each. An additional 10-position QC magazine is available for urgent or ad-hoc samples. This robust system can process 4 samples per minute, which equates to over 5700 samples per day.
It can also perform an automatic calibration with the included 0 and 750 PQ standards before or after running a new batch of samples and report these values to LIMS. Two integrated cameras take high resolution pictures of the side and bottom of each sample bottle, allowing the interpreters and customer to see the physical appearance of each sample. This aids in making conclusions about its health. An automated colour analysis is also performed from the photos which informs decision making about what tests the sample should undergo in the lab.
Safety is exceptional, with all doors being mechanically interlocked while the machine is in operation. The modular design allows simple expansion and interfacing with HF’s full range of laboratory automation in the future. It can also be easily customised to include other analytical methods and sample preparation.