Waters Pushes the Boundaries with Intuitive Simplicity

People make mistakes, we all know that. I know that from personal experience. I started my career as a young chemistry graduate, working in a QC lab. Along with many others using LCs, I was working difficult shift patterns and saw all too often the errors that today account for approximately 40% of quality incidents and related problems within the pharmaceutical industry. I have seen, first-hand, the impact of human error in the lab, and this is why the many conversations I’ve had with our customers and partners subsequently have resonated both personally and professionally. This is why I believe our new Alliance™ iS HPLC System really will resonate with you. 

Innovation ally for QC laboratories

I’m not about to get all philosophical, by going down the “to err is human” route, because I am acutely aware that human error isn’t the only pressure facing QC labs. Relentless demand to do more with less, ongoing and increasingly high employee turnover, and growing levels of sample complexity, are just a few I can name. So, at Waters, we challenged ourselves to take a close look at how HPLC can alleviate these everyday customer headaches. We have spent many years collaborating with customers from QC laboratories, and very quickly, we understood that the need for simplicity in HPLC is at the top of the list.

A step-change in innovation

Waters is dedicated to solving problems that matter, so we took on the issue of making QC measurements with HPLC a simpler matter. And we believe we have created the most intuitively simple HPLC we have ever made. The new Alliance iS HPLC System is the first-ever system dedicated to the specific needs of the QC lab, and it will save our customers time, money, and stress.  It’s like having someone alongside them – an ally, really – that understands what they are about to do and is there to help carry out the task.  This new “lab ally” is designed to work with Empower™ Software and eConnect™ Column Tracking Technology, unlocking unique features and functionality that eliminate the need to choose between simplicity, efficiency, and quality. Our customers should not have to resign themselves to the status quo. Making HPLC measurements should not be the most difficult part of their day. A conversation with one customer really brought this home to me.

“We want this aspect of our jobs to be as simple as possible. It’s the chemistry that’s the hard part.” Intuitive ease of use and simplicity is now firmly at the heart of the user experience.

The Alliance iS System is focused on reducing human error, and this will boost levels of productivity and efficiency, increase data quality, and lower lab exposure to risk. It will identify potential errors earlier, reducing the number of retests and failure investigations. This supports a quality culture that not only delivers safer products critical to human health and well-being but one that also results in an improved working environment, and a positive effect on employee retention and motivation.

This is a blog post, not a brochure but allow me to borrow a few words from our marketing team: the Alliance iS System is a time-saving, error-reducing, smile-inducing, game-changing, powerhouse. I really think it is. And the feedback we’re hearing from our beta customers attests to that.

We know that human error has long been a significant issue for our customers in the pharmaceutical QC space, and we also understand that organizational systems, processes, and practices frequently create a cocktail of headaches that lead to operational inefficiencies, missed deadlines, employee turnover, and compliance challenges.

Our customers are facing a perfect storm of issues that call for change. And as necessity is the mother of invention, we designed the Alliance iS HPLC System. We couldn’t be more excited about the benefits the Alliance iS HPLC System offers to innovative, technology-leading QA/QC labs.

We do think it’s a game-changer. Let us know what you think.

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