Nine Questions to Ask Yourself When Choosing a Magnetic Bead Supplier

Magnetic bead suppliers vary in how they produce their product, how they deliver their product and how they guarantee their product. Some suppliers will also only provide common types of magnetic beads, such as magnetic streptavidin beads, while others will offer more specific products.

This post is about choosing a magnetic bead supplier for Chemiluminescent immunoassays. If you are interested in this topic, download our free ebook The Basic Guide for the use of Magnetic Bead in Chemiluminescent immunoassays:

Before deciding on a supplier, here are nine questions to ask your potential sources of magnetic beads:

1. Does the supplier conduct periodic audits of the product for quality control purposes? All suppliers should periodically check their product and validate that it meets their standard specifications.

2. Does the supplier offer bulk pricing for large orders? Do they offer specials if you want to evaluate and validate their products? Good suppliers will not shy away from allowing you to ‘test’ their products before you buy. Often you can get free samples to test and validate before you decide to buy in quantity.

3. Does the supplier guarantee delivery of the product in good condition? Is delivery reliable and can the supplier act quickly if you need material urgently? Does the supplier have a ‘safety stock’ supply in case of emergencies?

4. Does the supplier respond promptly when they receive a purchase order? Does the supplier respond promptly to customer service technical issues?

5. Does the supplier offer custom products? Does the supplier have a proactive attitude toward offering new products that will help improve your product and business? (i.e suggesting streptavidin magnetic beads or other bio-activated solutions if you have problems with the covalent binding of your antibodies)

6. Can the supplier help with scaling up issues? Have they tested their beads on biomagnetic separation systems that can cope with different production volumes and validation requirements?

7. Can your potential supplier help you achieve a better market position? Can they verbalize how they would do this?

8. Does the supplier try to anticipate changes in the technology and respond to those changes?

9. Does the supplier happily offer regular and easy to use technical support? Will the supplier meet with you face to face?

It is always important to have a supplier that is not only responsive to your needs, but who anticipates what your needs may be in the future. In addition to quality of the material and guarantee of the product, a responsive supplier is the best way to make a customer happy.

Don't forget to check these posts from our blog in order to get a deeper insight into Chemiluminescent immunoassays: