Research labs often don’t have the resources to monitor what their lab is buying, who the lab is buying from, and monthly spend. At Lab Spend, we’ve expanded the analytics to answer those questions!
As context, if you don’t currently use Lab Spend, it’s a free lab management and inventory platform. Lab Spend enables each person in your lab to request the products that they are looking to purchase. Items are tracked in the system and allow for the order status to be easily communicated in a single dashboard. Since all items are being entered into Lab Spend it’s a natural extension to show you the spending analytics of those requests.
The cost of goods is shown in greet, total spend (shipping and fees added) in orange and number of orders in blue
You can hover over the nodes in each graph to view more details.
Spend by supplier
Spend per Catalog Number (Total Price) (left) and Spend per Quantity Purchased (right)
Analytics automatically updates as requests are made and can be filtered such as by date and supplier. If your group is utilizing Spend Codes to tracking grants, projects, purchase orders, etc. you can filter by those as well.
This new analytics feature works along with Integrations in Analytics. Note that Integrations is permission gated so it may not be visible to all users.
P212121 becomes Authorized Distributor for MilliporeSigma Products
P212121 becomes an authorized distributor of the complete MilliporeSigma product line. P212121, founded in 2010, provides industry-leading lab management and inventory software. MilliporeSigma (NASDAQ: SIAL) subsidiary of Merck KGaA, Germany – the world’s oldest pharmaceutical and chemical company.
P212121 through its latest development, Lab Spend is excited to offer over 300,000 products from MilliporeSigma to thousands of researchers using their software. Lab Spend is the industry leader in free lab management, price comparison, and inventory software.
“We’re excited to be working with MilliporeSigma to provide labs with the scientific supplies and chemicals they need to drive scientific progress,” said Sean Seaver, P212121’s Founder. “It’s great that Lab Spend is being recognized as providing a unique value to both manufacturers and sellers in the scientific community.”
About MilliporeSigma The Life Science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, which operates as MilliporeSigma in the U.S. and Canada, has over 22,000 employees and 59 manufacturing sites worldwide, with a portfolio of more than 300,000 products focused on scientific discovery, bio-manufacturing, and testing services. More information is available at MilliporeSigma (https://www.sigmaaldrich.com/)
About P212121 P212121 through Lab Spend provides a completely free solution for lab management, inventory and innovate procurement assistance. More information available at P212121 (https://store.p212121.com) and Lab Spend (https://labspend.com)
How is COVID-19 influencing the spending of research labs?
At Lab Spend, we help labs monitor how they spend millions of dollars on research chemicals and supplies. The market is dynamic in that some labs are researching COVID-19 and are very busy. However, other labs could be closed or functioning in maintenance mode.
Below is the total spending of all companies using Lab Spend taking into accounts that joined or left our service.
The decline in spending of research labs from March to April was 64%. The y-axis has been intentionally been removed. While we don’t have enough data to project spending across the entire industry, we thought it would be interesting to examine how and if the spending is changing.
Identifying Savings Opportunities in Scientific Supplies and Chemicals
Previously, we modeled what specific universities and companies were paying for acetone and gloves. Today, we’re taking a more macro-level view and answering more broad based.
The data set we will be using contains over 10 billion dollars in pricing information. The data is comprised of information contributed by researchers, procurement departments and through freedom of information requests. The goal is to model the market price for research chemicals and supplies which is very different than the list prices.
We divided the data into the following segments which are universities and small and large companies. If a company had less than 100 employees on LinkedIn they were classified as small and if greater, large. We also have a segment of ‘other’ such as pricing data from cities, states, hospitals and those that we have not yet categorized. The distribution of the university and company is currently (January, 2020) as follows:
It’s worth noting that the budget spent on scientific supplies and chemicals is not perfectly represented by company size, but there is a trend. For example, a pharmaceutical company with 200 employees could be spending more than a non-research focused company that has 5,000 employees.
On average, do universities get better prices than companies on scientific supplies and chemicals?
Yes, when comparing the segments on average price paid, universities are paying 9% less, small companies 5% more, large companies 4% less and the other segment is paying 4.5% more. This information is also displayed in the table below:
Segment
Compared to Average Price
Universities
9% less
Small Companies
5% more
Large Companies
4% less
Other
4.5% more
Do universities get the best prices?
It varies, if we compare universities and large companies there is nearly an equal distribution of who is attaining the lowest price for a product.
So far, we’ve classified the 44.8% of the current data and universities are paying the lowest price 23.7% of the time while large companies are paying the lowest price 21.2% of the time. The distribution represents the percentage greater than the low a university or large company is paying. The distribution is quite similar, for example, 18.1% of the time universities are within 10% of the low while it is 17.3% for large companies.
Three insights from the graphs above: 1) The likelihood of a university or large company having the lowest price on a product is about the same. 2) Universities and large companies are paying within 20% of the overall low price 56% and 52% (we’re summing the left most 3 percentage segments from the graph above) of the time respectively. This means that just under half of the time the price for an item is within 20% more than the lowest price. 3) The instances where the low price percentage difference is extremely high (i.e. greater than 160%) are likely to be based on areas of limited coverage such as only 2 data pricing data points for a product.
Is it possible to save significant money from existing suppliers that provide lab supplies and chemicals?
Yes, we see significant variation at the item level within a company. A company can have near or the low price and be buying items that are more than 100% of the low. Often the top 10 items purchased by spend are priced competitively as they tend to be a focus of procurement departments. The opportunity is identifying these high priced items with meaningful spend and requesting improved pricing while also considering alternative supplies.
How much does time influence pricing?
Very little, in other words, if you buy a product in 2015 and in 2020 the price difference is insignificant compared to the initial price you paid. Your pricing will increase over time and it’s worth doing that analysis and would be concerned if the pricing is increasing at a rate greater than 3 to 5% per a year without a justification. Going back to the original question, for example, if you paid $150 for Kimwipes in 2015, you could be at $180 in 2020, however, the more significant factor is that there is another client paying $75 (half the amount) in 2015 who is now paying $110.
We consult with clients to help them identify the roughly 46% of products that they are paying 30% or greater than the low price. We also help identify alternative products. If that is of interest, please reach out at us support@labspend.com
Lab Spend is designed to work with how research labs commonly order products. Initially, a researcher requests a product, the product is visible in a dashboard that the entire lab can view, Lab Spend looks for savings, if we find savings you can purchase through Lab Spend or continue with your current vendor.
If you continue with the outside vendor (not Lab Spend) it’s referred to as an external order. This is because the order needs to be placed outside of the Lab Spend website. For example, if you request a printer from Amazon and we cannot find savings, you would need to go to Amazon and place the order directly. While we help with customer service for all our orders it can be difficult to monitor the status of each product from outside vendors. To help, Lab Spend has expanded the level of detail that you can communicate with your lab about an order.
Previously, you could provide two updates either enter back ordered dates or add tracking information. Now in the Order Status section of Lab Spend, you will see a new button called Status:
After clicking on the Status button, you can select Change Status, Split (more details below), Return, Cancel and Add Tracking. If clicked on, you can provide reasons why a product was returned or cancelled.
If you click on Change Status as indicated by the arrow above, you can change the status (image below) to Started, Placed (you’ve placed the order with the external vendor), Confirmed (vendor sent you a confirmation), Back ordered (you can add the estimated ship date), Shipped (can add tracking) and Received (you can add to your inventory from this point).
Split Feature:
Let’s say you order 10 cases of gloves and they have different status such as 3 are back ordered and 7 have been received (image below). The Split feature allows you to ‘split’ or divide the units and assign each lot its own status. This feature is flexible so that you can assign as many statuses as needed to each order.
In addition, you can add packing slips once shipments arrive. This update extends the ability of Lab Spend to monitor the status of ordered products and improve communication.
How can we help your lab run better? It’s a question we’re always asking! Today, we’re excited to announce a new feature called Spend Codes.
What are Spend Codes?
Spend Codes act as tags that you can assign to any product request or order to help track your spending. For example, you can use spend codes to track grant money or total spend for a specific project. You can also use Spend Codes to track purchase orders.
You can enable Spend Codes in your Settings:
At the bottom of the Settings page:
Spend Codes are represented by clickable green dollar signs:
After clicking, a Spend Code model will appear in which you can create, add, edit and deactivate the codes:
Add New Spend Code – Types of Codes and Duration
You can use Spend Codes based on Project ID, Grant ID, Fund ID, Requisition Number, or Purchase Order Number. You can make Spend Codes “Persistent” so they can be used over and over, or only permit “Single Use”.
Flexibility
You can attach as many Spend Codes as needed at the item and order level.
Why would you want to attach a code at the item level?
Let’s say you want to place a large single order with a vendor to save on shipping costs. The order contains 10 items, but needs to be split into 3 projects and 2 grants. This would be difficult if Spend Codes were only at the order level.
Below is an example from the order status section:
The orange arrow above highlights, if you hover over a Spend Code, a dialogue box will appear stating the Type and description details.
In the example above, you will see a spend codes at the item level and at the bottom middle the order level spend code (green arrow). As always, Lab Spend is free to use!
Yes, the trend is that universities have better prices than companies as our previous post shows. However, it does vary by universities and company and even at the item level. In the table below, we’re modeling what major companies and universities are paying for a commonly used research product. The table below is displaying the current price for acetone, 4L, ACS grade, each.
Name
Price
Description
Free Shipping
Sanofi
16.07
Large Company
No
UCSF
18.72
University
Yes
Penn State Univ.
22.18
University
Yes
BASF
26.33
Large Company
No
USC (CA)
29.48
University
Yes
Arizona State Univ.
34.79
University
No
Mass General Hospital
36.80
University
Yes
Heliotrope Technologies
139.63
Small Company
No
Companies and universities that are ordering solvents often order in bulk to reduce shipping costs. The following data is for acetone, 4x4L, ACS Grade.
Name
Price
Description
Free Shipping
Boston University
67.50
University
Yes
Celerion
76.64
Large Company
No
Novartis
78.33
Large Company
Yes
Lubrizol
79.21
Large Company
No
Berkeley
81.15
University
Yes
Northwestern University
83.02
University
Yes
Auburn University
86.00
University
Yes
Oregon State Univ.
90.81
University
Yes
Procter & Gamble
92.23
University
Yes
Miami University
92.23
University
Yes
University of Oklahoma
95.28
University
Yes
Austin Community College
96.77
University
Yes
Rice University
96.77
University
Yes
Bio-Rad
97.66
Large Company
No
Harvard University
99.09
University
Yes
DPX Labs
124.07
Small Company
No
Solvay
129.68
Large Company
Yes
Elevance Renewable Sciences
140.26
Small Company
No
Rive Technology
202.94
Small Company
Yes
Chemtall
214.85
Small Company
Yes
We commonly see a 2-4x difference between companies purchasing the exact same product. In the example, it is about 4.5x difference between the lowest and highest paying customer, which is considerable. The difference is about 3.8x for companies with a small company having the best pricing.
Want to give us feedback, need more details or contribute pricing? Please email us at support@labspend.com. Also if you want to see how your pricing compares to others, sign up for free at Lab Spend and use our free pricing engine search tool.
Are university prices lower than companies on research products?
Yes, the trend is that universities have better prices than companies. However, it does vary by universities and company and even at the item level. In the table below, we’re modeling what major companies and universities are paying for a commonly used research product. The table below is displaying the current price for UltraSense™ Powder-Free Nitrile Gloves by Microflex for the case size.
Company
Price
Description
Cal Tech.
61.82
University
UCSF
66.99
University
UCSC
67.02
University
Berkeley
67.02
University
Duke Univ.
67.50
University
Texas A&M University
68.58
University
Harvard University
70.34
University
Univ. of Utah
72.18
University
Scripps
72.80
University
Cornell University
73.57
University
Univ. of WI, Madison
73.85
University
Hygieia Biological Lab
76.11
Small Company
North Dakota State Univ.
77.35
University
UCSD
77.56
University
USC (CA)
78.49
University
Hologic
80.10
Large Company
Connecticut College
80.18
Small University
Univ. of Nevada Reno
80.18
University
Univ. of Colorado
80.52
University
Univ. of New Mexico
81.56
University
Auburn University
82.61
University
Genentech
83.93
Large Company
Roche Diagnostics
83.98
Large Company
Univ. of Iowa
84.39
University
Monsanto
84.40
Large Company
Quidel Corporation
85.03
Large Company
Northwestern Univ.
85.14
University
University of Arizona
86.19
Large University
Genzyme
88.30
Large Company
Louisiana State Univ.
88.41
University
Univ. of Minnesota
88.51
University
BASF
89.36
Large Company
Access Genetics
89.36
Small Company
Austin Community College
92.42
Small University
Tolmar Pharmaceuticals
94.82
Medium Company
Trilogy Analytical Laboratory
109.33
Small Company
Beckman Coulter
111.63
Large Company
Emory University
120.06
University
Aurora Algae
127.55
Small Company
BioMarin
127.55
Large Company
Sutro Biopharma
127.57
Large Company
Johnson & Johnson
139.68
Large Company
Becton Dickinson
140.91
Large Company
Icahn School of Med. at Mt. Sinai
143.91
University
Mylan Pharmaceuticals
144.77
Medium Company
Procter & Gamble
145.95
Large Company
University of Oklahoma
153.16
University
University of Kentucky
156.48
University
Anoka Ramsey Community College
160.52
Small University
Husson University
160.52
Small University
Temple Univ.
160.52
University
Norchem Corporation
165.28
Medium Company
Acceleron Pharma
172.61
Large Company
Regeneron Pharma
181.87
Large Company
Abbvie
185.26
Large Company
Hollister Incorporated
187.87
Large Company
Equitech Bio Inc.
191.46
Small Company
Oklahoma State Univ.
193.38
University
IBM
206.06
Large Company
GEI Consulting
241.07
Small Company
Biofire Defense
252.06
Small Company
Tangen Bioscience
288.41
Small Company
Teledyne ISCO
288.41
Medium Company
We defined company size as small for under 100, medium 100-1,000 and great than 1,000 employees as large. Our goal is to keep these prices within 2% of the current price (last updated 8/14/2019).
We commonly see a 2-4x difference between companies purchasing the exact same product. In the example, it is about 4.5x difference between the lowest and highest paying customer, which is considerable. The difference is about 3.8x for companies with a small company having the best pricing.
Want to give us feedback, need more details or contribute pricing? Please email us at support@labspend.com. Also if you want to see how your pricing compares to others, sign up for free at Lab Spend and use our free pricing engine search tool.
Think you’re getting the best price on VWR and Fisher Scientific? Think again.
We all love scientific suppliers, and for good reason: these companies sell almost everything. Despite these companies being dominate in supplying researchers, it’s easy to assume that you’re always getting the best price – but that’s often not the case. Yes, we know about your start-up, moving, academic, bulk, special birthday quote, awesome promo discount, but you’re likely overpaying. Luckily, there’s an easy way to outsmart the marketplace and get better pricing.
Recommended by Lab Manager magazine, this genius website has gained popularity among researchers for its pricing search engine tool. It can save you tons of money. And, yes, it can show you savings even if you have special pricing!
It’s easy to use, just enter a catalog number and pricing histogram appears:
Now you know if you’re overpaying! If so, ask your sales rep for quote, shop around, Lab Spend will even give you quotes automatically and get a fair price.
The next time you shop on Fisher or VWR, check Lab Spend to know ensure you help you get the lowest price possible. In seconds, you have a better idea of the market price that can save you thousands. And here’s the best part: Fisher Scientific and VWR are just the beginning! Lab Spend also accepts manufacturer catalog numbers so you can save on everything from gloves to freezers.
Fisher Scientific, VWR and Sigma-Aldrich (now MilliporeSigma) are the three commonly used suppliers to scientific research labs. Researchers will often compare the prices between these brands while making their purchasing decisions. All of these companies offer unique products, but many are essentially commodities. For commodity items, pricing can be a major factorin deciding who to buy from although quality and lead time should also be considerations.
At Lab Spend, we’re focused on helping researchers and procurement departments make informed purchasing decisions. However, let’s for a moment view the marketplace from a supplier perspective.
What companies are researchers buying from?
Fisher Scientific, VWR and MilliporeSigma comprise the majority of sales so we will be focusing on them in this post. All three major suppliers have extensive catalogs and therefore are able to offer many products that labs are looking to purchase.
Next, let’s look at what researchers are buying at a Midwest university. For the past four years, Fisher Scientific has had and continues to hold the largest sales volume as shown by the pie charts below:
Let’s next take a look at the past four years of sales to see if there’s variation. Fisher Scientific has had the majority of sales for the past four years, but it did decline in 2018. This was due to an increase in sales by VWR, which has tripled in the past two years. MilliporeSigma has remained consistent over the four year period.
What are the top selling items?
Let’s next look at what are the items that are driving the revenue leaving out those that are not accurately cataloged or a detailed item description was lacking. The most popular item for the past four years is gloves comprising 21% of all sales. It’s interesting to note that Fisher Scientific and VWR have almost equal share with Fisher having the slight majority at 51%. For Fisher Scientific, the top selling glove and product is Kimberly Clark Lavender™ Nitrile Exam Gloves at $145 per a case.
The next significant type of products generating sales were solvents followed by 2018 pricing.
Supplier
Solvent
Catalog Number
Size
Pack
Price
Fisher
Acetone
A18-200
200L
EA
$562.78
Fisher
Methylene Chloride
D37-20
20L
EA
$112.79
Fisher
Acetonitrile
A998-4
4L
CS
$210.24
Fisher
Hexanes
H292-20
20L
EA
$52.17
The top selling product from VWR was also gloves with their private label Soft Nitrile Examination Gloves catalog number 89038-270 for $48.95 per a case and related depending on the size. Next for VWR was also solvents, Acetonitrile, EM-AX0145-1, CS with that varied around $200, N,N-Dimethylformamide, BDH1117-4LG, CS for $319.22.
The best sellers for MilliporeSigma were Amicon filters, Ultra-0.5 Centrifugal Filter Unit catalog numbers UFC500396, UFC900324 and UFC901024 comprised about 16% of their total yearly sales. Amicon filters are made by MilliporeSigma, but Fisher Scientific offered them at a better price. We work with labs helping them comparison shop and this just another example to keep an eye out, just because you are ordering from the manufacturer you can still be overpaying. The number of unique catalog numbers sold from Fisher Scientific, VWR and MilliporeSigma were about 2500, 350 and 500 respectively. We found it interesting that VWR had about double the sales as MilliporeSigma spread over fewer items.
Who is offering a better price for the exact same item?
In 2018, researchers bought item 431161 from Corning, Disposable Sterile Bottle-Top Filters with 0.22µm Membrane and Corning item 95301, Melting Point Capillaries.
Supplier
Cat. Number
Price
Pack
Manuf.
Man. Cat. Number
VWR
29442-952
$209.35
CS
Corning
431161
Fisher
09-761-126
$258.02
CS
Corning
431161
VWR
32311-080
$203.99
CS
Corning
95301
Fisher
08-261-2A
$181.20
CS
Corning
95301
Despite being better priced VWR was outsold by Fisher for item 431161. As a note, Corning item 431161 is priced reasonably, but item 95301 could be better based on our analysis of other universities and companies.
Let’s look at 2019 prices. Fisher Scientific and VWR both offer Kimberly Clark item 34155 (Fisher Catalog number 06666A and VWR catalog number 21905-026 by the case. Fisher Scientific is offering it for $143.20 while VWR offers it at $112.06, which represents about a 28% savings for the exact same item. For the past fours years, VWR has been better priced, but Fisher has sold about 6x the amount of product. For an actionable step, VWR should consider letting more labs know about this item since it is commonly used.
To address the initial question, you need to compare at the item level for savings. As the example shows, Fisher Scientific and VWR both offer Corning products and depending on the item have a better price.
Have any comments or questions, feel free to send us an email at support@labspend.com .
