Anyone know the cost of a basic Tecan Fluent?
Maybe we could get some Tecan personnel in here
Working on it…
Barebones Tecan 480 with just a UV light, an 8-channel and an RGA FES - around 150.
But I do mean barebones.
TECANs notoriously are about how much you wanna deck em out with modules, deck components, pipetting accessories etc for you lab workflow needs which drives price up. I would say average buy for a 780 could be in the 200-300k range though.
Most of the cost of the instruments is in the arms. One item that drives the cost higher if added is the MCA384 arm. This is because the arm is 384-capable (with the right head adapter) even if your only intention is to use it in 96-channel mode only (such as with the EVA adapter). The same MCA384 arm is available on Evo, but the more common and lower cost arm on Evo is the MCA96. If you are 8-channel and gripper only, then there isn’t that huge of a price difference between the Fluent and corresponding Evo.
Generally I would recommend the Fluent over the Evo in nearly all circumstances today. I watched David Yazdi’s video on YouTube that someone posted recently comparing Evo and Fluent, and while I love the production value on it, I generally disagree with the conclusion where it sort of leans Evo over Fluent. My rationale is that employee time is highly valuable, and when I look at testing, the Fluent is far superior. Ability to comment out sections of code for testing on the Fluent really makes testing simplified compared to the Evo. Ability to disable liquid level detection across the script on Fluent also helps immensely in testing especially when running the instrument dry, versus beep after beep and prompt on the Evo. Other key aspects are larger deck capacity, faster arm movements, as well as ability to load/unload the labware representations in the software dynamically. Evo requires some tricks for putting plates of different types in the same position on the worktable in the software. Fluent has some other intelligent things about it such as the open deck, great for integrating items below deck, the lower deck, which can be useful for integrating taller objects, easier teaching relative to Evo and Pathfinder for collision-avoidance. Plus the TouchTools is integrated in Fluent rather than a separate layer that sits on-top of the Evo software, and the dual screen separating the programming side from the operator side is a big improvement.
For the Fluent, Tecan also offers certain packages that would provide above-average discounts on hardware vs. quoting something out piecemeal. One example is the Fluent NGS DreamPrep package - a 3 arm Fluent 780. This package is generally available at a better discount than if you did a non-package 3 arm configuration. The other benefit is many of the scripts for NGS the company has available are written to this exact worktable configuration.
As an ex-Tecan guy that has configured 100+ Fluent instruments in all types of applications, one of the areas I assist customers with at Nucleus Automation Partners LLC is designing worktables specific to their workflow, or to handle multiple workflows without deck reconfiguration. Not just from a technical sense, but also from a budget/pricing sense, since I understand the tradeoffs involved and how they impact cost, having put together literally hundreds if not 1,000+ quotes at Tecan during my time there.
If you ever need to run a quote by me, I will give an opinion and can also determine if there are unnecessary line items, or line items that are absent that ought to be on there. You want to get your quote right the first time.
-Mike
Wow that video… is not great.
Also no mention of the RGA-FES, modules, or the liquid class microscripts!
The microscript alone is worth the price of admission.
Anyone happen to have an update on getting Tecan folks here? Looking for a Tecan contact in the Boston area.
Hey Christine - I should be able to point you in the direction of the proper Tecan rep for Boston area, are you looking to speak with someone in sales or support?
@Joan had joined at one point. Not sure if she is still active…
Thank you! Sales would be great!
Just dropped you an email! Let me know if it didn’t make it to your inbox somehow.
Hi Christine, I would be happy to talk about service on your TECAN instrument(s). I am an ex-tecan engineer who has been servicing/repairing EVOs and Fluents in the Boston area for over 6 years. If you would like to connect and we can go into details and see how we at NEOTECH could assist you and your automation needs at very competitive cost for exceptional service.
LinkedIn - NEOTECH | LinkedIn
email - neotechlh@gmail.com
-Nino