Worcester Business Journal

M A N U F A C T U R I N G A W A R D S F O C U S Overall Manufacturing Excellence, small company O r g a n o m a t i o n Location: Berlin Industry subsector: Laboratory instruments Founded: 1959 Top executive: President Andrew McNiven Primary product: Nitrogen blowdown evaporators for sample preparation Digital advancement: Organomation launched a new version of its website in November. Keeping it simple Despite advances in automation, Organomation continues its strong sales with a user-friendly product similar to its 60-year-old original BY ZACHARY COMEAU Worcester Business Journal Staff Writer N itrogen evaporators are simple devices, but Berlin manufacturer Organomation has seized on the critical need for the product for 60 years. e company was founded in 1959 by Neal McNiven, who saw the need for sample preparation instruments for chromatography. e devices are used by scientists to prepare samples for analysis by utilizing heat and nitrogen blowdown. According to the founder's son, President Andrew McNiven, the company basically invented the concept of nitrogen blowdown evaporation. Originally, Organomation began with a 12-position sample unit. at expanded to many other models ranging anywhere from 6 positions to 100 positions, McNiven said. e company now sells more than 20 different instrument designs and is exploring the development of more hi-tech devices to meet the growing needs of laboratories. Happy customers Much of the company's customers are repeat sales, McNiven said. "We've penetrated all of the major research labs in North America," he said. One of those labs is the crop science lab at Clemson University in South Carolina, where researchers are exploring heat response in peanuts. Graduate student Zolian Zoong Lwe said Organomation's evaporators, which he called an integral part of the work, allow him to evaporate the solution without damaging the extracted lipids. His team and advisor already had experience with Organomation equipment from previous experiments, so they made it a point to purchase one if it was within the budget. "It's very intuitive and user friendly," he said. "It's very easy to use." Moving toward an automated future Despite advancements in science and the rise of automation, Organo- mation's rather simple lab appliances haven't had to be remade to be more hi-tech. "e original design is still selling somewhat well," McNiven said. However, a transition to a more tech-savvy product market is likely inevitable. "We're certainly aware that chem- istry may be moving on to a more automated process," McNiven said. To meet that demand, the company has hired an engineering staff to stay on top of trends in lab equipment. U.S. business has slowed as research labs mature and utilize new technology, but international business has picked up in Asian countries like China and Vietnam as more labs come online. Helping the company's bottom line are international supplier agreements to tap into the success of its strong customer base. "at's probably why our products still sell as well as they do," McNiven said. "Internationally, labs are starting from the basement and companies are building those facilities up. Manually operated instruments are still accept- able." wbjournal.com | April 1, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 15 Organomation has its own line of solvent evaporators. W A Clemson University professor and student are using a N-EVAP device from Organomation for their research.

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