Germany - Foss offers pay-per-test scheme to food labs
Published:April 28, 2006
Source :Foss
A pay-per-sample scheme introduced for a milk-testing laboratory in Germany could be offered to other customers across Europe, said Foss Analytical.
The company says the scheme allows food testing laboratories to spread, and ultimately reduce analysis costs.
Foss entered into the new payment scheme with a major central milk testing laboratory, Milchprüfring Bayern (MPR), in Germany. The scheme will be implemented over the next five years.
It covers the renewal of several instruments for testing raw milk including Fossomatic FC instruments for somatic cell counting, BactoScan FC instruments for bacteria analysis and MilkoScan instruments for compositional analysis.
The price structure is based on an agreed number of analyses per year. Instrument usage will be monitored during regular visits by Foss technicians.
Through the scheme, MPR expects to stabilize and reduce the costs of raw milk analysis, Foss stated. The laboratory also expects to make maintenance more efficient by simplifying operational and business procedures.
Laboratory director, Christian Baumgartner, is quoted as stating: “MPR will, during the coming years, get a substantial reduction in running costs of milk analysis through the pay-per-sample contract.”
MPR performs about 15 million tests on raw milk every year. Growing requirements for advanced analysis technology led the laboratory to consider an investment in new instruments that could support the growth of their business. Foss Analytical had been working with MPR for about twenty years.
“MPR sees the pay-per-sample scheme as a milestone in raw milk analysis and, together with FOSS GmbH, we see this as a win-win situation.” Baumgartner stated.
The pay-per-sample scheme may serve as a model for future business deals, not only in Germany said Trine Andersen, manager of Foss' analytical milk and dairy business.
"The pay-per-sample scheme with MPR in Germany is a business example with the potential to be followed elsewhere in the world,” Andersen stated.
