User Story - Intertek

Name: Dr. Torsten Peix

Job Title: Technical Operations Manager

Company: Intertek Food Services GmbH, Bremen

Dr. Torsten Peix outside the lab at Intertek Food Services GmbH

Peak Infinity feeds analytical instruments for analysis

Intertek is a multinational inspection, product testing and certification company headquartered in London and consisting of many sites around the world. One such site is based in Bremen, Germany where Dr Torsten Peix and his colleagues are responsible for testing foods and animal feeds for contaminants. Intertek Food Services can also provide additional services to their clients to help meet various international industry standards, perform product audits and certifications as well as several other services.

With over 40,000 employees worldwide and over 1000 testing laboratories/offices in more than 100 countries using the latest technologies and instrumentation, Intertek delivers innovative and bespoke Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions for customers' operations and supply chains.

We asked Dr. Torsten Peix about his Peak Scientific gas generator and how it has performed for his laboratory:

Typically, what is the focus of your LC-MS analysis - what sort of applications?

“At our lab we test foods and animal feeds for antibiotic-residues and pesticides.”

What Peak Scientific generators do you have in your laboratory and what LC-MS instruments do they supply?

“We have an Infinity 5030 nitrogen gas generator which supplies a Sciex 5500 LC-MS-MS system and three Thermo TSQ Quantum Ultras at this time.”

What prompted you to choose a Peak generator and how long have you used them?

“Price and performance were our main reasons for purchasing a Peak gas generator. We have been using these since May 2014”

What has been the key benefit of deploying Peak generators as opposed to your previous gas supply solution?

“We used this generator to enlarge the capacity of our gas supply. Whilst going through lab-expansion we realised that we needed a generator to meet our new gas requirements.”

How would you describe your purchasing experience with Peak in terms of speed of response, ease of ordering, catering for your needs and timing of delivery?

“The purchase was quick and easy and the after-sales support was good.”

Have you ever had a site visit from a Peak engineer, if so, could you describe your experience of this support?

“So far we have not required a service engineer. The system is running well since installation and no maintenance has been needed.”

Would you recommend Peak Scientific generators to other laboratories - and if so, what would be your main reason for the recommendation?

“I would recommend Peak Scientific generators to other laboratories because they are easy to use, meet the required instrument specifications and are cost effective.”

---

The lab at Intertek Food Services have experienced the benefits of replacing their traditional bulk gas supply with a gas generator. Like many of Peak’s customers, the first purchase of their gas generator was triggered by moving, expanding or upgrading their laboratory. In this instance, the expansion of their lab meant assessing how to get the most out of their laboratory work space. By installing an Infinity generator, which does not contain internal compressors, the lab was able to consolidate the space required for bulk supplied nitrogen into a single unit, which has very low maintenance requirements and is effectively silent whilst in operation.

Infinity 5030 nitrogen generator

Peak Scientific’s range of Infinity generators are compressor-less systems which use tried and tested membrane technology to produce nitrogen for laboratory instruments, primarily LC-MS. As these systems do not contain compressors, they are reliant on an in-house supply of air which should be of high quality to ensure the output meets the instrument requirements. Intertek’s lab has a reliable source of internal air and, with their Infinity 5030 supplying up to 180 L/min of nitrogen, they can supply multiple instruments from a single Peak gas generator.