Andrew Alliance was created in March 2011. The Andrew Pipetting Robot was successfully launched in 2013, and is now in its second generation, called Andrew+. It offers fully automated pipetting, as well as more complex manipulations, using a wide range of accessories and Andrew Alliance electronic pipettes. It executes protocols in Andrew Alliance’s OneLab intelligent cloud-based software environment, within which experiments can be intuitively designed, repeatably executed, and tracked through a rapidly evolving ecosystem of connected devices and accessories that the company is building together with partner organisations.
“The technology enables rapid transition from laborious manual procedures to error-free, robotic workflows,”
Dr. Skinner explains, adding that the key benefits include improved reproducibility, productivity, and employee health.
“Reproducibility is improved as automated pipetting minimises error. Productivity is improved as valuable researcher time is freed up for higher level tasks, and more routine activities such as serial dilutions and concentration normalizations are done both more quickly and more accurately. Finally, health benefits results from reduced repetitive movement and exposure to hazardous materials. Connectivity, with OneLab, also ensures that all experiment steps that are executed by the robot are recorded, providing full traceability.”
Andrew Alliance completed a Series C funding round last year and continues to grow fast, developing sustainable advanced technology solutions for life science research labs around the world. Sustainability is exceedingly important in this field: as Dr. Skinner points out, major funders of research, such as the European Commission, are increasingly committed to ensuring that research is conducted in a highly sustainable way.
“By ensuring that the solutions we provide to our customers’ research workflows are sustainable, we are supporting their own efforts in this increasingly important area,” he comments.
He emphasises that it took the commitment of all staff members at Andrew Alliance to achieve CO2 Neutral Certification.
“Our young work force fully embrace this important responsibility, manufacturing high precision instrumentation in an eco-friendly building that uses CO2-Neutral electrical power. We do not operate company cars but rather encourage employees to travel by public transportation over short distances. Not only do we constantly strive to minimise our CO2 emissions, but by continuously calculating the amount produced, neutrality is maintained by investing in appropriate CO2 fixing solutions.”
