Economical View
The economical considerations regarding our project were carried out according to the motto:
Make the world a better place - Open access for scientific progress
In the center of every economic analysis are the customers and their needs and desires. Every commercial company is interested to satisfy and deal with all customer needs for better sales figures, and in order to maintain regular clientele. Both measures aim for higher financial profits. On the global seller’s market of technical laboratory equipment there is a permanent competition between the existing providers. This competition depends on these financial profits: technical improvement followed by price wars. Besides, good price-performance ratios always catch customers and influence their purchase decision. Especially since globalization takes place products from the asian market which are often reasonably but for that they often have a lower quality.
Take a look at cost calculations for technical laboratory equipment including development, production, transport, warehousing and sale. Usually, you will find in this branche on one hand low costs for research and development, restruction, amorthilisation and other costs. On th other hand you will find really high costs of revenues and also selling, general and administartion expenses. At least financial profit is a big cost point cause buisinesses have to self-financing. In general, these factors are making technical equipment for labs really expensive and so one unattractive for low budgets. One off the world's biggest producer of laboratory products is Thermo Fisher Scientific. They also offer photomerter and other equipment stuff. The following image shows all costs and operating expenses out off the annual report 2013 from Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Costs and operating expenses for companies producing technical laboratory equipment (annual report. (2013). Thermo Fisher Scientific)
We follow a strategy to circumvent unnecessary costs for customers by realizing a social vision. In accordance with the principle of open source including both open hardware and open software, information where to get the necessary components, quantities, a step-by-step technical construction manual and circuit diagrams could be published online for free. Potential customers can follow our given building instructions and download needed informations from our engineering website. So our profit is not of financial nature but is instead based on recognition and on motivating other iGEM teams and companies to spread the idea of open hardware, too. In accordance with the motto do-it-yourself we offer low budget versions while reducing all potential costs exept for the basic costs where material costs are falling under it. Customers with a little technical skill, willingness to try something new and keen to experiments could follow our step-by-step building instructions and creat their own devices.
To make our whole idea more user-friendly we thought over the offering of device kits. With this theoretical method customers don't have to order a lot of separate device parts from diffrent componies but still were not able of flexibility. Flexible with regard to potential new modifications of the devices including the choise of other building parts or a replenishment. Especially in natural science changes are lying under a daily agenda. New improvements are so direct assimili- and realizable in our concept devices.
At least we want to mention that our vision is limited in getting acceptance by companies on the global seller market and we know about this problem. These companies, parts of them global players, are profit orientated and following another firm strategy. Our vision is standing against this as non-profit-idea finding acceptance in other groups of customers with lower budgets and open just fiancial .
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