As a AP workflow consultant, I look at the pro’s and con’s of each system and come up with a plan or product that best meets the needs of the individual lab. With that being said here are the variable I consider:
1. Size or foot print vs. work space 2. Cost per unit (also keep in mind additional units for growth and replacement units due to catastrophic failure) 3. Cost of consumables. Tape, labels 4. Do I have to buy the printer company’s slides 5. You should have one printer per microtomy work station to ensure single piece flow. Do not buy one printer from all slide printing which ensures batch slide printing. 6. Maintenance requirements, (Daily, weekly, etc.) Time to perform the maintenance. 7. Reliability, dependability, reputation and speed of the printer company or seller for maintenance and, solution resolutions 8. The print on the slide or label must be highly xylene and heat resistant for slide data integrity. If you cure your slides prior to storage, the label sometimes can turn black from the heat. 9. Is the printer going to be connected to a system that reads the Bar Code from the LIS in order to create the label or the individual labeled slide one at a time. 10. Speed of slide or label printing. 11. Frequency of loading the slides vs. labels 11. Will the label interfere with coverslipping And that’s all I got to say about that. Sent from my iPad On Mar 8, 2018, at 3:32 PM, Blazek, Linda <lbla...@digestivespecialists.com> wrote: I've used the Primera slide printer since it came out. I like it a lot. It needs it's maintenance kept up like anything else but other than cleaning the rollers there is very little else that needs cleaning. Linda Blazek HT (ASCP) Pathology Lab Manager GI Pathology of Dayton Digestive Specialists, Inc Phone: (937) 396-2623 Email: lbla...@digestivespecialists.com -----Original Message----- From: Victor via Histonet [mailto:histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu <histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu>] Sent: Wednesday, March 07, 2018 5:59 PM To: Vickroy, James; histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: Re: [Histonet] Slide labels or slide labeler James, I totally agree with your assessment of the Slidemate printers. Have not had any experience with the newer model. Applying slide labels shouldn’t be an issue when dealing with one block and slide(s) at a time. Some of this could depend upon your software available to you. Our system generated just the labels needed for the block you were cutting, on demand. You should be able to get a nice Zebra printer for under $700. Another of our labs used the new Sakura/Premera printer and really like it. Victor Sent from Mail for Windows 10 From: Vickroy, James via Histonet Sent: Wednesday, March 7, 2018 2:12 PM To: histonet@lists.utsouthwestern.edu Subject: [Histonet] Slide labels or slide labeler We have used the older version Slidemate slide labelers from Thermofisher for the last three years. I think putting the patient information directly on the slide is preferred however the wear and tear on slide printers means higher maintenance costs and more down time. Thermofisher has a newer version of the Slidemate now that has been designed so that there is less wear and tear on the machines. Currently when one of the old labelers breaks down we have to send the instrument out and the cost is generally 1000 - 1500 for repair each time. It also seems that the older machines have to be sent in at least every other year. Our older machines have been sent in almost yearly. We are considering switching to a slide label making system by General Data. One of the downsides is that we have to apply the label to each slide so therefore we introduce another step where the slides could be mislabeled. The upside is that equipment costs are much less. A new thermal label printer runs around 700.00 where as the instrument that imprints the slide label on the slide runs between 12000 - 15000 per unit. We need three units. Thermo also offers a lease system. What I need to know is what has been the experience with the new Slidemate AS printers? What kind of maintenance issues have you encountered? Finally please let me know your latest experiences with both slide label printers versus slide labeling printers? Thanks for your input. Jim Jim Vickroy Histology Manager Springfield Clinic, Main Campus, East Building 1025 South 6th Street Springfield, Illinois 62703 Office: 217-528-7541, Ext. 15121 Email: jvick...@springfieldclinic.com<mailto:jvick...@springfieldclinic.com <jvick...@springfieldclinic.com>> This electronic message contains information from Springfield Clinic, LLP that may be confidential, privileged, and/or sensitive. This information is intended for the use of the individual(s) or entity(ies) named above. If you are not the intended recipient, be aware that disclosure, copying, distribution, or action taken on the contents of this information is strictly prohibited. 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