PAA to Showcase New Laboratory Automation Solutions at SLAS2020

Peak Analysis & Automation (PAA) will be showcasing its new KX-2™ collaborative robot and providing interactive tours of its S-CEL™ laboratory workcell with expert automation support on booth 1313 at SLAS2020 (San Diego, CA, January 25-29th). The company will also have guest speakers from Novartis and Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT) presenting an exhibitor tutorial. The speakers will describe how they have automated and streamlined their R&D and QC processes by integrating multiple instruments in workcells - all managed by PAA’s Overlord™ scheduling and control software.

The KX-2 collaborative robot is designed to meet a need in the market for capable robotics accessible to laboratories of all sizes. It aims to provide flexible, safe, and reliable automation, combining extensive reach and continuous 360-degree rotation on the shoulder and wrist axes with radial compactness that simplifies instrument placement.

PAA will also be demonstrating its S-CEL laboratory workcells at the show with full-function interactive tours of the system led by its automation experts. S-CEL laboratory are designed to streamline equipment utilization and throughput while reducing the specialist knowledge necessary to operate, all within a safe, contemporary design. These workcells exceed Biosafety Level 2 and provide laminar air flow across the whole system, delivering a clean, controlled environment for supporting, integrating, and automating a multitude of processes and instrumentation from R&D to QC. Visitors to the booth can learn more about these systems, PAA’s personalized and vendor-neutral approach, and receive advice on the best solution tailored to their needs.

In addition to showcasing its automation hardware, PAA’s guest speakers from Novartis and IDT will be sharing their experiences of using S-CEL workcells and Overlord software in an exhibitor tutorial, entitled “Overlord: From R&D to QC”, in Room 2 at 14:00 on Tuesday January 28th.

Brian Birdi, head of compound management at Novartis, will highlight how the company is building robotic workcells. This will include the selection and integration of hardware and software, the high-level workflow used to manage the automation, and how Overlord supports the entire workflow. Josh Kurtenbach, automation development manager at IDT, will then describe how the workcells have been used for oligonucleotide quantification and quality control sampling. He will also describe how Overlord enables quick implementation of workcell changes and integration with LIMS.