Rigaku Rebranding

JR: The company recently rebranded as Rigaku Analytical Devices, what sparked this move?

BA: The rebrand of Rigaku Raman Technologies to Rigaku Analytical Devices, announced on 1st June 2015, represents a period of growth for the company in anticipation of our expansion into new markets and technologies. We pride ourselves on meeting the needs of our customers and the increasing demand for quality, reliable and rapid results at the point of need has strongly motivated the development of our product offering under Rigaku Analytical Devices.

JR: Previously Rigaku Raman Technologies’ focus was on instrumentation for Raman based techniques, will the re-brand see your focus shift to other analytical techniques?

BA: Since being founded in 2011, the Rigaku Raman Technology business grew rapidly, delivering innovative handheld and portable Raman analyzers utilizing our powerful 1064nm excitation laser wavelength technology. Rigaku Analytical Devices will see our business move into the development of handheld and portable analyzers based on other spectroscopic techniques and enable us to expand our offering to markets and applications that face material analysis challenges. We are aiming to provide our customers with a portfolio of portable and handheld spectroscopic analyzers that will aid the protection of public health and safety, progress the advancement of scientific and academic study, enable the recycle of metal alloys and ensure mission critical quality of key metal alloy components.

We will continue to build on the success of ProgenyTM and ProgenyTM ResQTM handheld Raman analyzers that have so far proven extremely successful in meeting the needs of users in the Pharmaceutical and Biopharmaceutical, and Safety and Security industries respectively. We are really looking forward to sharing our latest innovations and developments with our customers.

JR: What differences can Rigaku customers expect to see?

BA: Our customers face numerous challenges day to day with their material and chemical analysis.
In the Pharmaceutical industry, Raw material identification (RMID) is essential to prevent quality issues in the manufacturing process. Incorrect formulation, contamination, mislabeled containers and counterfeit materials can result in products being “out of specification”, which can have severe consequences for a brand. Ultimately, if these materials are not promptly identified and rejected, this can lead to additional costs due to material waste, re-processed work, time delays or product recalls. However, the traditional RMID workflow can be a time consuming process.

In the Safety and Security sector the rapid increase of potential chemical and explosive threats is putting emergency responders, law enforcement professionals and the military under increasing pressure to detect and respond to these threats immediately and at the point of need and as such, they require detection tools that will enable them to make quick, accurate and informed decisions.

We are constantly looking for ways to continue to develop our technologies in order to meet the rapidly evolving needs of our customers, and they can expect to see the same commitment from Rigaku Analytical Devices. Our team is constantly focused on innovations and improvements which can be demonstrated by the recent enhancements released for our Progeny analyzers. For example, high quality digital images of samples (taken using an integrated digital camera) can be saved along with analysis data for comprehensive report generation. We are providing customers with ground breaking technology and software to achieve analytical goals and will continue to invest in our existing technologies as we move into new markets.

JR: You recently relocated your manufacturing and development operations to a state of the art facility in Wilmington, Massachusetts just outside of Boston. What do you see as the key benefits this will provide business?

BA: First, the new facility in Wilmington, MA is larger than our previous location, allowing us to accommodate customer demands without compromising quality. Second, the new facility allows us to integrate our growing teams and operations in a methodical manner. Having all our operations under one roof means we can better coordinate all of the activities of our team members. We can optimize the expansion of scientific developments and provide improved levels of customer support, while expanding our operations worldwide. With our new facility, we want to ensure our customers can benefit from our latest technological innovations and receive consistent, good quality products and services to meet their requirements. This new manufacturing facility enables all our services to be under one roof - including manufacturing, customer support and service, R&D and administrative functions.

We were extremely proud to have achieved ISO 9001:2008 accreditation earlier this year as it confirmed the high standards to which we work. The external auditors involved in the process praised our methodical engineering process document and the skill of our technicians, which demonstrates our commitment to delivering quality, reliable products.