Big on the other hand will tend to have access to more internal nd external resources. A special request may be easily within Bigs knowledge and capacity to deliver. But how much are you willing to buy? If it isn't enough, Big wont have the incentive to do something unique for you. It just wouldnt make economi sense. If Big does its job right, you will quickly know it isn't willing to deliver, and you can go looking for another supplier Is the Product Manufactured by the company That sells It? Some companies only sell products which they conceive, de velop, and manufacture. Other suppliers only distribute products manufactured by other firms. Many, perhaps most companies, do some of both The true manufacturer of a product may not be indi cated on a package. If you are satisfied with the product 's perfor- mance and support, its origin isn't an issue. But it may become an issue when problems arise, since the original manufacturer will generally have the most knowledge about the product. Does a Company Test Every Application for a Product? The research community regularly generates novel applications for commercial products. Combine this with limited application resources by suppliers, and the result is that a company tests only those applications it judges most important to the majority of the research community. If your application isn't mentioned by the manufacturer, odds are that application hasnt been tested or has been attempted an insignificant number of times. It never hurts to contact the company. While the company may not have tested the product in your particular application, your call might persuade the company to do so. It is not uncommon for suppliers to provide product at little or no cost in exchange for application data generated by the customer. Manufacturers also might have a database of researchers who' ve attempted your application. The Methods and Reagents bulletin board located in theBiosciWebsite(http://www.bio.net/hypermail/methodsisa productive location to ask if a product has ever been tested in your particular application. This site can also help you locate and obtain hard-to-find reagents How Well will the Product perform? As alluded to throughout this chapter, it is impossible for a supplier to guarantee the performance of every product with every sample source. But in todays competitive marketplace any reputable supplier will do its best to guarantee that advertising Getting What You Need from a SupplierBig on the other hand will tend to have access to more internal and external resources. A special request may be easily within Big’s knowledge and capacity to deliver. But how much are you willing to buy? If it isn’t enough, Big won’t have the incentive to do something unique for you. It just wouldn’t make economic sense. If Big does its job right, you will quickly know it isn’t willing to deliver, and you can go looking for another supplier. Is the Product Manufactured by the Company That Sells It? Some companies only sell products which they conceive, de￾velop, and manufacture. Other suppliers only distribute products manufactured by other firms. Many, perhaps most companies, do some of both.The true manufacturer of a product may not be indi￾cated on a package. If you are satisfied with the product’s perfor￾mance and support, its origin isn’t an issue. But it may become an issue when problems arise, since the original manufacturer will generally have the most knowledge about the product. Does a Company Test Every Application for a Product? The research community regularly generates novel applications for commercial products. Combine this with limited application resources by suppliers, and the result is that a company tests only those applications it judges most important to the majority of the research community. If your application isn’t mentioned by the manufacturer, odds are that application hasn’t been tested or has been attempted an insignificant number of times. It never hurts to contact the company. While the company may not have tested the product in your particular application, your call might persuade the company to do so. It is not uncommon for suppliers to provide product at little or no cost in exchange for application data generated by the customer. Manufacturers also might have a database of researchers who’ve attempted your application. The Methods and Reagents bulletin board located in the Biosci Web site (http://www.bio.net/hypermail/methods/) is a productive location to ask if a product has ever been tested in your particular application.This site can also help you locate and obtain hard-to-find reagents. How Well Will the Product Perform? As alluded to throughout this chapter, it is impossible for a supplier to guarantee the performance of every product with every sample source. But in today’s competitive marketplace any reputable supplier will do its best to guarantee that advertising Getting What You Need from a Supplier 13