On July 20, 2006, IDEXX announced that its Westbrook, Maine, facilities—including the corporate headquarters and IDEXX’s major research and development, manufacturing and customer service locations—received ISO 9001:2000 certification. This brings the number of IDEXX locations certified to ISO standards to more than a dozen worldwide and provides independent validation that IDEXX’s quality management system meets the high standard of quality demanded by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

“Achievement of ISO 9001:2000 in the Westbrook facilities demonstrates IDEXX’s commitment to industry leadership and our employees’ dedication to providing the highest quality products and services for our customers worldwide,” said CEO and President Jonathan Ayers. “This certification is a critical step in the growth and development of our company. Continual improvement and commitment to quality are critical elements of IDEXX’s mission.”

“In today’s competitive business environment, effective quality management is indispensable, and ISO 9001:2000 certification assures IDEXX customers that we have an internationally recognized quality management system,” Ayers continued. “Customers want to be confident that they are doing business with an organization that can meet or exceed their needs in a timely manner. With the ISO 9001 certification, customers can be sure that IDEXX is just that kind of organization.”

The Westbrook facilities certified are employed in the development and manufacturing of IDEXX’s water microbiology tests, including the Colilert® line, Colisure®, Enterolert®, Quanti-Disc®, and SimPlate® for HPC. Additionally, IDEXX’s Filta-Max® and Filta-Max xpress® products for the capture and recovery of Cryptosporidium and Giardia are manufactured in ISO 9001:2000-registered facilities.

IDEXX launches the Quanti-Disc™ Reader for Total Viable Counts

In August IDEXX launched the Quanti-Disc Reader for the Quanti-Disc test, a groundbreaking new method for testing Total Viable Counts (TVC) in water. The extremely easy, rapid Quanti-Disc method produces results that correlate with the EU standard, ISO 6222:Yeast Extract Agar medium, pour plate method for the enumeration of heterotrophic bacteria. The new Quanti-Disc Reader further simplifies testing by increasing its ease of use and accuracy.

With automated reading and recording of results, the Quanti-Disc Reader eliminates any subjective results interpretation and allows laboratories to read a high number of samples in a short amount of time. Additionally, the Quanti-Disc Reader improves accuracy by enabling sample bar coding, recording and storage of test results, as well as integration into a laboratory information management system (LIMS).

Used to monitor bacterial growth trends in water samples, the Quanti-Disc test is a ready-to-use method designed to streamline laboratory workflow by eliminating the need for agar preparation, glassware and autoclaves. Running a Quanti-Disc involves just three steps—pipetting, incubation and reading—taking less than 15 seconds of hands-on time. Customers report that this unprecedented simplicity of operation and readability is increasing productivity while minimizing training requirements.

According to Andrew Headland, IDEXX European Business Manager, IDEXX developed the Quanti-Disc with considerable feedback from UK laboratories. He explained that large laboratories are attracted to the product’s potential to dramatically streamline operations associated with TVC testing in drinking water. For example, Quanti-Disc can eliminate the use and maintenance of automated plate pourers as well as the wait for agar plates to gel. This creates the flexibility to run TVC samples concurrently with coliform tests, as opposed to batching them to create efficiencies for an automatic pourer. For small laboratories, the elimination of media preparation means that technicians can run a TVC test at any time.

“We are delighted to offer a radical change in the way water-testing laboratories conduct TVCs. The Quanti-Disc/Quanti-Disc Reader method is simple, quick and eliminates the subjectivity traditionally associated with counting spreader and pinpoint colonies,” Headland said. “Additionally, the need for QC procedures is greatly reduced. While laboratories that make up their own media from scratch each day need to carry out QC tests on every batch, a laboratory that purchases the Quanti-Disc platform need perform QC only once per lot to validate the product’s performance.”

Simplate® for HPC Now Included in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater

IDEXX’s SimPlate for HPC is an easy and accurate way to test for Heterotrophic Plate Count (HPC) bacteria. SimPlate for HPC is U.S. EPA-approved and is now included in Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, Online Edition, Section 9215.