Scam Lab Glass: Rendering Customized Lab Glassware For All Project Needs

Vipin Gupta

Owner

Vipin Gupta

Owner

Demand for laboratory glassware has expanded significantly as the number of research and development activities for drug discovery and development has increased in developing countries like India. To attribute sound research and development and benefit the customer, Scientific Apparatus Manufacturing Company (SCAM) a Mumbai-based firm is pleased to introduce itself as one of the first fully homegrown Indian manufacturers and importers of laboratory glassware, assemblies, and equipment made from borosilicate, silica, and quartz glass.

"Prime Minister Nehru attended our stall at the annual Indian Science Congress in 1957 to encourage us and wished us luck to progress properly, as India had a nascent culture in terms of research and development, and we were the only manufacturer then. Thus, we had good wishes from the government at the time which became a great driver and marketing tool", says Vipin Gupta.

A Tailor-Made Solution for the Client
SCAM manufactures unique items that meet the client's specifications and drawings and repairs are broken glassware at an affordable rate, thereby reducing the client's expenses. The firm has about 70 years of experience in making laboratory glass which was otherwise imported from Germany or the UK. SCAM caters to standard lab items, customizes assemblies for different projects, and provides every necessary apparatus for labs, research institutions, and more.

"So, every time a chemical company or Ph.D. student needs to come up with a new experiment to develop a new drug or a new polymer, SCAM is the one that understands what the requirement is and develops that for the clients", adds Akshath Gupta.

Several prominent research institutions, quality control labs, defense and government organizations, chemical & pharmaceutical companies, industrial testing & analytical labs, and semiconductor labs throughout India have tested and utilized SCAM products at some point since SCAM’s inception in 1954. The company's core business is laboratory glassware, although the firm also produces industrial, decorative, and festive glassware. "SCAM is known for making customized apparatus, which helps engage the end user because we understand the requirements and then deliver exactly what no one else would make, at least in Mumbai. Like, the glass pots for the DEVAR flask, used in liquid nitrogen experiments, we are the only ones who manufacture that and supply our clients across the country", explains Vipin Gupta.

Akshath Gupta, Partner

Furthermore, SCAM client engagement involves a quoted value system in which the client tells the company what they need, and the company manufactures and supplies the product. Here, the major pain points from this perspective are that the person in contact with SCAM does not truly understand what the end users require, and opts for what is most profitable in terms of the lowest quoted value with the best payment terms, even though that is ultimately detrimental to the user (scientist/ research student). "We can compromise payment and the logistical cycle, but not the product. So we connect with the user, and over decades of doing this, it helps us understand experiments better than the user and might provide better advice to them because no one else would truly take the time to do it", Akshath Gupta pointed out.

To sum up, SCAM is always trying to offer/develop new products for its line of laboratory glassware. The firm's customization capabilities in lab glassware have led to 60 percent to 70 percent of the firm revenue. In the future, for the next five to ten years, SCAM will get into new markets for domestic glassware and make sure to deliver good quality products to the B2C market because the firm believes that glass can provide value in people's homes as well as in research labs.