The following story is clear proof: with just one decision to switch technologies, a large food factory reduced testing time by 50%, at the same time saving labour costs and increasing consistency in the results. And their secret is – Shimadzu's Compact Dry culture plates.
1. The factory's problem: slow testing – plate pouring causes many errors
Before the switch, the factory's lab had to carry out testing by traditional methods:
- Agar preparation, cooking, sterilization
- Pouring plates – an operation prone to errors
- Takes 1–2 hours just to prepare plates in advance
- Large sample numbers cause process bottlenecks and lengthen result turnaround time
- The testing team is always overloaded during peak production seasons
Notably, a single small mistake in the plate pouring step – such as uneven agar thickness, air bubbles, cross-contamination – can also skew the results and force them to be redone. The company loses more than time: cost, effort and food safety risk.
2. The solution of switching to Compact Dry plates
- After an internal performance evaluation, the technical team decided to trial Compact Dry – Shimadzu's line of ready-made dry agar culture plates.
* What surprised them
- No plate pouring needed → eliminates the time-consuming and error-prone step
- Uses a small 1 ml droplet sample → extremely fast operation
- Plates standardized to ISO, AOAC → high consistency
- Easy to store, long shelf life → reduced storage costs
- Compact size, stacks well in the incubator → increases incubation capacity
- After 2 weeks of trial application on the parameters: TPC, Coliform, E. coli, Yeast & Mold, the factory saw a clear difference.
- Compact Dry plates are not only faster but also more consistent.
3. Results: shortened time – reduced costs – increased consistency
After 3 months of official implementation, the internal report records:
🔹 Testing time reduced by 50%
From spending hours preparing agar, the lab now takes only a few minutes to operate.
🔹 30–40% of labour costs saved
Staff no longer have to stand pouring hundreds of plates every week. Time is reallocated to higher-value work such as result analysis and quality management.
🔹 Result consistency increased significantly
Compact Dry plates are manufactured to international standards, with a uniform media volume → high reproducibility between samples, reducing the need for repeats.
🔹 Improved microbiological control capability
The process becomes more streamlined and faster – helping the factory meet testing demand well in peak seasons.
4. Compact Dry – the optimal choice for modern businesses
The switch from traditional methods to Compact Dry plates is not only a technical improvement but also a strategic investment for the future:
- Faster decision-making
- Ensures food safety
- Optimizes laboratory operating costs
- Easy to scale up when output increases
In the post-Covid context, hygiene standards are becoming increasingly strict, and Compact Dry culture plates are the ideal “weapon” to help businesses comprehensively improve their microbiological control capability.
5. Conclusion
- This food factory's success story shows that by changing just one small tool in the process – Compact Dry plates – the business has created a major advantage in testing speed, cost and accuracy.
* If you are experiencing:
- Slow testing
- Lack of consistency
- Time-consuming plate pouring
Then Compact Dry may well be the solution you are looking for.
Please contact us for product advice and our best quotation.