As it pertains to maintenance and time spent interacting with the instrument, an average of 30 minutes per instrument was required for reagent change and cleaning/maintenance. This amounted to:6 tissue processors per day @ 30 minutes each = 3 hours per day x 3 days per week = 9 hours per week or 468 hours per year (equals 0.23 FTE to perform tissue processor maintenance).
By examining alternative, dual retort technology with reagent management software, the following savings were realized: 5 dual retort tissue processors instead of 18 (substantial space savings). Even when following the exact protocol for changing reagents, there was a significant decrease in annual time spent performing this task: 5 tissue processors per week @ 30 minutes each = 2.5 hours x 52 weeks = 130 hours per year. This is a 72% reduction in time spent maintaining tissue processors.
When it comes to space, there is no question that 5 standard-size tissue processors occupy less space than 18. When each individual processor is measured and added together, it equates to 76 ft2 for 18 processors versus 34 ft2 for 5 dual retort processors.