How to choose among the mainstream electronic balance brands abroad? Nowadays, the market is flooded with various balance brands. How should one choose when purchasing an electronic balance? Should one opt for domestic or imported brands?
As the saying goes, "Each grain has its own strength." Now, let's introduce the major electronic balance brands from abroad one by one:
1. Sartorius (sartorius)
The reason why Sartorius (sartorius) is placed at the top of all brands is not because I think it is better than Mettler (mettler) or recommend this brand, but because of its history. "In 1870, Florenz Sartorius founded Sartorius in Göttingen, Germany, initially producing and selling short-arm analytical balances. Today, Sartorius is a world leader in mechanical electronics, biotechnology, and environmental technology" (the above excerpt is from Sartorius' official website introduction).
Currently, what we often refer to as Sartorius refers to the Sartorius Group, which includes German Sartorius and Beijing Sartorius. Most internet users are familiar with the mechatronics series of laboratory products from Sartorius, and the most commonly used product is the BS series electronic balance produced by the Beijing Sartorius factory (originally launched specifically for the Chinese market as a low-cost product, now sold globally). Comparing the prices of balances sold by Sartorius and Mettler on the market, the former is slightly lower in pricing, but the latter has a slightly higher discount rate, so for the same specification balance, the price in the hands of the user is about the same. In terms of quality, both are world-class brands. Whether it's low-end products (BS/AL) or high-end products (ME/XP), customer satisfaction is very high, and repairs are rare. If one must make a distinction, "Sartorius is a German product, its appearance is not as good as the Swiss product Mettler, and the functions equipped are slightly fewer than Mettler, but generally it does not affect usage. And since Sartorius is the metrological standard of the European Metrology Bureau, its reputation in Europe and America is slightly higher."
2. Mettler (mettler)
I won't elaborate much on Mettler; those who know Sartorius will definitely also know this sole rival of Sartorius. In fact, Mettler should refer to the Mettler-Toledo joint company (METTLER-TOLEDO, abbreviated as MT), where Mettler is a Swiss brand and Toledo is an American brand, so it cannot be simply considered a Swiss or American company. "In 1945, Swiss engineer Erhard Mettler founded Mettler in Ksnacht, starting the production of single-disk balances. In 1973, Mettler introduced the world's first fully electronic balance, PT1200. In 1980, Erhard Mettler sold the company but continued using the Mettler brand. In 1989, it merged with Toledo, one of the largest scale manufacturers in the United States, forming Mettler-Toledo" (the above excerpt is from MT's American official website introduction, translated by myself, there might be some discrepancies).
Everyone is concerned about Mettler but knows little about Toledo. Similar to Sartorius, Mettler is divided into Swiss Mettler and Shanghai Mettler, where the AL series produced by the Shanghai Mettler factory (like Sartorius' BS series, originally launched specifically for the Chinese market as a low-cost product) occupies a large share of the Chinese market. Due to Mettler's market strategy, it is more well-known in food and pharmaceutical companies compared to Sartorius, while slightly less so in the chemical industry. Currently, in China, Mettler has developed more agents, and agents distinguish customers based on the nature of their industries, but not all agents can fully adhere to Mettler's sales principles, leading to fierce competition among agents. As a result, customers get better discounts, but market management is not very orderly.
3. Shimadzu (shimadzu)
There is no doubt that Sartorius and Mettler are the kings of the electronic balance world. Other companies can only survive in the gaps between them, and these gaps are large enough for these companies to develop... The third position in the stable rankings is unclear, but the Shimadzu brand is deeply rooted in China, so I have ranked it third. "Since its establishment in 1875, Shimadzu Corporation has always inherited the founding philosophy of its founder, Shimazu Genjiro, 'to contribute to society through science and technology,' and adhered to this corporate philosophy. It continuously researches cutting-edge technologies ahead of its time, satisfying societal needs, developing and producing high-value-added products for society. As early as the 1950s, Shimadzu successively developed photometric spectrophotometers, gas chromatographs, and X-ray analyzers. Especially in the fields of analytical testing instruments, medical instruments, and aerospace machinery, it constantly innovates based on its three core technologies: optical technology, X-ray technology, and image processing technology, meeting broader market demands. Its high-tech products enjoy high evaluations worldwide. Now, in the ever-changing 21st century, Shimadzu continues to research new technologies and develop new products in areas such as life sciences and environmental protection, providing many groundbreaking products to users around the world" (introduction from Shimadzu's China official website).
Clearly, everyone pays attention to Shimadzu due to its chromatography, sometimes also concerning its spectroscopy, but when it comes to balances, many people's impression is: "Balance? Does Shimadzu also have balances?" Due to the success of its pricing strategy and forward-thinking domestic production, Shimadzu's chromatography has always been the domestic sales champion. Even Shimadzu's goal is to surpass Japan's domestic market within five years, making China the largest laboratory consumption market globally. However, the same set of methods fails in the balance field. Since Shimadzu is not a professional weighing instrument manufacturer and its balances have not yet achieved localized production, the price advantage cannot be fully utilized. Moreover, Shimadzu does not place much emphasis on the sales of balance products, resulting in Shimadzu's balances being marginal domestically. Many customers purchase them only after buying large equipment like chromatography for easier future maintenance. Agents find it difficult to promote this product separately in the market. If Shimadzu does not change its attitude towards balances significantly, its balance products are likely to remain in this awkward situation in the future.
4. Ohaus (ohaus)
For this brand, friends encountering it for the first time may assume it is a completely new American brand, "Ohaus was founded in 1907 and is a world-leading manufacturer of scales and weighing instruments for laboratories, education, industrial, and professional markets. Ohaus' headquarters is located in Pine Brook, New Jersey, with offices throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America" (Ohaus China official website). Ohaus has always been introduced as one of the four major global balance brands (the first two being undeniably Sartorius and Mettler, with controversy over the ranking of the last two). After the establishment of Ohaus Shanghai in 2006, it developed rapidly in the domestic market, and many customers accepted its products. However, friends familiar with the balance industry know that, in fact, Ohaus Shanghai is a product of Mettler's market strategy! Why does Mettler produce balances itself and still establish another company to compete? The reason is simple: Mettler competes with Sartorius at the high end, but there are many users in China who need cheaper products, some even unable to afford the price of the AL series. What to do? Either give up the market to domestic manufacturers or other small foreign manufacturers, or reduce the price of Mettler products, which is obviously unrealistic. Mettler thought of this method - new brand competition. Introducing Ohaus to China, production can still take place at Mettler, but the OEM product label changes to Ohaus. This way, there is no need to rebuild production bases, no need to develop sales channels, and no need to specially train sales and service personnel. The Ohaus brand can quickly establish itself in China, and prices can fully meet the needs of Chinese users.
From the current perspective, this strategy has been very successful. Mettler occupies the high end, and Ohaus explores the low end, each having its target user group and fully leveraging Mettler's production capacity advantages. Some friends may ask, if so, aren't Ohaus products just Mettler products? The quality of the two is exactly the same, so why do people still prefer to buy the more expensive Mettler brand? Honestly, I'm not entirely clear either, but I can explain it with a quote from an industry friend: "Same private label, Nike costs 1000, Anta costs 500, and no-name brands cost 50. That's the brand effect." Perhaps that's the case.
5. Denver (denver)
This brand is probably unknown to most Chinese users, let alone any understanding of it. But if I introduce it differently, you might immediately understand its nature - Sartorius' version of Ohaus. "Founded in 1880, located in the western U.S. city of Denver, a world-renowned manufacturer of electronic balances and electrochemical instruments, one of the world's top three electronic balance brands. Since its establishment, the company has provided various widely used analytical balances, precision balances, infrared moisture analyzers, and pH meters worldwide. It is currently one of the highest performance-to-price ratio products on the market. Since 1992, these instruments have become the best-selling brand in North America." Some people might wonder why I mentioned four brands earlier when introducing Ohaus, but here it becomes three? If you frequently visit relevant foreign websites, you'll find that in the U.S., Denver's fame even surpasses Sartorius. Even after being acquired by Sartorius in 1999, this brand did not stop being used. Instead, Sartorius uniformly provides sensors to the group's sub-brands for the production of electronic balances, while moisture analyzers and acidity meters are all produced at the American Denver factory and then branded as Sartorius for unified sales. Due to the success of the Mettler-Ohaus strategy in the Chinese market, Sartorius has also decided to adopt the same strategy to compete in the market. In 2005, Denver brand products began to be sold domestically, and in 2006, Sartorius China reformed and established two separate companies (Scientific Instruments Company and Instrument Systems Company). Among them, the Instrument Systems Company is specifically responsible for selling Denver products, and Sartorius-Denver products are produced on the same production line. Therefore, if you have the chance to compare two identical specification products from these two companies, you will find: really!
Since the Denver brand has not yet undergone large-scale promotion domestically, but with the support of Sartorius, the industry leader, in the near future, Ohaus will face a rival at the same level, and the competition between Sartorius and Mettler will be replayed between their sub-brands. Regardless, for Chinese users, having a new choice is definitely a good thing.