After the reagent salesperson leaves, no one is handling the channel. Who should the laboratory consumables procurement contact?

It is normal for sales staff to leave; the key is not to accept just a WeChat handover. Before the person leaves, have them create a group chat with the new sales rep, supervisor, and commercial/customer service contact, and confirm by email whether the contract price, payment terms, and frequently used item numbers will continue. If there is a read receipt but no reply, ask the former sales rep for the supervisor's phone number, or call the distributor company's main line, ask for the "sales department," and state the old customer name; this is usually faster than WeChat. At the same time, make a list of commonly used consumables and send it to the other party's commercial contact, requiring confirmation of stock availability and substitute item numbers within two days. Do not accept "read but no reply" as a status update; procurement cannot rely only on a single WeChat thread.

It is recommended to classify protein purification consumables into two categories: "critical and non-interruptible" and "replaceable." For critical materials such as protease inhibitors and magnetic beads, prepare at least two suppliers—one primary and one backup—and preferably one should be a local distributor or platform with stock that can ship quickly. If the original channel becomes unresponsive, use the old catalog number to contact other authorized distributors, ask why the product was discontinued, and request the official replacement catalog number and a trial sample. Use your existing protein samples to perform parallel recovery or activity comparisons, and switch only after validation is satisfactory. A weekly volume of several dozen samples is sufficient to negotiate monthly stocking or a framework agreement with suppliers; do not purchase on a one-order-at-a-time basis.

If the original sales representative has left, do not first look up the catalog number on the official website yourself, as the customer service-to-sales handoff chain is too long. You can take the regular order number and directly contact other authorized distributors for that brand, or the brand's technical hotline, and ask two questions: Is this catalog number discontinued or out of stock in the region, and what is the official replacement? After obtaining the replacement catalog number, have the distributor check stock and expiration date and apply for a small sample. For protein purification, before changing batches of magnetic beads or inhibitors, run a small-scale parallel experiment to avoid batch-to-batch variation affecting yield. In the long term, it is recommended that laboratory procurement or your institution's materials department get involved and include commonly used consumables in the supplier qualification and stockpiling list, so that a change in sales representative does not affect supply.