Picker Story

In the beginning (10-15 years ago) there were many automated colony picking companies.  Norgren Systems, a CA company started and operated by Rick Norgren was one of them.  He designed and sold what would later become the CP7200.  The assets of the original Norgren company were sold to Appalachian Electronic Instruments, A WV engineering & contract manufacturing company.  Scott VanderWoude, was hired by AEI to manage and build the Norgren business.

The Norgren automated colony picker was renamed the CP7200 and relaunched in the market ~7 years ago.  As customers learned about the ease and flexibility of the CP7200 colony picker, they started to express an interest in a plate handler to better automate the process.  Scott partnered with Hudson Robotics to create the RapidPick Systems with the first sale going to Mass General Hospital in Boston.  The partnership with Hudson grew quickly and a second RapidPick Complete System was placed in Germany, the first in Europe.

The RapidPick Systems quickly became the popular option for researchers wanting fast, flexible and easy to use automated colony picking systems.  Scott left working for Norgren to join Hudson and focus on the global RapidPick business.  Sales were growing in key markets across the globe.  The RapidPick System was available in multiple configurations and is customizable to any researcher’s needs and budget.

In October 2013, the CP7200 and RapidPick products are again changing the sales outlet, but not the key individuals responsible for their success.  The emergence of Wagner Life Science LLC as a valued 3rd party service company and distribution partner is helping to grow the CP7200 and RapidPick Systems worldwide.  Wagner Life Science and Wagner Europe are continuing to represent the RapidPick Colony Picking Systems.

Scott VanderWoude is now the Managing Director of Wagner Life Science.  Scott has managed and sold the CP7200 instrument and the RapidPick Systems for almost 10 years.  Scott continues to lead the sales and marketing effort of the instruments through this transition.

Juergen Wagner is the President and owner of Wagner Medizin _und Pharmatechnik GmbH & Co. KG as well as the CEO of Wagner Life Science.  Juergen has been selling and servicing the RapidPick systems in Europe for over 5 years.

 Scott, Juergen and the Wagner team is fully able to help with any questions on the products, applications or integrations with 3rd party instruments.