clinical laboratory where, since the introduction of continuous flow analysis by Skeggs in 1957 [1], automatic analysers have eased the considerable bottle necks caused by the increased requirements of health care. However, for industrial applications automation is very much in an embryonic state. This is attributable to the complexity of the sample matrix. In clinical chemistry the samples are predictable being blood and urine for the most part which are fairly similar in composition. In process control situations the compositional variation between samples is normally slight and for the most part predictable. There is therefore an established market, both actual and potential, for automation in these two areas. For many industrial applications the sample matrix differs widely both within a single industry and even more so from one to another. Matrix problems often negate the simple transfer of say a clinical methodology into the industrial environment. As such, the majority of applications of automation in this sector of the industry relate specifically to the application ofcomputer data processing, more recently with theemphasis on microprocessor based electronics, or to the simple mechanisation of a single aspect of the automatic regime; for example, an automatic syringe sampler for injection on to a gas chromatographic column. Technological progress, in terms of equipment design and increased range of applicability, has been impressive. The techniques of discrete sample automatic analysis and of airsegmented continuous flow (the Technicon approach ]) which have formed the basis of the vast majority of automated analytical systems have been augmented in recent years by centrifugal analysers (GeMSAEC [2]) and flow injection analysers [3]. Whilst at first sight the situation seems healthy it is fairly clear that the recent rapid advances have served to highlight significant problems which were only partially appreciated if at all in the early stages. Automated equipment like any instruments must be justified in economic terms. Basically by increased efficiency of the laboratory operation or increased capacity and throughput of samples but more specifically by cost effectiveness. The principal concern of senior management is to ensure that these criteria are met. However, rather little constructive thought has been given to an equally important consequence, that automation, particularly on the large scale, brings about a fundamental change in the role of the analytical chemist. In manual analysis, the analytical chemist has control ofthe entire procedure and this personal association does much to generate a pride in the quality of the work as well as confidence in the results. When the same analytical chemist is operating an automatic analyser his role when the equipment is functioning properly, is apparently limited to loading the samples and *Paper originally presented in the symposium Automation Comes of Age at the Pittsburgh Conference, Cleveland, 1978. reading the results from a printer or similar data processor. Deans [4] points out that the analyst has often failed to accept automation because he feels that hisjob has been downgraded. It is now clearly recognised that the analytical chemist’s role remains a vital one; as the need for his manipulative skills declines when automation is introduced, so his detailed chemical knowledge and judgement assume greater importance. He is best fitted to the task of defining the precise specification of an automatic instrument intended to replace a manual procedure of which he is familiar. In a similar vein management must re-examine its approach to the training of staff and the organisation of their laboratory to work in more automated surroundings. The success and vitality of an analytical laboratory extensively committed to automated procedures depends on resolving problems of the above nature as well as those more directly connected with technique, instrumentation and quality of results. Quality and relevance of results are critical criteria for a high-throughput automated analytical laboratory and they can only be guaranteed by a close and continuing rapport between the analytical chemist who fully understands the procedures being used to produce the results and the customer who must be able to interpret them in the light of his requirements.
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Feb 1, 1981
P B Stockwell 
Open Access