abhishreshthaa
Abhijeet S
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: BIO and BIOb), was founded in 1952 in Berkeley, California. The company was initially engaged in the development and production of specialty chemicals used in biochemical, pharmaceutical, and other life science research applications. Today, Bio-Rad manufactures and supplies life science research, healthcare, analytical chemistry, and other markets with products and systems used to separate complex chemical and biological materials and to identify, analyze, and purify their components[1].
Bio-Rad operates in two industry segments: Life Science Research and Clinical Diagnostics. Both segments operate worldwide. Bio-Rad’s customers include hospitals, universities, major research institutions, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Bio-Rad’s headquarters are in Hercules, California. The company has offices and facilities worldwide and more than 6,500 employees. Bio-Rad had revenues of more than $1.7 billion in 2008. The company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since October 24, 2008. Before that, Bio-Rad was listed on the American Stock Exchange.
In UK, courier and express services are of vital importance to the efficiency and growth of the UK economy. With UK's geographical position which is away from the centre of continental Europe, fast and effective delivery services are essential for UK businesses involved in international trade. Despite the recent global economic slowdown, the courier and express industry had a 3% growth rate between 2001 and 2002, with a market turnover of £4.2bn in 2002.
In addition, since then the courier services sector has outperformed the express logistics sector in terms of turnover growth. The demand for courier and express services is derived from businesses in the manufacturing and services industries. Therefore, the economic performance of these industries strongly affects the success of the courier and express industry. Advances in technology and the increasing use of e-commerce, combined with the courier and express sector's commitment to investing in IT, and have cushioned the industry from the worst effects of the recent global slowdown.
This is because it has been able to offer added-value services and retain key customers at the top end of the courier and logistics market. The courier services sector has been benefiting from the recent growth in demand for home deliveries generated from Internet retail sales. Rising demand for air courier services to developing economies has also boosted the sector in recent years.
However, increased security measures for air freight have increased costs for the sector's air freight operations. The express logistics sector, through its added-value services, has fared better than the road freight industry. Nonetheless, a raft of government measures to tackle environmental pollution and congestion have increased costs for the, largely road-based, express logistics sector.
In the short to medium term, the courier and express industry is likely to grow steadily, in line with the rest of the UK economy. Increasing use of Internet shopping services is likely to boost demand for home deliveries. However, problems of congestion on the UK's roads and in the skies, along with the range of new environmental controls currently being introduced for road transport, are likely to create extra costs for the industry.
Bio-Rad operates in two industry segments: Life Science Research and Clinical Diagnostics. Both segments operate worldwide. Bio-Rad’s customers include hospitals, universities, major research institutions, and biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Bio-Rad’s headquarters are in Hercules, California. The company has offices and facilities worldwide and more than 6,500 employees. Bio-Rad had revenues of more than $1.7 billion in 2008. The company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange since October 24, 2008. Before that, Bio-Rad was listed on the American Stock Exchange.
In UK, courier and express services are of vital importance to the efficiency and growth of the UK economy. With UK's geographical position which is away from the centre of continental Europe, fast and effective delivery services are essential for UK businesses involved in international trade. Despite the recent global economic slowdown, the courier and express industry had a 3% growth rate between 2001 and 2002, with a market turnover of £4.2bn in 2002.
In addition, since then the courier services sector has outperformed the express logistics sector in terms of turnover growth. The demand for courier and express services is derived from businesses in the manufacturing and services industries. Therefore, the economic performance of these industries strongly affects the success of the courier and express industry. Advances in technology and the increasing use of e-commerce, combined with the courier and express sector's commitment to investing in IT, and have cushioned the industry from the worst effects of the recent global slowdown.
This is because it has been able to offer added-value services and retain key customers at the top end of the courier and logistics market. The courier services sector has been benefiting from the recent growth in demand for home deliveries generated from Internet retail sales. Rising demand for air courier services to developing economies has also boosted the sector in recent years.
However, increased security measures for air freight have increased costs for the sector's air freight operations. The express logistics sector, through its added-value services, has fared better than the road freight industry. Nonetheless, a raft of government measures to tackle environmental pollution and congestion have increased costs for the, largely road-based, express logistics sector.
In the short to medium term, the courier and express industry is likely to grow steadily, in line with the rest of the UK economy. Increasing use of Internet shopping services is likely to boost demand for home deliveries. However, problems of congestion on the UK's roads and in the skies, along with the range of new environmental controls currently being introduced for road transport, are likely to create extra costs for the industry.