Arraystar's customer service procedures have been streamlined to ensure clarity, quality, and a quick turn-around time. Our customer service specialists will walk you through all the steps required
1. Initial Consultation
2. Quotation and Service Contract
3. Payment Arrangement
4. Submission of Samples
5. Sample Prep and QC
6. Experimental Processes
7. Bioinformatics Services
8. Data Shipment and Review
Initial Consultation
Arraystar provides an initial consultation at the start of any project before we provide a quotation. Please first send the basics of your project by email to the customer specialist, or to support@arraystar.com :
- Your contact information including institution or company names, state and country (if other than U.S.)
- The number of samples, the species, and the samples' conditions to be submitted.
- The experimental design with the type of service and the number of samples to be performed.
If you need consultation on this, please describe your research objectives for this project.
- Your time line and budget (if available)
- Data analysis requirement other than that which is standardized by Arraystar
- Any other concerns you want to address
This effort is to ensure our Quotation and, Statement of Work and Deliverables accurately reflects your experimental design and requirements. We provide recommendations based on our experience, but final decisions always rest with the client.
Quotation and Service Contract
After initial consultation, we will send you the following documents:
Quotation
Statement of Work and Deliverables (Exhibit 1)
Terms and Conditions (Exhibit 2)
Project Related Information Sheet (Exhibit 3)
Once you have reviewed the Quotation and its accompanying files, please sign the Quotation. Together, these files will constitute the Service Contract between the client and Arraystar. The quotation number, beginning with 'J', becomes the project number. Please refer to this number in your future correspondence.
Any changes afterwards will be documented in writing (electronic or hardcopy) so that our responsibilities to you are always clear.
Payment Arrangement
Before starting a project, Arraystar requires the payment to be pre-arranged. Details are included in your formal Service Contract.
Before Sample submission, please read our Sample Submission Guide to make sure your samples are qualified for submission.
Submission of Samples
- Submission of the Project Related Information Sheet
Please complete a Project Related Information Sheet prior to sending your samples to us. Sign and email the sheet to us.
A copy of the signed Project Related Information Sheet should also be sent in the package along with your samples. (Note - please place the Project Related Information Sheet in a waterproof bag, separate from your samples.)
- Samples should be sent via overnight courier of your choice to:
Arraystar, Inc.
9430 Key West Avenue
Suite 128
Rockville,MD 20850 USA
Phone:240-314-0388
Attention: Arraystar Inc- (Project #J_-_____).
- Sample Receipt Confirmation
All shipments and inquiries should reference the Project Number assigned to your project by Arraystar. Do not ship samples on Thursday and Friday as they may sit over the weekend. Please notify us with the tracking information after you ship.
You will receive notification from us upon receipt of your samples. We'll notify you if there are any deviations between your Sample Submission Form and the contents we receive, or if there are any issues with the physical condition of the samples.
Sample Prep and QC
If your samples are cell lines, fresh, frozen, or preserved tissue, blood, and other biofluids, the RNA or DNA samples will be prepared by Arraystar.
All RNA and DNA samples, whether they are prepared by the clients or by Arraystar, must be assessed for quality prior to experimental processes. Should there be concern about the amount or quality of your samples after this initial assessment, you will be contacted by a customer service specialist to decide whether to proceed, replace a sample, or drop a sample from a study.
Sample QC Reports will be included in your final reports. Please read the details about Sample Prep and QC
Experimental Processes
Microarray: Array hybridization, washing, and scanning followed by array QC analysis
Please refer to the microarray service pages for the procedures specific to different microarray platforms.
Sequencing: Sequencing library preparation, library QC, cluster generation and sequencing by synthesis on Gnome Analyzer
Please refer to the sequencing service pages for the procedures specific to different sequencing services.
Bioinformatics Services
We have two levels of Bioinformatics Service. Standardized services are described in the Deliverables. If you need in-depth data mining, please contact us by email and specify your requirements
Data Shipment and Review
You will receive notification when your project is shipped or is available for download. If you need our free data review service, please email your request with your Project Number, contact information and questions. We will get back to you within 24 hours.