Shimadzu

Who Shimadzu is and what it makes

Shimadzu Corporation is a Japanese analytical instrument maker headquartered in Kyoto, founded in March 1875 and incorporated as a limited company in 1917. It makes chromatographs, mass spectrometers, medical devices and industrial equipment, and its American subsidiary, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments (SSI), was established in 1975 and is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland. For cannabis operators, the relevant Shimadzu products are its turnkey HPLC potency analyzers and the instruments licensed testing labs run.

Shimadzu announced the Cannabis Analyzer for Potency in March 2017 and the Hemp Analyzer in February 2019. Both package an HPLC with a column, mobile phase, certified standards, methods and software, and Shimadzu says the system is ready to use after one day of installation and testing.

Where a Shimadzu HPLC fits by facility stage

Extraction and manufacturing facilities use an in house potency analyzer for process decisions, such as checking crude, distillate and formulated product before material moves to the next step. State rules decide whether in house results can count toward compliance, so confirm with your regulator before you treat them as release data.

Licensed testing labs use the wider Shimadzu catalog. Shimadzu's cannabis testing brochure pairs the potency analyzer with the LCMS-8060 for pesticides, the GCMS-QP2020 NX with HS-20 headspace sampler for residual solvents, the ICPMS-2030 for heavy metals and GC-MS or GC-2030 FID setups for terpenes.

High volume producers should weigh throughput by method. Shimadzu rates the High Throughput method at 60 samples per 8 hour day, the High Sensitivity method at 48 and the High Resolution method at 16, so the method you pick sets how many batches one instrument can clear.

How to choose a Shimadzu method and configuration

Choose the method by the cannabinoids you need and your turnaround target. On the Cannabis Analyzer for Potency, the High Throughput method quantifies 10 cannabinoids in under 8 minutes and was developed with commercial testing labs. The High Sensitivity method adds THCV for 11 compounds at about 10 minutes, and the High Resolution method resolves all 11 in under 30 minutes, with room to add compounds if rules change.

The standard list covers d9 THC, d8 THC, THCA, THCV, CBD, CBDA, CBDV, CBG, CBGA, CBN and CBC. If your products depend on a compound outside that list, plan on the High Resolution method and confirm with SSI that it can be added.

Then plan the bench around the instrument: solvent storage for the mobile phase, a balance, a sample prep station and trained analysts. Sample prep is part of every result, and our pipette calibration guide covers how calibration affects potency results.

Shimadzu compared with other potency testing options

The main alternative to a turnkey HPLC is a compact dedicated analyzer such as the Orange Photonics LightLab 3, which Urth & Fyre recently sold and can source again. The choice comes down to cost per result, throughput and how much method flexibility you need, which our portable analyzer versus turnkey HPLC decision matrix compares.

The other alternative is a general purpose system that your own chemists configure. Shimadzu's brochure lists the Nexera-i LC-2040C 3D UHPLC with PDA, and the LC-2040C 3D paired with an LCMS-2020 mass spectrometer, for labs that want more than the packaged potency workflow. Those setups need in house method development, while the turnkey analyzer ships with methods, batches and report templates already built. If you plan to add pesticide or residual solvent testing later, weigh that flexibility against the faster start of the packaged system.

Buying a Shimadzu analyzer through Urth & Fyre

Urth & Fyre currently lists a Shimadzu hemp and cannabinoid HPLC analyzer. New analyzers ship with a three year service package covering preventive maintenance and warranty, according to Shimadzu, so ask whether any remaining coverage transfers. Get the column history, detector lamp hours, software license status and the last system suitability results before you commit.

Shimadzu has built analytical instruments for decades, and its company history dates its first gas chromatograph in Japan to 1956. On a used purchase, that history matters mainly for parts and service through the SSI network in the US.

For service planning, SSI runs ten regional offices with field technicians across the US, backed by a technical support center in Columbia, Maryland. Request a quote on the Shimadzu listing, or tell Urth & Fyre which products and sample volumes you need to test for a matched recommendation.

• Confirm the configuration. Ask which method packages (High Throughput, High Sensitivity or High Resolution) are installed and which column is on the instrument.
• Ask for proof of performance. Request the last system suitability run and a chromatogram from a certified reference standard before you agree on price.
• Check software and licensing. The analyzer uses Shimadzu's custom cannabis software built on LabSolutions, so confirm the license and the PC transfer to your site.
• Ask about service coverage. New systems ship with a three year service package covering preventive maintenance and warranty. Ask SSI whether remaining coverage transfers and what a new service contract costs.
• Plan installation. Shimadzu says a new analyzer is ready after one day of installation and testing. Budget for a qualified install and requalification on a moved unit.
• Get bench specs from SSI. Shimadzu does not publish power or footprint on the analyzer page, so request them before you plan the bench and circuits.
• Budget consumables. Columns, mobile phase and certified cannabinoid standards are recurring costs on any HPLC.