Erlab USA

Before a lab can adopt a ductless fume hood, its specific chemical inventory must be assessed for compatibility — to confirm that the filtration technology is suitable for the chemistry being used. Erlab manages this through a proprietary process called eValiQuest. In the old model it was entirely manual: sales reps and prospects exchanged data back and forth, spreadsheets were filled out and corrected, and an assessment that should have been straightforward dragged on for days or weeks. Skilled technical sales reps were spending 5 to 8 hours a week on data entry alone.

Meanwhile, ductless fume hoods face a structural awareness problem. Ducted hoods — which vent air outside the building — are the established default, and most people involved in lab equipment decisions don't know that ductless is even an option. That means every Erlab sales conversation involves educating multiple stakeholders who each have different concerns: sustainability teams want to understand the environmental and energy impact, EH&S departments need to know about chemical safety and filtration performance, and lab directors want to know whether it will work for their specific applications. These questions are complex, technical, and highly repetitive.

The combined effect was a sales cycle that required significant rep involvement at every stage — fielding the same questions repeatedly, manually processing chemical compatibility data, and shepherding multiple stakeholders through an evaluation that could have moved much faster. Erlab needed to automate the parts consuming the most time, without sacrificing the technical accuracy that makes the assessment credible.