On the following pages we
will tell you more about how business and science intersect in four elements critical to
our continued growth: developing and bringing to market leading edge technologies,
identifying and serving the right markets, providing uncompromising customer service, and
making intelligent additions to our product offerings. But first, it may be helpful to
take a quick refresher course on exactly what our business is.
In broad terms, Waters and its subsidiaries provide the tools
(instrumentation, software,
consumables and customer support) that make very specific analytical measurements, and
then turn these data into usable information. The technologies we provide scientists
HPLC, thermal analysis and mass spectrometry supply information on the
chemical composition, material properties and structural profiles of natural and synthetic
substances. This information allows
scientific professionals chemists, biochemists, and materials scientists to
make better decisions about the directions their research should take. Or it tells them
that their chemical formulations are identical, batch after
batch, year after year. It lets them know, with precision, if there is something in their
product that does not belong there. Our technologies are used on a daily basis by
pharmaceutical, food, beverage,
chemical and industrial companies, as well as government agencies, universities and
research institutes.
As of the end of last year,
Waters stock price had increased more than 150%
since its I.P.O. in November of 1995.
How technological breakthroughs end up on the bottom line
Analyzing where and how to find new markets
The right chemistry for getting and keeping customers
To us, science is a business and business is a science
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