Vanguard-rearguard analytical strategies

The increasing demands for (bio)chemical information to contribute to solving environmental, health, food, industrial problems will promote important changes in analytical laboratories that should be supported by analytical research and development, and innovation (R&D&I). In this paper, we propose a new strategy: the sequential use of rapid, low-cost vanguard analytical systems and more accurate, rearguard analytical systems, including off-line, on-line and mixed on/off-line combinations. These strategies imply looking for synergies between metrology and problem solving to support the establishment of quality compromises as well as to emphasize the increasing importance of quality assurance principles and practices in modern (bio)chemical analyses. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.