UNSPSC 41171603: Automated colony counter

In this classification, a Automated colony counter connotes a device used for the automated counting colonies of bacteria growing in a culture US FDA regulates Automated colony counter under 21 CFR 866.2170 and under FDA product code KZB.

UNSPSC 41171603 Automated colony counter is a Commodity code addressing laboratory equipment that state and local health departments, public health labs, and research institutions use to automate microbial colony enumeration in clinical diagnostics, environmental testing, and epidemiological surveillance. These instruments reduce manual counting error and accelerate turnaround time in applications ranging from foodborne-illness outbreak investigation to water-quality assurance and communicable-disease screening. The code reflects purchasing activity driven by regulatory compliance requirements (FDA, EPA, state health codes) and the operational demand for high-throughput testing capacity in public health infrastructure.

No recent state or local contract opportunities appear in the public record for this Commodity code. The automated colony counter represents a specialized, lower-volume procurement category within the broader microbiology equipment market; state and local health systems typically acquire these instruments through standing cooperative purchasing agreements, GPO contracts, or direct vendor relationships rather than open competitive solicitation. When activity does occur, it tends to concentrate among state health department central labs and county public health laboratories in higher-population jurisdictions, but the absence of posted RFPs, RFQs, IFBs, or ITBs for this specific equipment suggests that procurement under this code, if any, remains below the public-notice threshold or flows through non-public channels.