Analytical as well as research laboratories happen to be at the heart of driving scientific breakthroughs in order to address some of the world’s most significant issues. But labs do face multiple challenges with regards to outdated administrative processes pertaining to research that happen to be the bottlenecks of scientific innovation.
The fact is that the key to addressing these issues lies in automating mundane lab management processes by way of digitalization so as to alleviate such bottlenecks.
Digitalization is indeed essential when it comes to inventory management
One of the major bottlenecks in a laboratory setting happens to be the amount of time wasted by researchers when it comes to inventory management. With manual tracking methodologies in place, researchers can go ahead and spend unnecessary time looking out for samples and reagents, checking stock levels, and also putting together the order sheets.
While tasks such as these are indeed vital to make sure that a lab can go ahead and conduct experiments, the issue lies in the inefficient processes or tools so as to complete the work. By providing researchers with tools to expedite this work, they can go on to spend more time at the bench as well as less time in the storage rooms.
However, it is not the time which is the only time wasted because of inefficient lab management. Another major waste element factor happens to lie in lab consumables with a fixed shelf-life. Labs can go ahead and spend thousands of dollars every year on expired inventory as well as hazardous waste disposal if the workers do not adequately track this.
Beyond the hit to the researcher’s bottom line and, at the same time, negating their ability to conduct experiments, this also goes ahead and raises sustainability concerns with regards to the wasted resources and the environmental footprint that’s associated with the sciences.
The solution: a digitally connected lab management system that goes on to make work in the lab smarter as well as more efficient.
Digitalizing the laboratory inventory management systems
While lab management systems don’t happen to be inherently new and are indeed widely used, many still are not yet fully digital. As technology goes on to grab headlines so as to increase interconnectivity, the case when it comes to digitalized laboratory management systems surges. Harnessing the capacity to go ahead and integrate systems in the lab can indeed fix process redundancies, thereby ultimately decreasing the time it takes so as to complete tasks and also addressing resource use concerns.
So, what happen to be the tangible benefits when it comes to adopting a digitally enabled lab management system? For starters, real-time information when it comes to inventory levels, storage locations, etc. becomes available to the researchers by way of using RFID or similar technology.
Those days are indeed gone of manually keeping track of this information through pen and paper; with just one click, a researcher can go on to access these details and thereby quickly locate research materials. Moreover, by way of keeping better track of such resources, researchers can go ahead and track the stock levels and also recognize what does or may not need to get stocked, hence saving time.
Moreover, the waste which is associated with unused or expired chemicals can be decreased through a digitally enabled lab management system. The capacity to accurately keep track of materials, and that too in real-time, helps the researchers follow the first-in, first-out method of use, cutting down on waste.
It is well to be noted that without a lab management system, researchers may as well go on to believe they happen to have all the materials that are required pertaining to an experiment, however, halfway through, they go on to realize that one item has touched its expiry. The fact is that in a time-precious environment, this challenge can go on to ruin experiments and, at the same time, cause a snowball effect while leading to even more waste as compared to the initially expired resource.
Lab management systems also go on to boast the ability to go ahead and also improve the most important thing in the lab setting, and that’s researcher safety. By way of a digitally connected system, umpteen safety measures can be put in place, thereby marking hazardous materials, compliance tracking, incompatibility warnings, and even incident alerts in order to help emergency responders.
Helping the decision-makers to go ahead and at the same time also recognize the impact of a digitized lab management system is indeed the key as far as enhancing the overarching challenges are concerned which have been stated thus far. But what are the product traits that decision-makers should go ahead and look for when it comes to a lab management system?
What to look out for in a laboratory management system?
One of the major hallmark traits that a lab management system should go on to possess is ease of access. The question to be asked is: can the end user go ahead and pick up the system, and that too with minimal training? Does the system feature a mobile app or even allow integration with the presently used systems, and who can go ahead and access all the information within the system?
Moreover, the decision-makers should also look at the lab management system’s tracking capabilities. Does the system go on to feature real-time location monitoring and automatically input usage information like the opening date? Can the researchers use the system to go ahead and automatically develop the order logs for materials?
These happen to be just a few examples of things that one needs to look for in a lab management system. Making that much-needed jump to a lab management system may go on to take some adjustment. But the long-term advantages to the lab’s bottom line as well as the researchers’ productivity are indeed tangible, thereby making it well worth the effort.
Making sure to save time, decreasing waste, and also increasing worker safety happen to be among the significant advantages when it comes to implementing a lab management system. As such, the decision-makers should go ahead and explore their choices, assess the pain points in their lab, and also adopt solutions in order to free the researchers’ time so as to drive scientific progress.
