Key Signs Your Laboratory Needs a LIMS

Spot the signs! If your laboratory is facing any of these challenges, it’s time to consider a LIMS to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

Every laboratory eventually reaches a point where its way of operating simply isn’t efficient anymore. Data ends up scattered across paper files, spreadsheets, and a patchwork of uncoordinated systems. Manual processes prove inadequate for handling growing demand. As a result, satisfaction among both internal and external customers — and among staff — drops significantly, with deep implications for how the laboratory runs.

All of these challenges stem from the way laboratories manage their information. Regaining control over productivity, production capacity, and staff and customer satisfaction often requires a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). But changing your laboratory’s infrastructure is a major decision. How do you know it’s the right one?

In this article, we’ll go over the key signs that show your laboratory needs a LIMS.

Signs you need a LIMS for performance and quality control

Running a laboratory is a constant balancing act. Your customers want timely, accurate reports. Your team wants satisfying yet sustainable workloads. Meanwhile, you need to hit revenue and profit targets.

Poor information management can throw laboratory operations off balance, leading to significant increases in turnaround times and delays. You may be ready for a LIMS if these statements describe your day-to-day challenges:

• Turnaround times keep increasing, and we don’t know why.
• We know the samples are in the lab. We just don’t know where.
• We don’t know how much time we spend on data entry, but it’s a lot.
• We’re spending too much time fixing errors and retesting samples.
• Our data is too scattered to monitor laboratory performance, let alone control quality.
• Working around “the system” is easier than working more efficiently.

A LIMS puts every aspect of laboratory performance within reach. With everything from sample location to training status in a single database, you can easily monitor and control your laboratory’s performance.

Read also: How can a LIMS solve laboratory problems?

Signs you need a LIMS for data security, privacy, and integrity 

You need to protect customer data — both internal and external — from security breaches and improper access. This isn’t just good business practice; in many cases, it’s a legal obligation. However, protecting laboratory data involves more than access control.

Inefficient data handling can compromise data quality and integrity at any point during testing.

• Without a LIMS to protect your laboratory’s data, you may find yourself saying things like:
• We always thought we were too small for hackers to notice us.
• Securing every laboratory system gets in the way of getting our work done.
• Email and USB drives are how we exchange data.
• Anyone can access or modify our records, and we wouldn’t necessarily know it.
• Our paper forms get lost in the shuffle.
• Our spreadsheets are scattered across multiple systems.
• We never know which document or spreadsheet is the most recent.
• We’d lose everything in a fire, flood, or hacking attack.

A secure LIMS protects your sensitive data. For example, access controls reduce the risk of security breaches, while end-to-end encryption renders any stolen data unreadable. In addition, cloud-based LIMS solutions make your laboratory more resilient to disruptive events.

Signs you need a LIMS for compliance and regulatory requirements

Accreditation and regulatory compliance are baseline requirements for laboratories across many industries, always pushing labs to follow best practices in laboratory management. 

Compliance is where many laboratories struggle, since demonstrating it requires detailed documentation of laboratory processes and performance.

• If evidence of compliance is hard to find — or worse, missing — these frustrations become all too common:
• Customers ask why we’re not compliant with ISO/IEC 17025.
• We want to enter new markets, but certain specific regulations are complicated.
• Getting accredited takes too long and costs too much.
• Audits involve every employee because no one knows where everything is.

Integrating methods and workflows into a LIMS provides the structure for consistent laboratory management. On top of that, the LIMS becomes “the single source of truth,” simplifying accreditation and compliance efforts.

Watch also: Regulatory Compliance and Laboratory Audits

Signs you need a LIMS to support growth

Market trends and scientific advances push laboratories to evolve and grow. Regional expansion lets you do what you do best on a larger scale. Alternatively, moving into adjacent industries lets you apply your laboratory’s expertise in different settings.

However, success can be a double-edged sword. More business means managing more samples, running more tests, and performing more complex analyses for more customers.

• The following complaints tend to become common if rigid laboratory practices can’t support your growth plans:
• We generate data faster than we can add file storage and hard drives.
• We keep adding staff for data entry instead of testing.
• None of our systems, digital or paper-based, talk to each other.
• New technologies generate more data than we can handle.
• New analytical methods are too complex to track in spreadsheets.

Adopting a configurable, cloud-based LIMS positions your laboratory for whatever the future holds. For example, your organization becomes more agile and scalable when your team can easily configure new methods or locations.

Stop wasting time and resources on manual processes! Schedule a diagnostic meeting with Actiz now to find out how a LIMS can help your company achieve operational excellence and stay aligned with regulatory requirements: schedule a demo or email us at: contato@actiz.com.br