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Software has become an increasingly critical part of laboratory research and workflows. But for all the productivity and monetary gains that laboratory information management systems (LIMS), electronic laboratory notebooks (ELNs), and automation tools have provided organizations, most benefits have focused on accelerating experiments and the time to process results. This is not surprising, as these two areas are central to the work that takes place in the lab. Not only can software help, but it also greatly benefits scientists and is a critical aspect of lab supply management. Beyond the obvious issue of keeping laboratory supplies in stock, effective lab supply management is important for addressing other demands on productivity and resources in the lab.
The costs
Researchers are well-aware of how minor differences in supplies such as glassware and plastics can impact experimental results. When variations in results occur, it can be time-consuming to determine their root causes. Courier Therapeutics1 (Houston, TX), a cancer research lab, estimates losing five hours of productive work each week tracking inventory histories just to verify that issues in their experiments were not supply-related.
Regulatory concerns are a given in any laboratory. It is necessary to keep accurate track of supplies and know how much is on hand and where it is. Virtually all labs are governed by rules regarding what is in a lab and how much of it is allowed to be on site. A laboratory that violates these regulations or is unable to show reliable documentation is at risk of being shut down. For labs working out of shared spaces, this means additional pressure to adhere to the location’s licenses and the ability to verify inventory data at a moment’s notice.
For fledgling cannabis labs, this issue is even more pressing, as inventory reporting through regulated systems like California’s track-and-trace program force these operations to adhere to strict inventory controls, with failure to comply resulting in stiff penalties. One major cannabis research and manufacturing operation estimates that managing inventory data like this contributes to close to 30 hours of additional work each month.
Safety is crucial as well. A chemical explosion that rocked Tianjin, China in 2015 caused nearly $3 billion in damages and led to the loss of 173 lives.2 Following an investigation, it was discovered that the cause of the disaster was the result of mismanaged supplies.
More recently, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANAL) in New Mexico came under scrutiny for its failure to adequately track levels and storage locations of the toxic metal beryllium.3 Tainted equipment and missing containers exposed lab staff to contamination. Unfortunately, this situation is not unique: both Tennessee’s Oak Ridge National Laboratories and California’s Lawrence Livermore National Lab have also had issues with managing their beryllium stocks.3
While the mistakes made by LANAL will play out over the next several years in the form of employee health claims compared to the immediate disaster that was Tianjin, both incidents are clear examples of why understanding where laboratory supplies are stored can be a matter of life and death.
Solving the problem
How can lab supply management be addressed, and what role can LIMS, ELNs, and other software play? Ultimately, the decision to adopt a particular solution should hinge on how well it handles the types of supplies a lab relies on (e.g., chemicals) and how well it fits with current workflows. Aside from this, there are two other factors to be considered: adopting a complex, multifaceted solution versus an inventory-focused tool, and whether to opt for a free or paid solution.
While free solutions can often be implemented without the need for approval from Finance or Operations, a tradeoff is that it will provide limited support. This means more time handling issues yourself that arise when using it, and having to spend time training your team on the platform. On the other hand, a paid solution should offer support and training that can drastically improve adoption and implementation times, but the associated price tag or need to manage licenses may be prohibitive.
Similar to the experience with free solutions, laboratories will have an easier time implementing separate inventory software components than a complex system that requires extensive setup and integration. In both instances, IT and Operations will question the solution’s data security and integration capabilities with the organization’s current business software, which might include programs like NetSuite (NetSuite Inc., San Mateo, CA) and QuickBooks (Intuit, Mountain View, CA). Prioritizing a solution that has a sales or support team to assist in navigating the organization’s questions and concerns can save labs a great deal of time and frustration.
While an “a la carte” solution can be easily adopted into the average organization’s workflows, it may not offer the level of customization and features that can save the lab time in the long run by integrating with the other software tools and workflows not directly related to supply management. This may sound attractive, but it makes testing new solutions riskier due to the huge upfront time investment and work to adjust current workflows to a more complex system.
Lastly, in some cases, a current LIMS and ELN may already have an inventory feature built in. Though it may not be suitable or the best choice for the lab, it will be the simplest to implement since the software is already part of the organization’s day-to-day operations and may not incur an additional cost.
The benefits
Even with their associated time investments and costs, the gains enjoyed through employing a solution to streamline inventory management are well worth it. For instance, the aforementioned Courier Therapeutics has completely eliminated the work related to tracking supply-related experimental errors due to its inventory management software, which saves the five hours of work per week once needed to determine the root causes of supply-related problems in the lab.
Bellevue University in Nebraska4 recently adopted a tool that enabled the lab to track not only consumables, but equipment as well. Through the automated warranty alerts that come with this inventory solution, the lab has been able to take full advantage of product warranties, which has saved them $10,000 in operating expenses in just the first month of adoption. This software tool has also significantly decreased the cost of managing paperwork and helped free up 72% of the lab’s operating budget tied to supply management.
Simplifying supply management via software has even aided the efforts of a large San Francisco-based biotech working on GMP certification. Through the use of an inventory management system, the company has improved both the accuracy of its inventory reporting and the time it takes to pull data for reports.
Next steps
Below are three things to consider when beginning to streamline the supply part of laboratory operations:
- Evaluate your lab—Before looking into solutions, take stock of your lab’s challenges. There are several tools on the market that can solve problems, but to get the best ROI for your time and money, you need to know what challenges need to be addressed first.
- Consider single versus all-in-one solutions—Once you’ve evaluated how many issues you need to solve and which may take priority over others, it may be more important to go with a few single solutions that solve one or two things well than a solution that resolves all problems, but only at a surface level.
- Understand how much tech you can manage—There are myriad solutions out there, but are you ready to roll out all of them at once? If so, how will you manage them? The last thing you want is to create additional work.
The future of laboratory research will undoubtedly call for more and more software throughout every aspect of operations. This will require many labs to transition their legacy processes, but the return on productivity and acceleration toward more scientific progress will be well worth the effort.
References
- https://www.quartzy.com/case-studies/courier-therapeutics
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015_Tianjin_explosions
- http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/feds-say-lanl-failed-to-track-toxic-beryllium/article_30900b79-4331-568a-a3dc-7d03ad5e25a6.html
- https://www.quartzy.com/case-studies/bellevue-university
Jayant Kulkarni is the CEO and co-founder of Quartzy, 550 Hamilton Ave., #150, Palo Alto, CA 94301, U.S.A.; tel.: 855-782-7899; e-mail: [email protected]; www.quartzy.com