Have you caught wind of the laboratory trends in the 21st Century? A major buzz is all about deploying Laboratory Information Management Systems, or LIMS. Now, you might be wondering: “Do you need a LIMS?” and “Why do we need a LIMS?” Let’s break it down by first addressing the most fundamental question: “What is a LIMS?”

A Laboratory Information Management System or LIMS is a software application that automates the proceedings of a laboratory, right from the intake of a sample, through its entire life cycle in the laboratory. In plain words, LIMS is an upgrade from spreadsheets, which cannot safeguard against human errors. Automation not only reduces errors but also increases the speed and efficiency of laboratory operations. Some of the key benefits of LIMS include:

1. Saving time spent in maintaining records.
2. Easy data traceability and accessibility.
3. Elimination of human errors and improved efficiency.

In short, implementing a LIMS saves time, money, and effort. Your laboratory personnel is not drowning in entering data manually and maintaining them correctly, thus enabling them to focus more on their research. That roughly translates into more business and profit capital for the laboratories.

Is it Time to Implement a LIMS?

Now that we understand what a LIMS is and what benefits it offers, the next question that arises is when to start using one. Before we address the elephant in the room, here are a few questions for your consideration:

Are you meeting the turnaround time for your processes? In other words are your laboratory personnel able to meet all the steps listed in your SOP’s without deviations and delays in process execution and validation?

1. Is your laboratory personnel spending too much time managing daily transactions and maintaining documentation of transactional processes?
2. Is your business facing losses due to erroneous test reports?
3. Is data-retrievability a major issue for your day to day laboratory operations?
4. Are you able to maintain data integrity, meet customer expectations and deadlines and take major decisions simultaneously?

Any laboratory investing in a LIMS needs to ask these questions to themselves. Each of these questions roughly translates into a telltale sign that it is high time for your laboratory to implement a LIMS. Let’s take a closer look at these answers:

1. If the answer to this question is no, you need to consider investing in a LIMS. Maintaining turnaround time is one of the basic requirements for the smooth running of a laboratory. Your personnel should be able to refer and follow set SOPs without deviations and difficulties.
2. If you are thinking no to this question as well, here is your sign number 2. Daily transactions and documentations, while highly important activities, should not make up for the bulk of your personnel’s responsibilities or job roles.
3. A yes here means you are close to tough times. Erroneous test reports translate to lost business opportunities. Errors in reports often rise from manual data entry and human intervention. A LIMS automates this, thus eliminating error percentage.
4. Pulling up data easily saves time. Time is money and thus, needs to be saved. A LIMS stores all data in one place, making retrieval easy.
5. Fast decision making is critical for improved business transactions. Another requirement is meeting customer expectations by providing service at par with the industry standards.

Conclusion

The questions discussed above and the answers that followed each point in a direction that says what an ideal laboratory operation looks like and what could be done to achieve it. There are multiple parameters to consider while implementing a LIMS. If the questions discussed above apply to your facility, it may be time you start looking into a LIMS to automate your laboratory workflow and choose a vendor that best fits your requirements.

One of the key requirements of a laboratory is to ensure that the sample is properly received and tracked throughout its lifecycle. The outcome of the test results largely depends on the quality of the samples being tested. If the sample quality is compromised, it may alter the test results, thus leading to an erroneous judgment. The practice of tracking and documenting the sample’s journey completely is referred to as Laboratory Sample Management. To aid in efficient sample management, there are sample management systems available in the market.

What is the Typical Workflow?

Some of the sample management activities carried out by labs include:

1. Precise recording of the sample information when it is received.

2. Appropriate labeling of samples.

3. Processing and making aliquots or derivatives from them

4. Storing the samples at an appropriate temperature for future use

5. Maintaining sample quantity for tests or experiments

Challenges of Laboratory Sample Management

Some of the challenges that can arise while managing samples include a compromise in the sample quality, sample loss due to mismanagement, inappropriate labeling, maintaining the relationship of aliquots and derivatives with their parent samples, etc. Managing the sample records using spreadsheets makes it a tedious task to locate the samples from their storage location within the lab. This may cause undue delay in processing customer’s requests that may, in turn, harm the market reputation of the laboratory. Therefore, it is highly essential to follow Standard Operating Protocols (SOPs) to avoid mismanagement of samples.

Sample Management Best Practices

Sample management is essential for accurate laboratory results as it has a significant impact on the test and research results. Testing on deteriorated samples may lead to a loss of time, effort and money, and ultimately, affecting the market reputation of the laboratory.

Some best practices for sample management components provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) are as follows:

1. The appropriate recording of sample data should be done to keep track of data in all phases from recording to reporting.

2. Restricting user access rights to prevent data alteration.

3. Standard methods of record-keeping following regulatory compliances.

4. Good documentation practices to maintain data integrity.

5. Rejected sample data should also be recorded with appropriate justification.

Solution with Sample Management Software

An efficient method of managing samples based on the WHO guidelines is by using a laboratory sample management system. Some of the capabilities of sample management software include:

1. Accessioning the samples based on group-wise and role-based hierarchy available in the organization so that data is accessed by authorized personnel only.

2. Maintain a complete chain of custody of the samples throughout the sample lifecycle.

3. Recording sample storage location within the laboratory.

4. Maintain geneology to keep a record of the aliquots or derivatives derived from the parent sample.

5. Monitoring and alerts regarding the sample expiry, freeze/thaw cycle, temperature.

6. Maintaining the user information for activities such as sample collection, storage, shipping, relocating or disposal.

7. Tracking all user activities performed in your lab with a comprehensive audit trail and electronic signatures.

8. Tracking freeze-thaw cycles to maintain sample integrity.

Conclusion

Efficient sample management is the most crucial step for any laboratory or biobank. If the sample is misplaced or data is not recorded accurately, it may result in testing delays, testing the wrong sample or getting inaccurate test results leading to re-tests and hence increasing costs. A sample management software or Laboratory Information management System (LIMS) ensures the data security and accuracy of all the samples right from when they are received in the lab until they are processed, tested and shipped out. The sample management system allows laboratories to follow regulatory guidelines such as HIPAA and 21 CFR Part 11 to ensure best sample management practices which, in turn, assures the accuracy and reliability of testing, and increase confidence in results.

One of the major challenges faced by laboratories across the world is efficient sample tracking and workflow management. With technological advancements that enable the automation of laboratory operations, implementing an automated management system such as Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is quickly turning into an essential requirement. A LIMS is a vital piece to the puzzle of data management and automation that challenge laboratory directors. The decision to implement a LIMS is crucial as it affects the operations of the laboratory and in turn, affects the efficiency of the setup.

What makes the choice of finalizing a LIMS for a laboratory more difficult is the large number of options now available in the market, each offering its own set of benefits. The availability of a large number of free LIMS products in the market has further increased the difficulty in choosing an appropriate LIMS.

The LIMS Conundrum: Features of a Good LIMS software:

The open source model of business depends on the collaborative efforts of the developer who writes the preliminary source code and the users who change and update the code based on their requirements. Like most open-source software, open source LIMS development often depends on the user base and their vastly varying requirements. A diverse user base often leads to a more developed open source model. However, a major point of contradiction here is the fact that not all free software is open source. Going with this trend, free LIMS might not always be open source and might be used as a business model for enterprise solutions.

Before addressing the most commonly asked question of free vs. commercial, here’s a look at the 4 most prominent features of a good LIMS software:

1. Configurability and customization that allows the user to mold the software in accordance to their needs.

2. Integrability with other third party software to aid in the overall automation of the laboratory.

3. Traceability of samples through its life cycle in the laboratory.

4. Compatibility with the regulatory requirements of the region and industry

Free System Vs Commercial System:

In today’s competitive era, every other lab is striving to produce the best results possible from a technical point of view. They need to reduce turnaround time, enhance customer satisfaction, and meet the regulatory requirements of their industry.

The main focus of a LIMS is to increase the efficiency of lab operations by reducing manual tasks. Each LIMS available in the market today may vary from each other depending on the LIMS vendor and the target industry. Some of the core lab functionalities that a LIMS typically takes care of includes:

• Sample management
  • Storage management
  • Lab inventory management (reagents, analytical instruments, etc.)
  • Workflow management
  • Work allocation
  • Report and Invoice generation
  • Instrument integration

Conclusion

The decision to implement a free or commercial LIMS for your organization is a critical factor that requires careful consideration of the level of operations, the intended scaling, and the manpower availability. It is extremely important to weigh the pros and cons of each system before coming to a conclusion. While a free LIMS solution does not tie you down in terms of contractual and financial obligations, there is no technical support available. On the contrary, a commercial LIMS is often provided with strong technical support, while also being scalable and pocket-friendly in the long run. Thus, the decision to implement LIMS should be taken with utmost care and after proper evaluation of all available options.

There are many laboratory information management systems (LIMS) available for labs to choose from. With laboratories (labs) mushrooming all over, the need for the best LIMS software solution has become imperative.

Given that laboratories have stringent testing measures to perform to comply with the accreditation or the governmental checks, an appropriate LIMS software solution should be in place to enable the lab workflow and allow for accuracy in test results.

How do these labs select the best LIMS software from a plethora of LIMS software available in the market?

Here are the key features in a LIMS that a typical laboratory requires

• Workflow Management
• Quality Assurance
• Data Security
• Workload & Management Reports
• Analytical Reports Generation
• Manage and Track Patient Data
• Method Standardardization and Validation
• Test Ordering for Genetic, Point of Care, and Molecular Testing
• Third-party Integration

Now that we know what the features required in a LIMS are, we can start looking for the best LIMS software solution available. Once again here we have to choose from web-based, standalone and SaaS-based LIMS software.

We have come up with the top 5 LIMS software to look for in 2020, not in any particular order:

CloudLIMS

With no upfront cost to use this software, CloudLIMS is probably the most cost-effective product on the market. CloudLIMS is a SaaS-based product hosted on the cloud. Which means, there is no product installation or hardware or additional software requirements. CloudLIMS also offers a host of complimentary services including technical support, hosting, backups, legacy data migration and instrument integration.

CloudLIMS is available for biobanking, clinical, research, or analytical testing laboratories, helping them meet regulatory compliance, be it ISO/IEC 17025:2017, ISO 20387:2018, EU GDPR, 21 CFR Part 11, HIPAA, and CLIA.

You can contact CloudLIMS now@https://cloudlims.com

LabVantage

LabVantage is one of the most complete solutions on the market. This LIMS software solution enables labs to run efficiently by automating tasks and fully integrating with systems and instruments. Their powerful and potent system allows labs to minimize the risk of project setbacks or postponements.

Stay confident of eliminating or reducing paper to negligible use with this solution. You can record, establish, and collaborate in both the experiments and test execution workflows organization-wide. LabVantage can support hundreds of parallel users at the same time associated with enterprise systems and instruments.

The solution adapts quickly to the customer business requirements. With a very experienced team, LabVantage can solve customers’ issues quickly. This, in turn, reduces time in training and maintenance, thereby cutting costs.

Stay in touch with LabVantage @https://www.labvantage.com

ThermoScientific

ThermoScientific LIMS can be adapted to the needs of laboratories. ThermoScientific is ideal for managing data, workflows, resources, and automating systems operations.

ThermoScientific software enables scientists to overcome the daily challenges in clinical and analytical labs. The administrative jobs are made easy making managing operations a breeze. Billing, reporting, and multi-software integrations are made easy in this LIMS software solution.

Contact ThermoScientific @https://www.thermofisher.com

StarLIMS

StarLIMS software disentangles the intricate issues of the entire product lifecycle management process. This solution is highly resilient to your lab’s needs. Given the dynamic changing data management in labs, StarLIMS supports the integration with your existing systems thereby cutting down the expenses of buying new hardware.

This software has multiple technology levels, business rules, and business data. One level can easily be replaced by another without disturbing the other. This lowers the risks and increases the efficiency of the validation process.

StarLIMS can tailor the solution to suit your unique workflows instead of settling for a much less viable system. Manual tasks can be minimized and automate lab tasks and testing workflows to stay in tune with the regulatory compliances.

Contact StarLIMS to find out more @https://www.informatics.abbott

Blaze LIMS

Blaze LIMS is yet another favorite LIMS software solution among the various analytical, clinical and biorepositories.

This LIMS software is a fully feature and functionality driven solution to focus on your core activities and not fretting over insignificant details. The acquisition engagement process of BlazeLIMS has a streamlined process ensuring your requirements are taken care of. If any features are missing, these are taken care of as customization ensuring an easy transition.

Click on the link to reach out to BlazeLIMS @https://www.blazesystems.com