As both a scientist and a business leader, you understand the importance of making data-driven decisions. But many lab managers do not effectively listen to their instruments to answer important questions: how often are they used? Do they perform as expected? How often should they receive preventive maintenance?
Analytical instruments and equipment offer a wealth of data to answer these questions. Acting on that data is essential to maximizing the ROI of your lab’s assets, as well as streamlining operations and staying compliant with regulations. Here are four ways to track instrument utilization for optimized efficiency:
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Digital logbooks and scheduling tools
Instrument logbooks and scheduling programs are some of the first steps you can take to streamline your lab’s operations and manage equipment more effectively. Using digital logbooks can minimize errors thanks to field validation and controlled input, such as enforcing dates in date fields, numerals in number fields, etc. You can also organize and search digital logbooks much more easily than paper logbooks.
Furthermore, that data can be easily assessed for better-informed decisions. You can export the historical information contained within those logs and load them into a program like Excel, which will allow you to easily analyze it all. You can then identify maintenance trends, forecast future service needs, and maximize your service contract while minimizing downtime.
Similarly, scheduling solutions minimize inefficiencies and ensure equitable access to instruments. When multiple scientists need the same instrument at the same time, the lab’s science must pause. By implementing instrument scheduling software, lab staff can reserve the instrument beforehand and avoid delays. Much like with digital logbooks, you can perform a trends analysis on the data collected in the scheduling software and make more informed decisions.
Both solutions can be integrated with existing lab management platforms to provide a comprehensive view of instrument use and enable you to make holistic, data-driven decisions.
Automated monitoring systems
While digital logs and scheduling applications are helpful, they still demand manual data entry from lab staff. This cuts into time that would be better spent on the science. As such, some labs opt to implement automated usage monitoring systems. Often, these systems are collections of vendor-agnostic, third-party sensors that automatically collect data from equipment and link to companion software. These sensors can track incubator temperature, the number of times a centrifuge was run, and much more. Additionally, they can offer real-time status updates for when equipment is in use, idle, or undergoing service.
Automated monitoring systems can also simplify the data analysis process. Instead of loading data into Excel and manipulating it manually, as digital logbooks may demand, the software paired with all the sensors can automatically generate usage reports and convenient dashboards for real-time monitoring. You can then quickly identify over- and underutilized assets, informing operations and purchasing decisions.
IoT-enabled instrumentation
Automated monitoring systems allow users to add Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities to any piece of equipment. However, because the sensors are vendor-agnostic, they cannot integrate with equipment as deeply as native IoT capabilities. This results in lower-resolution data and less straightforward setup and use.
For these reasons, migrating to instruments with native IoT features is the next logical upgrade for many labs. IoT monitoring systems are more sophisticated and can collect higher volumes of data, aiding in purchasing, maintenance, and operational decisions. Because the IoT sensors are made specifically for a certain instrument or product line, they can achieve a depth and granularity of data, as well as seamless use, that third-party sensors may not be capable of. This higher-quality, more abundant data means higher-quality decision-making.
A potential side effect of IoT-enabled instrumentation is that you may be locked into a single vendor. After you’ve invested time and money into establishing an IoT platform for your chromatographs, it makes the most sense to purchase a centrifuge or mass spec from that same vendor so all your lab’s instrumentation can be available on the same IoT platform. Depending on your lab’s budget and required specifications, this may be a challenge.
Integrated LIMS
Ubiquitous in the modern lab, a laboratory information management system (LIMS) is, at its core, sample tracking software. But modern LIMS go far beyond that. They are capable of recording and managing data related to all aspects of a lab, like a hub with spokes branching off into equipment, service, samples, and more. In terms of asset management, a LIMS can shed light on instrument utilization, performance metrics, and maintenance schedules.
Additionally, LIMS are designed with regulations in mind. They facilitate compliance effectively by generating detailed reports of instrument usage and maintenance.
Finally, the hub-and-spoke model of a LIMS consolidates all information streaming from the many sources of data in the lab, simplifying management and analysis. By integrating this data with complementary lab processes and workflows, you can leverage the LIMS to improve overall lab efficiency. You could potentially implement all the mentioned solutions—digital logbook, automated usage monitoring system, and IoT-enabled devices—and configure them to relay information back to the LIMS. You would then have a wealth of information on asset utilization consolidated and readily available.
What are your instruments telling you?
Listening to your lab’s instruments allows you to take actionable steps toward optimizing utilization across your fleet, streamlining your lab’s operations, and scaling up smoothly. Savvy lab managers will understand that this is an iterative process informed by their lab’s unique needs, budget, and existing digital infrastructure. Some labs may need to start with digital logbooks and gradually build to establish communication between the LIMS and every lab asset, while other labs may be able to run with a LIMS right off the bat without any need for automated or IoT monitoring.
