ROI Lab Automation Systems

1Author: Joe Liscouski, Contact: joe.liscouski@gmail.com
Laboratory Informatics &
Automation:
Return on Investment

Author: Joe Liscouski, Contact: joe.liscouski@gmail.com 2
Available through:
https://store.pda.org/ProductCatalog/Product.aspx?ID=2684

Return on
Investment
LIMS
ELN
Sam.
Prep
SDMSIDS
LES

Screen capture from “LABTrack LLC”
Moving from manual modes
to system-based operations:
•  Productivity
•  Efficiency
•  Improving lab operations
ROI: Return on Investment
Results of Investment
“Labs in Transition”

•  Introducing lab informatics &
their application
•  Return On Investment
•  Keys to successful
implementations
•  Choosing the right system
components
•  Minimizing risks
•  Support requirements
•  Regulatory issues
•  Future developments
•  Begin the Discussion about Return
on Investment
ROI considerations can come up
in different ways:
•  One is when you are evaluating
alternative approaches to
handling a project.
•  Another is when you have to
justify your project before a
funding group.

Return on Investment…
The word “investment” has come
up several times, those investments
consist of:
•  People and their time
•  Funding

ROI in lab work is not a simple
“put $x in, get $y out…
•  You may be breaking new
ground in your company:
automation of methods
•  New technologies
•  Changes to lab operations
•  People taking on new roles
•  Project management
… these are not reasons to avoid it, but to go
in with your eyes open… …and to consider
new ways of working…
Having people
understand the
nature of the
“Return” may be a
challenge…
particularly if lab
work isn’t familiar
to them…

Having people
understand the
nature of the
“Return” may be a
challenge…
particularly if lab
work isn’t familiar
to them…
Defining ROI is one of the big challenges
a project faces.
•  It is often based on faith, not data
•  Time savings are “soft” dollars –
have to be turned into productive use
•  Often the investment required is
significant, so the organization may
have to take a big risk
Large companies might often have a
formal ROI process, which can be painful.
From: “Selecting Products for Lab Automation”,
John Trigg, phase Four Informatics Ltd

At some point, the cost of a lab
automation / informatics project will
have to be justified. This is where
we begin looking at that justification.
The questions may be
simply phrased:
“You are asking for a
substantial investment,
why should we make it,
and what do we get in
return? What is the
ROI?”

The questions may be
simply phrased:
“You are asking for a
substantial investment,
why should we make it,
and what do we get in
return? What is the
ROI?”
… How do you go
about answering that?

Preparing to Justify
Your Funding
Requests…
•  Set a clear statement of goals for
laboratory work.
•  Have people understand what your
lab does and how it affects other
parts of the organization.
•  Put together a story that helps them
understand how a lab transitions
from one relying on human effort to
one using current technologies.
•  Why are you asking for these
investments?

Setting Goals for Laboratory Work:
Why are we making investments in laboratory
technologies?
•  To produce results (knowledge / information / data)
that are of high quality and integrity,
•  optimizing productivity and ROI, and
•  putting the results of the work in an environment
that fosters a high rate of utilization and availability
(knowledge & intellectual property management)
These are broad statements, in part because there are
many different types of laboratories & scientific groups
doing different things.

technologies?

technologies?
that are of high quality and integrity,,

How does your lab operate and what impact does it have on other groups:
•  What is the purpose of the laboratory’s work?
•  Quality control,
•  Research
•  What happens to the results of
your labs work?
•  Who benefits from it?
•  How would the project you are
considering improve your labs
operations, and
•  how would it help those who use
the results?

•  What are the processes used to accomplish that
purpose?
•  How does it acquire data and information?
•  How is it analyzed?
Are they:
•  Manually implemented,
•  Semi-automated, or,
•  Fully automated?

purpose?
•  How is the data/information managed?

purpose?
•  How are workflows managed?

purpose?
•  How are the work results reported?

purpose?
•  How are the work results reported?
•  How is the labs k/i/d integrated with corporate/
organizational knowledge & intellectual property?

Why are you making
the investments?
LIMS
ELN
Sam.
Prep
SDMSIDS
LES
•  Avoid new hires
•  Improve data / information quality
•  Help meet regulatory requirements
•  Streamline lab operations
•  Higher productivity
•  More samples per hour or person
•  Faster research
•  Reducing paperwork
•  Better information/knowledge
management
•  More effective integration with internal/
external groups
•  Improve you ability to work with lab
information/knowledge

Some of the investment will be for
“infrastructure” - providing a foundation for
the transition from largely manual operations
to a computer-controlled, computer-assisted,
and scientific manufacturing / production
facility.
This is similar to other settings where
productivity gains were made after the
transition from manual to automated
operations.
The extent of this investment will depend
upon the technological maturity of your group
and the resources available to them.
LIMS
ELN
Sam.
Prep
SDMSIDS
LES
Streamlining Lab Operations

LIMS
ELN
Sam.
Prep
SDMSIDS
LES

Computer-Controlled
Experiments

Computer-Controlled
Experiments
Sample
Preparation
Sample
Introduction
Instrument
Data Acquisition
Control / Response

Streamlining Lab Operations - Benefits
Computer-
Controlled
Experiments
•  Productivity
•  potentially faster throughput,
•  24/7 operations for fully automated systems
•  Better quality data
•  Lower variability for duplicates
•  Better control over processes
•  For fully-automated systems, the ability to integrate
downstream data entry (via instrument data
systems)

Streamlining Lab Operations - Concerns
Computer-
Controlled
Experiments
Manual
Semi-automated
Fully-automated
Some
process
variation
Potential for
Significant
process
variation

Computer-Assisted
Laboratory Work
•  LIMS
•  ELN
•  SDMS
•  LES
•  Document Management
•  Lab Office Applications

Streamlining Lab Operations - Benefits
Computer-
Assisted Lab
Work
•  Productivity
•  Less administrative work
•  Automatic reporting &
processing
•  Faster access to results
•  Facilitates analysis, searching,
etc.
•  Better results and information
management

Scientific Manufacturing /
Production
LIMS
ELN
Sam.
Prep
SDMSIDS
LES

Streamlining Lab Operations:
Production

Production
Microplate
Autosampler
Vial

Production

Production - Benefits
•  Benefits of computer-controlled
and computer-assisted work
•  Improved data quality
•  Streamlining lab operations with
attendant return on investing
•  Effective management of lab
results, data and information
•  Ability to integrate lab results
with other organizations

Return on
Investment
LIMS
ELN
Sam.
Prep
SDMSIDS
LES

The
Results
From
Investments in
Laboratory
Technologies

•  Introducing lab informatics &
their application
•  Return On Investment
•  Keys to successful
implementations
•  Choosing the right system
components
•  Minimizing risks
•  Support requirements
•  Regulatory issues
•  Future developments
•  Education
•  Technology Planning,
Utilization, and Management

If there are any topics you’d like
covered in future presentations,
let me know at the email address
below… •  Keys to Successful
Implementations
•  Return on
Investment

ROI Lab Automation Systems

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