TOP 5 reasons to Invest in New LabVantage LIMS&ELN laboratory data management system

Watch this 10 min video on Laboratory Information and Process Management with LabVantage LIMS & ELN

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This blog post will probably resonate with you, if you have ever thought that data and resource management of your organization’s laboratory or testing functions could be done better than today. Your current situation could well be described in one of the a) b) c) d) examples below.  

a) Paper or Paperless – But Relying on Microsoft, Google etc. General office tools
Your organization’s general tools are used for also managing laboratory data, information, and resources. Result data are entered, modified, calculated, interpreted and reported with Excel (or eg. Google Sheets). Information are shared with Sharepoint/OneDrive (or eg. Google Drive) and/or just with Email. Information are printed on physical papers and folders. Result data are written on temporary sheets or physical lab notebooks. Reports are made with MS Word, result data are copy-pasted manually from various Excel sheets in different locations, searched from physical paper. When number of samples, employees or generally activities are small, and no regulator is watching you, these tools might have been enough. But now you are feeling pressure. Maybe it is that you need to get your lab accredited (or stay so). Maybe just keeping up with regulations difficult. It is time consuming or impossible to find relevant information. It is difficult or impossible to automate any steps of data processing. Even if you are a paperless lab (or close to being that), there is still no clear, real-time, centralized place for all your important information.

b) Out-Of-Date Legacy LIMS (or other information system)
I am not claiming your old LIMS would not work well. It might work surely and well - like old refrigerators from the 1970s or old non-mobile telephones. Sticking to them saves all effort of change resistance in your staff. But alas, going out-of-date is inevitable in this technical world we are living in. Technical environments are changing and updated rapidly and continuously (servers, operating systems, what not). The question is, is the old LIMS compatible anymore? Also, there might unfortunately not be an upgrade path anymore, from a legacy system. The supplier has stopped supporting, let alone developing it. Also, an old LIMS often requires client software or other stuff being installed on the computer that is used to access LIMS. Modern LIMS (such as LabVantage) is truly web-browser-based. From Laboratory operator’s point of view, it is actually “a cloud-based service” even when the database is actually located in your own IT’s cellar. You can enter a modern LIMS system from any computer with cybersafe connection, with your username and password. Also, mobile devices can be used. When considering new LIMS, be sure to pick one that continues to be technically up to date also in the future. Regular updates must be possible, already just from cyber security point of view.

c) Production ERP, general QMS, archiving/document management systems, separate ELN
Your organization thinks laboratory information and resources can be managed well enough with another system, even when they are not dedicated for lab operations. Purchasing and implementing, say the production ERP system, might have been so pricy and laborious, that no further separate information systems are considered for a while. But You, working in real life in the laboratory, have noticed, that functionalities are just not enough to cover what you need to manage. We handle such laboratory workflows and processes in detail in many white papers, one of the most recent ones being this one: https://softwarepoint.com/blog/labvantage-pharma-laakealan-laadunvalvonnan-ja-tutkimuksen-digitalisaation-tukena

d) We do have a modern LIMS, BUT…
Sometimes a LIMS purchase has just gone wrong. Or there is another reason that changing supplier becomes necessary. Even with experienced IT system buyers and experienced laboratory personnel, it is understandable if not every aspect was taken care of in LIMS purchase. You only buy LIMS once or a few times during your worklife. Maybe software support or modifications were needed way more than was planned and budgeted in purchase phase? Maybe this support is not not available, at least not locally available? Or price starts sky-rocketing.

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Above described example scenarios should serve as reasons to why starting to plan investing in a new LIMS, in general.
In the following, I would like to argue, why you should choose Software Point and LabVantage.

Did I mention, that LabVantage is a LIMS system? That means: a dedicated Information Management and Resource Planning system for any Laboratory or Testing type of operations. You use it for saving and managing all data centrally, digitally, safely, traceably (considering regulations such ISO 17025, GxP, ALCOA+). You use it for organizing laboratory work and resources. You will make communication easier and more controlled. You enable visual overviews of laboratory statuses (sample under work vs. total samples, throughput time per lab, what not). You enable automation. You do reporting. You enable Business Intelligence (BI).

#1 Purpose-Built and Configurable LIMS for Specific Needs of Laboratories
1) LabVantage comes in many flavours depending on industry:  
- For HealthCare sector, we have LabVantage Medical Suite: https://softwarepoint.com/labvantage-medical-suite-website
- For Biobanks: https://softwarepoint.com/solutions/biobanking
- For Contract Laboratories (eg. environmental analysis): https://softwarepoint.com/solutions/product/labvantage-express
- Industrial QA/QC and R&D (https://softwarepoint.com/laboratories) labs have common aspects regardless of industry, but also specific features that can and should be taken care of in LIMS. LabVantage have several industry-specific pre-packaged LIMS and accelerators, such as for Pharma/Biotech (https://www.labvantage.com/industry-solutions/pharma-biotech/), Food&Beverages (https://www.labvantage.com/industry-solutions/food-and-beverage/) etc.
LabVantage is in use in many Nordic Public multi-disciplinary lab organizations.
2) LabVantage is configurable, optimizable and extensible – both in implementation phase and later. What laboratory requires now, is not necessarily same what is needed in 5 years. LabVantage is flexible in adapting to changing business or user needs and numbers of users. When we talk about modification/optimization/configuration, we mean sustainable modification.. For that, we use the word ”configuration”: https://www.labvantage.com/is-your-lims-sustainable-why-configuration-is-the-way-to-go-part-i-of-ii/ . In addition configuration, modification can also be done via coding/programming. This is sometimes necessary, tailoring the software very exactly to a specific customer process, but this type of customization has a drawback in view of maintance and version upgrades.

#2 Partnership with Software Point (LabVantage Nordics): 30 years – 100 experts – 500 customers
For LabVantage LIMS implementation, trainings and daily customer support, Software Point has an army of experts in fields of Natural Sciences, Technology, Health Care and of course IT. Software Point celebrates 30 years in February 4th 2022. Number of employees is currently ca. 100 and number of Nordic customers ca. 500. Globally however, there are as many as 50 000 LabVantage LIMS users. Please, check out some of our published customer stories: https://softwarepoint.com/references. Please, do ask for more reference details. Our satisfied customers will be happy to privately share their experiences with you.

#3 Quality and Compliance
Quality is increased when manual errors are reduced. How to best reduce risk for manual errors in laboratory processes? I have another blog text, where I touch Data Integrity and ALCOA+ principle, and generally GMP requirements: https://softwarepoint.com/blog/labvantage-pharma-laakealan-laadunvalvonnan-ja-tutkimuksen-digitalisaation-tukena. Quality systems involving your lab might be something else than GMP related, such as ISO 17025, ISO 15189. LabVantage LIMS will collect result data automatically and traceably from instruments. Several steps can be automated. LabVantage has an electronical method excecution tool, LES (Lab Execution Sheet). These are examples of reducing risk of error.
 
#4 Laboratory processes: More efficient, less bottlenecks
By automating work steps previously done manually, you not only improve quality but also efficiency. Lab resources can be put to more productive tasks than manually entering results, manually browsing and checking through large amounts of data, manually calculating results, or manually writing reports copy-pasting from several data sources. Amount of manual work can even prevent the lab from receiving more orders or severely reduce throughput time from sample receival to results. From the point of view of an Laboratory employer competing for laboratory experts: LabVantage LIMS reduces stress and pressure in the lab -> making your lab more a desired workplace.

#5 Central management of data – removing scattered information in multiple sources
The more result data, method data, calculations, interpretations, reporting etc is maintained in Excel and Word, the more difficult it becomes to manage the whole. Finding the right information from files maintained by another person (even when in shared drive etc) can be time consuming or even impossible. If another laboratory in your organization has done tests and has new results, do the other departments see that in real time? Or is additional communication needed each time (emais etc)? In LabVantage LIMS, all data is in the same database. Colleagues will know in real time what is happening (of course whether a user has given access to see another departments data etc). This kind of centralizing serves towards the idea of digital transformation, that is a current and future trend in laboratories.

If you reached this point of my text, I am quite sure you are ok to read a couple of more points ; - )
(For blog posts title purposes, TOP 5 is more catchy than TOP too much)

#6 Organizing Resources Centrally
In addition to managing data (or information), laboratory operations also involve a huge amount of resources that need to managed too. Why not manage that with the same IT system (read: LabVantage)? With resources, I mean:
- employees and their trainings / competence management (eg. per method)
- measurement devices / instruments and their calibrations
- storages for not only samples but chemicals, reagents, buffer solutions, agar plates, GC columns, gloves…
With LabVantage, you can control all resources. You make organized, scheduled and correctly allocated work lists – per employee, per test method, per instrument. You have up-to-date register of all you have, where they are, how much is left, is it valid etc.

#7 Investment vs. CapEx – To Cloud or not to Cloud - etc?
LabVantage and Software Point offer several different ways to purchase LIMS. Licenses can be purchased perpetually as an investment, or they can be paid by subscription (monthly or yearly payment). LabVantage can be installed in organization’s own or outsourced IT environment (this is called ”On-Premise deployment”). NOTE: From LIMS user point of view, even such ”On-Premise” is exactly like a ”Cloud based service”. User navigates to LabVantage LIMS with regular web browser (of course with encrypted and safe connections), logs in with username and password. Nothing LIMS related is needed to install in such PC workstation. In case there is no IT infrastructure insourced or outsourced that could be used for LIMS yet, and there is no plan to have such, LabVantage can be subscribed as a SaaS with full technical responsibility on vendor side.

#8 LabVantage is Constantly developed and updated, Cyber Secure

#9 With LabVantage functionalities, you truly fulfill laboratory’s all data and resource management needs