What is the Expected Impact When Starting a Laboratory Automation Project?
Automating a laboratory is a big step to make. For many lab managers, the decision to jump into an automation project is not one that is easily decided. Most have learned to do their lab work manually, but introducing automation into the lab can have a myriad of benefits that manual lab work just will not be able to match. Here are a few of the benefits that can emerge from lab automation.
Laboratory automation systems increase productivity in a number of ways. For one, automation systems allow for a greater number of experiments to be run at once, without losing the ability to control for different variables. This allows laboratories to use high-quality data, and vast quantities of it. Ultimately, the quantity and quality of data collected by integrated automation can enable laboratories to make faster and better decisions.
Another benefit of automation is the ability to extend a lab’s work hours, without increasing the actual work hours of lab personnel. Laboratory automation systems can be scheduled to start during any time of day or night, and will have results ready for you to view when you arrive in the morning.
Laboratory automation systems allow you to make better decisions through scientific and event-based data, improving your workflow. They will also ensure sample uniformity by eliminating human error and variability, further improving your workflow process.
Integrated automation optimizes much of your lab’s workflow, decreasing your carbon footprint. This, along with the minimization of product waste, is both better for the environment and will save your laboratory space and money.
Automation allows you to stage experiments in automated queues, decreasing the amount of downtime in between experiments. For your lab, this means time saved without sacrificing accuracy and quality.
Laboratory automation systems ultimately gather vast amounts of data and carry out tasks in a way that humans would not be able to do on their own. They can change how this data is gathered and used quicker than a human too. Where a human’s ability to juggle multiple experiments is limited, automation largely eliminates this issue. With automation allowing for more work to be done, a laboratory is afforded much more flexibility.
This flexibility allows a lab to better tackle any future issues that may arise. Laboratory automation, when completed in a way that is deliberate and well-planned, will allow laboratories to quickly pivot to different solutions as needed while ensuring that the quality of work remains high. If you’re ready to begin automating, contact Retisoft, where our team of experts will be at the ready.
