LIMS – Laboratory Information Management System

A LIMS or Laboratory Information Management System is a software application that automates, enforces, and tracks laboratory processes, manages resources, and seamlessly integrates the components of a quality system. In this way LIMS dramatically improves laboratory productivity and efficiency and the performance of the entire quality chain. As a result, lab managers who implement BlazeLIMS say they could not run their labs without it.

Consider what happens in your laboratory when you process a sample through your workflow. All along the way you are bringing information and resources to bear in order to effectively complete each step in the workflow. In addition, hidden under the covers there is a lot of complexity, and many things can go wrong. Without a LIMS, there are islands of automation for individual elements of the process provided by tools such as Office. Humans provide the glue that fastens them all together, often via tedious error-prone manual tasks. With BlazeLIMS automation, the process is streamlined and error proofed.

A LIMS tracks, directs and automates the life cycle of a sample from its origins in a quote, PO, testing request, schedule, or sample arrival in the lab, through preparation, analysis, approval, release, reporting, and invoicing. Throughout this process, resources such as personnel, reagents and standards, instruments, documents, product standards, and methods are provided, managed, and verified for suitability and brought into the process when needed. LIMS flags off spec events at the earliest possible moment, reports them, and may trigger a CAPA follow up. It delivers real time information on backlog, statuses, required actions and more and makes it available for query and analysis. In this way, a LIMS streamlines, prevents dead time and errors, and delivers a smoothly functioning repeatable operation. BlazeLIMS has the broad and deep COTS features to cover this waterfront of lab operation.

Depending on many factors, a particular lab will employ significant variations on the use of the LIMS functions . The supplier or user must configure and/or customize them for use as desired. Learn more.

• Configuration – filling out forms that specify how the LIMS functions are to operate. Examples would define the details of analytical methods, instruments, reagents, standards, products, customers, and more. When configuration alone can provide a good fit to your lab operation, it is vastly more preferable over customization, assuring lower initial and life cycle costs and long term maintainability. Software upgrades automatically carry forward configuration with no manual intervention.
• Customization – expanding the LIMS functions by additional programming to produce a one-of-a-kind code base. Customization requires execution of the complete software development life cycle, and is inherently costly, both initially and long term in maintaining the system. Software upgrades require programming effort to carry forward customization.
• A significant area of interest involves reports, which must have specific and unique layouts and contents for each lab to be effective. Use of a commercial report generator such as Crystal Reports or Excel can produce reports without custom programming.

To be successful and cost effective, a LIMS must have wide and deep COTS features that can be configured to work well in a wide variety of labs without customization, both for an initial installation and for future expansion of use. Furthermore, it should be integrated with a commercial report generator and provide features to insure that reports are carried forward into upgrades without intervention. BlazeLIMS is automating a wide variety of laboratories without costly customization.

In evaluating a LIMS, it is important to emphasize several characteristics which are critical to a successful implementation, and which insure a long lifetime without being hemmed in by limitations.

• Broad and deep COTS functionality to allow easy configuration to meet specific lab needs without costly customization. A broad LIMS manages all the important resources and processes involved in effective lab operation. A deep LIMS provides a rich set of functions within each of the broad categories of coverage, so that the the user may configure the best solution for any lab.
• Seamless integration of lab processes and the resources needed to function effectively is critical to maximize benefits. Evaluate how effectively the internal LIMS components work together and the capability of integrating with other systems, both custom and commercial, all without costly customization.
• Reports are a critical component in making a LIMS work well. They are the one feature of a LIMS most requiring a unique and effective fit to a particular lab. In addition they are the one element most difficult to scope out in a LIMS project. In order to address this challenge with low costs, a LIMS should be integrated with user level report tools such as Crystal Reports, Excel and Word, have a rich library of “starting point” reports that can be easily enhanced for a particular lab, and a system to manage the enhancements so that they are traceable and move without effort during upgrades.
• Take into account the reality that once implemented, a LIMS system is not easily replaced. It pays to insure extensibility into areas not included in the original project scope, but show promise for future lab optimization.
• Be sure the supplier customizes the training to the actual application in your lab, and personalizes assistance in configuration to make the system both functional and usable within the environment of your enterprise. This assistance should be based on the documented workflow and information flow of your lab.

Labs may be categorized by Industry and Function. Effective application of LIMS to a particular industry and function requires capabilities that are shared across these domains, but also may be specialized to a particular subset.  Learn more about the power of BlazeLIMS as configured for your lab by following the links in this list.

Recent expansions in licensing and hosting offerings have lowered barriers to installing LIMS, especially for smaller laboratories and companies. Licensing may be by perpetual (one-time) payment, or by SaaS (Software as a Service) periodic payments. Hosting may be on customer IT infrastructure, or in the cloud (e.g. Amazon Web Services). Blaze Systems allows each lab to mix and match options to best suit their circumstances.

This process can be contrasted with the traditional approach of developing a detailed specification, often requiring costly consultants, passing a spec over the wall for an itemized response and demo, followed by a “train and disappear” implementation. This process not only is impractical for the small to medium lab / enterprise, it is prone to failure to achieve the in-depth joint understanding and vetting necessary to success.

First of all, BlazeLIMS pricing for both software and services is almost always within the region of affordability for even the smaller lab, whereas most other LIMS in the same category of capability are not.  In addition, the alternative delivery as a SaaS and/or cloud hosted installation can enhance affordability for today.  This table illustrates typical pricing:

Concurrent Users    One-Time Licensing      SaaS Monthly   SaaS + Hosting

3                                      $12,000                                $512                      $1,512

5                                      $19,400                                $830                      $1,830

10                                     $37,000                              $1,580                     $2,580

Considering the lab/enterprise wide benefits of BlazeLIMS, the SaaS cost of $28 a day for 5 concurrent users presents a compelling cost/benefits picture.