Business requirements
As well as the progressive introduction of information technology in laboratories, another significant change has been the way in which the lab is managed. Business principles have largely replaced traditional scientific principles. Te outcomes of laboratory work are expected to be achieved with increasing efficiency, lower costs and in shorter time frames. Te combination of business-oriented science, legal compliance, regulatory compliance, corporate governance and health and safety regulations has meant that it is not unusual to find scientists feeling overwhelmed with performance targets, measures and bureaucracy rather than engaging in scientific debate. Nevertheless, the combination of
information technology and modern business practices are responsible for delivering significant increases in laboratory efficiency and productivity, yet somehow there still seems to be a level of expectation that information technology could do far more. In addition, if the technology is not right, there is a tendency for scientists to want to fix it, or find workarounds, and this can become a significant distraction from their scientific objectives. Te basic goal in deploying laboratory
informatics systems is to bring about improvements in productivity and
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business efficiency. In order to maximise the benefits, it is important to take into consideration the wider laboratory and business processes that may be impacted by the new system. It is easy to fall into the trap of just ‘computerising’ an existing laboratory function, rather than looking at the broader benefits that may be accrued by re-engineering a business process. Te use of tools such as Six Sigma and Lean can help considerably in this instance. It is prudent to be careful with the use
of these tools, however, depending on the nature of the lab. For example, high throughput, routine, testing laboratories, which basically follow SOPs (standard operating procedures), are more receptive to process improvement, while discovery and research laboratories, which are less structured and are dependent on more diverse and uncontrolled processes, are far less likely to benefit from formal process re-engineering. Productivity and business efficiency
are usually measured in financial terms, although this may be translated into time savings or, in some cases, numbers of tests, samples, experiments, etc., in unit time. It is necessary to be able to quote before and aſter figures for any deployment project, so establishing a baseline metric is an
important early step in the project and can contribute significantly to the project justification.
Costs/return on investment
Any organisation considering the implementation of a new informatics or automation system will want to investigate the return on investment or cost/benefit. Tis is usually extremely difficult to do since most of the projected benefits will be based on a certain amount of speculation and faith. However, there are some important points to consider in building the cost/benefit case. In the case of most lab informatics tools,
the costs associated with managing paper- based processes (e.g. notebooks, worksheets, etc.) through their full lifecycle are not always fully visible or understood. Apart from the material costs and the costs of the archive process, there is a hidden cost – whilst notebooks are in the possession of laboratory scientists, for example. Te time taken in writing by hand, cutting, pasting, transcription and generally manipulating paper, as well as approval and witnessing processes, all contribute to this hidden cost. It is normal in building the cost/benefit equation to look at how much of a scientist’s
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