Choosing the Ideal Laboratory Label Printer for Lockbox LIMS
Most labs don’t have a day go by without labeling a tube or hundreds or thousands of tubes.
However, many labs still don’t have a laboratory information management system (LIMS) that works seamlessly to help lab professionals manage sample tracking and print labels for those tubes.
When laboratories first consider how much time and effort can be saved by implementing a next-generation LIMS, they are surprised to find that Lockbox LIMS is one of the only systems with specific guidelines for labeling samples – and has an easy way to print sample labels.
Lockbox is also compatible with many lab printers, including specific printers we’ve tested and highly recommend. We will dive into the details so you can select the perfect laboratory label printer.
Printing Labels: The Best Printers for the Modern Lab
Zebra Printers
Lockbox works with Zebra printers, supporting printing labels to Zebra printers via the Zebra Savanna Cloud or USB. In either scenario, Lockbox easily connects to Zebra printers for seamless label creation.
Zebra printers work with any label, including LabTag labels. Labs can use automated label printing, dynamic templates, and print to multiple printers within Lockbox using the Zebra Designer tool for creating label templates.
Our favorite Zebra printer is the ZD621 because of its versatility in the lab environment.
Lockbox LIMS can also print to any Zebra network-connected printer that’s LinkOS compatible (please see Zebra printer support pages for LinkOS compatible printers).
Lockbox supports label creation and printing via the cloud for labs that manage protected health information (PHI).
If you require assistance building zebra printer label templates, Third Wave Analytics can tailor these for a specific lab environment and integrate label printing into existing lab workflows.
Dymo Printers
Lockbox LIMS also works with all Dymo printers with StickIt, an app from the Salesforce AppExchange.
StickIt easily enables printing from Lockbox to a local printer.
We’ve also found that Dymo’s 400 printer series is a Lockbox customer fan favorite since it can print labels from a wide range of options from different label vendors. However, the Dymo 400 series printers are hard to find now since Dymo introduced its 500 series printers. (Dymo 500 series printers only work with Dymo labels).
The other catch is that Dymo doesn’t have labels compatible with more unique lab use cases, including cryo, chemical, and autoclave use cases.
Printing Different Types of Labels
Anything text-based can be printed from Lockbox LIMS, including barcodes and QR codes. See our label guide for label format and information recommendations.
Using Lockbox for labs with Zebra printers, you can print to almost any label. Also, any label size from Dymo printers can be printed from Lockbox for labs with Dymo printers.
Additional Printers
While Zebra and Dymo printers work best with Lockbox LIMS, you can also use other lab printers.
We recommend using Seagull Scientific’s Bartender Automation if you don’t use Zebra or Dymo printers because it allows you to print to more than 10,000 different printer models. Bartender can also reside on your laboratory network if you have stringent lab data security requirements.
While Bartender Automation doesn’t automatically communicate directly to Lockbox, CSV files are prepared in Lockbox with all label content and then transferred to Bartender via a shared folder on your network.
The Bartender Automation Builder monitors your shared folder for new files and starts a print job whenever it detects a file. The file location is checked every five seconds, making printing almost instantaneous. The only drawback to using Bartender to print is that you can’t see a preview of your labels before printing.
For Labs That Don’t Wish to Integrate Lockbox with a Printer
You can manually export your lab’s CSV files and print labels separately if you don’t want to integrate a printer with Lockbox. This is a viable solution for laboratories that don’t want to purchase Bartender to print labels – or labs that don’t regularly print labels.
To learn more about lab printer options for Lockbox LIMS, contact us today.