· Author: Third Wave Analytics

Lockbox Lab Inventory Management Applications and Uses

Summary

Lockbox Lab Inventory Management is very versatile and can be used for an infinite variety of applications. We discuss some of these applications below. Lockbox Lab Inventory Management eliminates many common pain points in managing inventory in a laboratory. Many different types of laboratories use Lockbox LIMSTM. Below we highlight Inventory Management use cases for some types of laboratories. This is not an exhaustive list. If you have a unique use case that you think Lockbox Inventory Management features would support, we’d love to work with you to implement a solution.

Key Use Cases

  • Academic Research Laboratories that need an effective way to organize a variety of items
  • Biobanking Labs that need to monitor their liquid nitrogen levels and usage
  • Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Labs that need the ability to track and store primers and gene products from cloning procedures
  • Clinical Laboratories performing diagnostic testing 
  • Core Labs handling items and inventory for a wide variety of protocols, procedures, and lab tasks
  • Environmental and Field Research Labs that work in multi-site and remote locations
  • Next Generation Sequencing Labs (NGS) using temperature-sensitive kits and kit components for library preparation and sequencing runs
  • Government and Regulatory Labs that must adhere to stringent regulations
  • Manufacturing and QC Labs that need to track available, reserved, and consumed raw materials and products produced from SOPs

Applications and Use Cases

Academic Research Laboratories

Academic research laboratories handle a wide variety of items, including chemicals, reagents, and consumables. Effective lab inventory management is essential for academic research labs to ensure that resources are available when needed, while preventing overstocking. Utilizing Lockbox Lab Inventory Management automates many inventory management administrative tasks, such as counting consumables and reagents and inventory reconciliation. This saves time and money in a busy research environment.

Inventory Tracking for Reagents and Lab Supplies

Many Biobanking labs need to monitor their current liquid nitrogen levels and usage to ensure an adequate supply is always available for shipping and receiving samples. Using Lockbox Inventory Management, lab staff can easily see when liquid nitrogen was ordered and track the expected delivery date. In laboratories where many different departments use the same resources, departments can generate internal orders to reserve materials for use in their tests.

Real-Time Inventory Tracking

Some biotechnology labs need the ability to track and store primers and gene products from cloning procedures for use in subsequent protocols. Using Lockbox Inventory Management, users can create inventory after running a protocol. The created inventory can then be used in other procedures by other technicians in the laboratory. The connection between Lockbox Inventory Management and the Lockbox LIMS Storage module enables users to manage the storage of the created inventory in a specific location. The next lab staff member who needs to use the inventory can easily find the location of the inventory in Lockbox LIMS.

Clinical Laboratories

Clinical laboratories performing diagnostic testing must ensure they always have the items needed to perform their assays and tests. By utilizing Lockbox Inventory Management, users in a clinical laboratory always know which items are sufficiently stocked, expiring soon, or needing reordering. Lockbox Inventory Management supports the regulatory standards, CAP/CLIA certification, and audit needs of a clinical laboratory.

Core Labs

Core laboratories handle items and inventory for a wide variety of protocols, procedures, and lab tasks. Lockbox Inventory Management helps Core Labs organize their material needs by protocol and workflow. Users can see what items are needed for each protocol and can reserve inventory to ensure it will be available to perform their tasks. If multiple users require the same reagents, Lockbox Inventory Management enables users to identify team members who have reserved the current inventory and flag the item for reorder if the remaining inventory is inadequate for their upcoming experiment. Lab Managers can review existing stock levels and reserve reagents for upcoming projects to meet the turnaround time (TAT) and deliver the project on time and within budget.

Environmental and Field Research Labs

Field research frequently involves remote locations and teams working across multiple sites. Using Lockbox Inventory Management in field research laboratories centralizes the management of resources, allowing for efficient coordination and distribution of equipment and supplies. Remote and multi-site access of Lockbox Inventory Management enables users to collaborate and access inventory in real-time from anywhere in the world using a desktop, smartphone, or tablet (android or iOS). This ensures that necessary items are available where and when they are needed.

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) Labs

NGS laboratories utilize many expensive temperature-sensitive kits and kit components for library preparation and sequencing runs. The kit components have different temperature storage requirements, which results in the kits being split and the components stored in different locations. Lockbox Inventory Management uses batch items to track kits and kit components. When protocol and procedure execution are configured in Lockbox LIMS to consume inventory, Lockbox Inventory Management will search and find all kit components’ locations and recommend that the user use the components with the nearest expiration date.

Government and Regulatory Labs

Government and regulatory laboratories often must adhere to stringent regulations and compliance standards. Utilizing Lockbox Inventory Management in these settings enables laboratories to maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all items, inventory, and materials. Moreover, the audit trail provides historical data related to the inventory and allows users to quickly identify the last user who handled the reagents. This is crucial for audits, inspections, and compliance. The information stored in Lockbox Inventory Management is secure and traceable. You can quickly and easily determine when inventory was used and by whom.

Manufacturing and QC Labs

QC laboratories use Lockbox Inventory Management to track available, reserved, and consumed raw materials. Lockbox LIMS has built-in automation for the creation of raw material records upon the completion of a protocol. Lockbox Inventory Management captures the lot numbers, barcodes, and expiration dates of consumables and reagents. Lockbox Inventory management supports regulatory compliance and CAP/CLIA certification.

Conclusion

Lockbox Inventory Management offers a comprehensive solution tailored to meet the diverse needs of any modern laboratory. The applications and use cases are endless. The seamless integration with Lockbox LIMS and Lockbox QMS enhances efficiency in inventory management across all laboratory types. The flexibility and customization options of Lockbox Inventory Management empower labs to improve resource allocation and maintain regulatory compliance.

Ready to embrace the power of the Lockbox family of products and take another step toward lab digitization? Contact us to book a demo and discuss implementing Lockbox Inventory Management and other Lockbox products in your laboratory. Contact your Engagement Director to add Inventory Management to your existing Lockbox LIMS or Lockbox QMS if you already use a Lockbox product.