An Effective Lab Operations Program Will Make You More Fundable

Your primary goal as a Life Sciences company is to conduct the necessary scientific research to develop innovative products that enhance people’s lives. However, creating therapies is a challenging and costly endeavor, and obtaining funding can be equally difficult. Investors consider a range of factors when deciding which businesses to invest in. Therefore, it is essential to demonstrate not only the quality of your science but also your ability to run a well-managed operation.

Watch Taylor Moyer, Flagship’s VP of Lab Services Solutions, deliver a presentation on how to optimize lab operations to maximize efficiency and attract investors at BIO International Convention 2023.

Understanding Your Lab Operations

The Challenges of Lab Structure and Wasted Spend

In many labs, a lack of structure and poor inventory management leads to a cycle of panic buying, rushed processes, and fear-based decision-making. This approach often results in wasted spending, which is unsustainable, particularly in the initial stages of your business. Frequently, the defense for this lack of process is that “there can be no interruption to science.” While interruptions must be minimized, implementing effective processes and structure can save time and money in the long run.

Benefits of Implementing Structure and Process

Equipment Management: Optimizing Resources and Planning for the Future

Comprehensive Inventory Management

Managing All Equipment, Not Just Capital Assets

In many cases, the Finance department oversees the tracking of capital assets, as there is a business aspect to managing them. Unfortunately, this approach often results in only high-value items being accounted for –typically those surpassing a threshold of $5,000 or $10,000. However, labs consist of numerous equipment pieces, and it is crucial to manage and account for all of them to ensure uninterrupted scientific processes.

• Include in your inventory program any equipment that you would repair if broken.
• Obtain a comprehensive overview of your equipment at a glance.
• Prevent unnecessary duplicate orders.
• Evaluate future maintenance needs and equipment requirements.

Tracking Services and Budgeting for Replacement

Avoiding Costly Mistakes and Optimizing Spending

Upon reviewing our customers’ equipment service spending patterns, we often find excessive reliance on service contracts, needlessly costing them tens of thousands of dollars. Conversely, critical equipment is sometimes left uncovered, leading to downtime. Both scenarios are costly mistakes that can be easily rectified with the implementation of a basic equipment management program.

• Evaluate individual equipment based on repair history, ease of repair, alternatives, and scientific importance.
• Avoid unnecessary gold-level service contracts.
• Prevent downtime by covering critical equipment.

Streamlining Relocation and Expansion

Cost Savings and Future Planning

By establishing an equipment management program early on, you can avoid issues, save money over time, and understand when to replace old equipment and the associated costs of expanding or replicating your lab space.

• Estimate the cost of doubling your TC throughput capabilities.
• Evaluate spending requests for redundancy, cost efficiency, and potential waste.
• Plan and present future spending projections to investors.

Inventory Management: Streamlining Processes

Science requires an exorbitant supply of consumable materials, which is an incredibly costly component of running a research organization. While many of the required materials are project specific, many others can be organized into an inventory program to immediately show cost savings and return scientists’ focus to the bench instead of finding and ordering materials.

Time after time we see organizations with no inventory program in place, which leads to the hemorrhaging of money unnecessarily. It is common to see situations where everyone orders for themselves and/or a few designated people “keep an eye out” and order commonly used items. If this is how you are “managing” your inventory, you are spending too much.

Simplify and Optimize

Inventory does not have to be complicated. Flagship Lab Services offers comprehensive vendor managed inventory solutions, but we also work with our start-up and smaller customers to implement a basic inventory program that will:

• Organize your process.
• Eliminate costly items expiring on the shelves.
• Dramatically reduce your rush shipping spend.
• Ensure you do not unnecessarily spend money by stocking too much.
• Give your scientists the peace of mind and time to focus on their research.

By implementing a basic inventory program, you will demonstrate to investors that you are running an effective and efficient business, prioritizing the optimal use of funds.

Key Features of a Basic Inventory Program

By organizing your inventory locations, scientists can quickly access necessary items, generate reorder lists, and focus on their research. Through careful evaluation of your ordering patterns, a lab services partner can help optimize vendor selection and consolidate orders to maximize cost savings and minimize shipping expenses. Building trust in the program will reduce hoarding behaviors and prevent costly items from expiring on the shelves. A lab services partner can also assist in identifying alternative part numbers or suppliers for critical items to ensure uninterrupted supply.

Chemical Inventory Management

It is critically important to include your chemicals in your inventory management programs. In addition to managing quantities, a lab services chemical inventory program should also offer:

• SDS Library: access to Safety Data Sheets (SDS) for all materials
• Cradle-to-Grave Workflows: support for comprehensive workflows for facilities of any complexity
• Compliance: adherence to city, county, and other applicable codes to maintain safety and regulatory standards

Make sure you always comply with relevant regulations and avoid improper storage practices
(e.g., stacking 4x4L reagents in the corner).

Purchasing: Establish Efficient Processes and Control Costs

Implementing an Inventory Program

Streamlined Purchasing Program

By implementing a purchasing program that works together with your inventory program, you can:

• Create a streamlined process for ordering items into your lab.
• Obtain the best price possible for your purchases.

Your lab support partner will work with you to:

• Create a simple requisition process for ordering items/services.
• Aggregate, review, and place orders.
• Evaluate requests to avoid unnecessary spending and overstocking.
• Collaborate with scientists to understand lead times, needs, and project timelines.

It is crucial to manage the process of receiving ordered materials to ensure efficient invoice processing and issue troubleshooting, which demonstrates effective organizational management to investors.

Summary

If you want to advance your science, then you must establish the necessary structure and foundation for success. Partnering with lab services vendors with specific expertise and services will provide your investors with peace of mind while supporting the flexibility and responsiveness required for creative and innovative science.

Key Areas for Improvement

Download our Lab Operations Checklist! The same one we use to save our clients time and money!