A successful lab automation project doesn't happen by accident—it's carefully designed to create a system that works seamlessly for your science, your team, and your evolving goals. Whether you're a scientist taking your first steps into automation, an expert building the lab of the future, or a manager ensuring ROI on your investment, you need more than equipment or experience. You need a blueprint.
At HighRes Biosolutions, we've spent over 20 years designing and deploying lab automation systems. We understand that every lab is unique, which is why we offer flexible solutions to meet you wherever you are in your automation journey, from fully turnkey systems to our new Build Your Own Work Cell offering, where you can leverage our proven hardware platform and expertise while maintaining control over your implementation.
Whether you're self-deploying with our Build Your Own Work Cell solution or partnering with us for full-service integration, the principles of successful automation remain the same.
In this guide, we're sharing our proven framework for transforming complex project requirements into user-friendly, productive, and future-proof work cells, so you can make informed decisions that set your project up for long-term success.
Before selecting tools and designing workflows, establish the right foundation with clear roles, expectations, and goals. Getting this right can make or break your automation project.
Every successful automation project starts with clarity around how each stakeholder contributes:
Product Owners (often end users) ensure the final implementation delivers what's needed to execute the science. They're the ones who will live with the work cell day-to-day, so their practical insights are invaluable.
Project Owners keep things on track by managing timelines, communications, and critical actions. They often serve as the bridge between end-users and senior management.
Key Stakeholders such as facilities managers, procurement leads, and executive sponsors care about alignment with business objectives, progress toward strategic goals, and return on investment.
Depending on your project's size and scope, one person may wear multiple hats. But recognizing these distinct roles and understanding each other's priorities is essential for success.
Lab automation projects require standard metrics like cost, timeline, throughput, and utilization. However, automation projects uniquely demand that you consider two types of costs in tandem:
Implementation costs include initial capital expenses and upfront costs for planning, purchasing, and deploying the work cell.
Operational costs encompass the long-term expenses to run, maintain, and evolve your automation over its lifetime.
Balancing these costs is critical, especially when weighing time-to-deployment against time-to-productivity and the longevity of that productivity.
At HighRes, we've seen other automation providers promise lower costs or faster delivery, only to deliver systems that require expensive rework or rebuilding to meet the original project needs. We've also observed over-reliance on a single individual's or small team's knowledge, creating significantly higher operational costs long-term. This risk is particularly common in DIY-focused or hybrid project approaches. When too much of your system's success depends on one person's customizations or "tribal knowledge," the solution's sustainability is at risk.
Key questions to mitigate these risks:
Whether you're setting up automation in a new lab or integrating into an existing space, thorough preparation ensures smooth installation.
At HighRes, we systematically review these critical areas:
Space Constraints:
Floor Requirements:
Utilities Planning:
Remember: preparing your lab for automation is rarely a one-and-done task. It's an iterative process that evolves alongside your system design. Revisit these site details regularly throughout your project to ensure the space, utilities, and workflows remain aligned.
Safety must be integrated from day one when designing and deploying an automated work cell. Engage your EHS team or site-specific safety group early in the design phase so they can review the layout, identify unique hazards, and confirm that all local, corporate, and regulatory requirements are addressed.
HighRes takes a comprehensive approach to designing, building, and deploying safe systems. Before any system build begins—and before our customers sign off on a design—the system must pass through a rigorous process of design review and approval.
Critical safety areas to address:
Standards, Regulatory Compliance, and Certification
Risk Assessment
Safety Architecture and Safe Operation
Your documentation needs will vary depending on whether you're self-deploying, partnering with an automation supplier, or using a self-deployed (or hybrid) approach. At HighRes, we provide these key documents to guide successful design reviews, installation, and end-user operations:
Keeping work cell documentation organized and current not only streamlines approvals and implementation but also ensures smooth handover to operations and ongoing support.
At HighRes, we partner closely with your team to ensure every detail (from facilities constraints and utilities to safety and documentation) is fully understood, verified, and integrated throughout the project. Our goal is to keep the process smooth and collaborative so your lab is fully ready when it's time to bring your work cell to life.
Now for the most important part: the automation itself!
Your approach will depend on where you are in your automation journey:
If you know exactly what instruments you want and how they'll perform: We'll focus on integration logistics, ensuring seamless communication between instruments and optimizing the physical layout for your workflow.
If your science changes frequently and you need protocol-level flexibility: We'll prioritize instrument capability and application versatility, identifying potential bottlenecks and planning for evolving workflows without major hardware changes.
If you have specific throughput objectives: We'll conduct assay simulations, model cycle times, and optimize instrument selection and scheduling to meet your productivity targets.
If you're unsure of the best approach: We'll work with you to evaluate every facet of success—from assay simulations and instrument selection to software integration, protocol development, and throughput modeling.
Integration Planning:
User Experience:
Robots
Instruments
Automation Infrastructure
Electrical, Pneumatics, and Communications
Standardization and Modularity: Design for sustainability by using common components and interfaces that simplify maintenance, training, and future expansion.
Ergonomics and Organization: Create user-focused designs that minimize physical strain, reduce cognitive load, and make daily operations intuitive.
Workflow and Space Optimization: Think holistically about how scientists will interact with the system, from sample prep through data collection.
Serviceability and Maintenance: Ensure laboratory staff can access critical components with efficient diagnostics.
Upgrades and Expansions: Build with the future in mind. Ensure your solutions can evolve and think about anticipated future growth.
These aren't just aspirational principles. they're the foundation of every work cell we build. HighRes Biosolutions has spent decades refining automation solutions that don't just meet these design criteria, but exceed them. Our Nucleus platform and custom systems solutions have all of these elements baked in from the ground up, informed by real-world deployment experience across hundreds of laboratories.
When you work with HighRes, you're not getting a one-off custom build that requires you to navigate these complexities alone. You're getting proven architectures with standardized interfaces, pre-validated instrument integrations, and modular designs that have been battle-tested in production environments. Our work cells incorporate lessons learned from years of optimizing ergonomics, streamlining maintenance access, planning for future expansion, and ensuring that sophisticated automation remains practical and user-friendly for our customers' daily operations.
Whether you need a turnkey, application-ready Nucleus solution or a fully custom system tailored to your unique requirements, our team brings the engineering rigor and practical experience to ensure your automation investment delivers value from day one and continues to adapt as your science evolves.
Even the most thoughtfully designed automation system can stumble during implementation if project risks aren't identified and mitigated early. At HighRes Biosolutions, we've learned through decades of deployments that success isn't just about technical excellence – it's about anticipating where things can go wrong and building safeguards into every phase of the project.
Drawing from our extensive experience delivering custom Nucleus platforms and solutions across diverse laboratory environments, we've developed a comprehensive project risk evaluation framework. Here are the critical areas we consider to ensure your automation investment stays on track, on budget, and delivers the performance you expect:
Don't just take promises at face value. Conduct thorough due diligence:
Performance Track Record:
Holistic Assessment:
Download this convenient checklist to ensure you've covered all critical elements.
No matter where you are in your automation journey, HighRes Biosolutions is here to help. Our team brings decades of experience designing work cells that don't just meet specifications – they exceed expectations and evolve with your science.
Contact us today to discuss your project →
HighRes Biosolutions: 20+ years of designing, deploying, and perfecting lab automation systems that put your science first.