As a scientist or lab manager, you may find yourself at a crossroads. Should you migrate to an automated solution? When is the right time to automate your lab? For some, the decision to adopt automated workflows may be straightforward given their organization’s strategic plan, requirements, and productivity goals.
On the other hand, others may find the decision pathway more difficult. The reality is that most scientists aren’t trained in the realm of automation. Most scientific learning is still conducted via textbooks and university labs with manual workflows. There’s nothing wrong with this type of traditional learning, but it creates a gap once the burgeoning scientist enters a production environment.
In today’s modern lab, science, automation, and data systems are all interconnected. And with events such as the COVID-19 pandemic continuing to impact scientists and their access to their labs, the case for automated workflows gets stronger and stronger. We anticipate that, in a short time, most life science companies will rely on automation to further their discovery capabilities.
When you consider embarking on a lab automation project, it helps to consider the impact that the automated system could have on you as well as your science, colleagues, and overall organization. This input will help to guide your decisions regarding the type and quality of lab automation that is right for you.
Here are a few impacts that you can expect from an automated workflow system.
Unlike humans, automated systems do not take breaks or personal time off. These systems are immune from the effects of stress, fatigue, or distractions. And they don’t go home at the end of each day and workweek. In fact, the relentless nature of an automated workflow provides you with a potential gain in productivity that may significantly enhance or accelerate your scientific discovery.
For example, one customer recently deployed their personalized Nucleus systems into production following site acceptance test (SAT) sign-off. They processed 3,500,000 samples in the first month alone, equating to a 213% production increase over their previous automated methods!
The right automated workflow, including hardware and software, should allow you to process multiple protocols simultaneously. Using Cellario whole lab automation software, users can quickly and easily edit or design workflows, place and link sample processing orders for continuous processing, and schedule the processing, even after normal business hours and on weekends or holidays.
As a case in point, a valued HighRes customer is simultaneously running 3-5 assays, with 12-15 microplate throughput, on their Nucleus system. With this capability, the customer can view multiple data sets and make better decisions each day, resulting in better data for faster decisions compared to manual or semi-automated methods.
Parallel processing, at your desired timeframe or interval, potentially decreases your intended therapy’s development time so your organization can launch the therapy quickly, and perhaps ahead of your competition.
Imagine being able to set up your sample processing such that the resulting data is ready to be reviewed when you arrive at work in the morning. A Nucleus automation infrastructure with Cellario whole lab automation software makes this possible.
Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, you can design an elegant, automated workflow to process samples at any time; including days, nights, or weekends. This helps to maximize productivity. And the data is ready for viewing at your convenience.
Automation can capture metadata and scientific and event-based data, as samples are processed. In addition to aiding deterministic decisions on next workflow steps, this helps you to develop better insights and make better decisions compared to manual methods.
For instance, a HighRes customer uses Cellario to gather event-based data from their Nucleus automated system. This helps them to gauge performance of the devices in the system and to determine when to schedule preventative maintenance.
With today’s ultra-sensitive instruments and finely tuned assay chemistries, even the slightest variation in processing performance can negatively impact downstream results. This is a huge risk in manual workflows as lab techniques vary between individuals and even within a single individual over the course of a given day.
On the other hand, an automated workflow helps to eliminate human variability. This ensures that experimental conditions and processing performance are precisely and accurately maintained across all samples within a given workflow and over subsequent time periods.
It’s common to use sample data output from one protocol as the data input for another protocol. Automation software, like Cellario, harmonizes this process by giving scientists the ability to stage experiments in automated queues to minimize downtime between experiments while ensuring the consistency of processing between microplates.
Simultaneously, this software platform makes sample streaming simple across the entirety of your workflow.
Two types of waste are eliminated in an automated workflow.
The first is related to consumable, reagent, and sample consumption. An automated system enables assay miniaturization, where fewer reagent and sample quantities are used. Additionally, the highly precise and repeatable nature of automation means that fewer samples must be reworked due to error or performance bias. This saves costs related to consumables, reagents, and samples.
The second waste eliminated is that of real estate. In a crowded lab, precious space is coveted. Consider densifying the automation footprint by taking advantage of vertical integration. Our Prime automated liquid handler and Nucleus automation infrastructure prominently feature vertical orientation to expand versatility while conserving lab space.
Even if portions or “islands” of the automated workflow are located in separate rooms or on separate floors, our rail-based and mobile sample conveyance tools effectively and safely shuttle samples to the proper location with optimized movement paths to reduce wasted time while conserving the overall system footprint.
These waste prevention measures can save valuable lab space and money.
Your automated Nucleus system is truly a data-generating factory. In fact, these systems can generate terabytes of scientific and event-based data daily. This creates new opportunities to significantly advance scientific development and discovery.
With Cellario automated whole lab software, you benefit from an expansive driver library supporting hundreds of devices from leading manufacturers. The software’s open architecture provides the ability to connect to any laboratory information management system (LIMS), cloud, native data platform, or electronic lab notebook (ELN). This increases productivity and minimizes data casualties.
The shift towards laboratory automation represents a significant advancement in scientific research and productivity. By understanding and embracing these automated systems, we can ensure more efficient, consistent, and innovative outcomes in the world of science, paving the way for groundbreaking discoveries and developments.
Revision: BL-DIG-210122-01_RevC