When Automating, Know Before You Go

When it comes to improving the output and efficiency of your lab, few process changes can create as much of an immediate impact as implementing automation solutions. With that said, it’s always best to fully understand how laboratory automation can benefit your lab so that you can make informed choices and maintain focus through the evaluation process.

Here, we’ve outlined some of the most valuable—and commonly cited—benefits of lab automation.  

#1. Reduced Risk of Errors

The most immediate benefit of lab automation is a significant reduction in errors as well as the potential liability of error. Why?  Because, when it comes to manual processes, humans are bound to introduce variability and even the occasional error. No two people have identical performance techniques in the lab. Even a single individual is bound to perform tasks differently throughout the day and in response to stress, fatigue, or external circumstances.  

With many lab processes requiring thousands of tasks to be performed continually with exact precision, the serious risk of human variability or error is always present.

Automating repetitive tasks, such as liquid transfers, sample handling, and data recording can ensure that data collections are consistent while minimizing the risk of errors. An automated workflow can also decrease the risk of catastrophic errors such as damaged equipment or samples that can occur with accidental mistakes made by humans.

#2. Cost Savings

While implementing lab automation technologies can be an expensive up-front investment, robotic solutions have been shown to contribute to substantial cost benefits over time.

The first cost benefit is intertwined with time. After all, time is money. Robots can be programmed to operate beyond normal working hours, including weekends and holidays. This means that labs can process more samples during the week than would be possible using manual methods. As robots take over time-consuming tasks, operators are free to attend to higher-value tasks like analysis, again meaning that more can be accomplished in any given time period.  

The second cost benefit comes from a reduction in materials used for each assay. The repeatable and reproducible nature of an automated workflow permits assay miniaturization. This miniaturization means that less reagents are consumed per precious sample. In addition to miniaturization, automated workflows remove the need to repeat or rework costly tests due to manual-based errors and variability.

The third cost benefit is related to labor as the largest expense in a lab’s operating budget. We already mentioned that robotic workflows can process samples outside of normal working hours. This reduces the need for overtime pay. With reproducible, walkaway processing, operators can attend to high-value tasks befitting their pay grade. Supervisors or lab managers aren’t interrupted from their high-value tasks to repeatedly train users or confirm sample progress at various intervals in the overall workflow. And finally, sample processing capacity can instantly scale up during times of increased demand instead of hiring costly yet temporary workers who may be unfamiliar with the workflow.  

#3. A Safer Workplace

Implementing automated workflows into your lab will not only reduce the burden on your staff to continuously make accurate readings and actions, but it will also drastically reduce the chance for injury. Manually performing thousands of repetitive actions at the bench can lead to repetitive motion strain and injuries in the hands, wrists, and fingers.  

Lab workers who have labeled hundreds of thousands of tubes or microplates by hand often report numbness, tingling, and even pain in their hands. Absences and corrective actions (e.g., supports and braces, reallocating tasks to other workers) decrease overall lab productivity. Injuries of this type may also invite serious liability for your organization when it comes to providing a safe and healthy environment for your workplace.  

Automation reduces the need to manually perform tedious and repetitive tasks. Hands-free processing helps to keep your team members healthy and refreshed for the higher-level tasks that are required of them.

#4. Increased Productivity and Output

Automated labs often provide increased productivity and total output for a simple reason. Robots can perform tasks when human workers cannot. Robotic solutions can perform thousands of tasks without suffering a decrease or loss of performance due to fatigue, distraction, or even boredom.

When workflows are completely automated, they can be run when your team is out of the lab, such as nights, weekends, and holidays. In addition, lab automation does not require breaks or personal time off.

The result is a continuous productivity tool to perform your lab’s experiments while staff are away from the lab, attending meetings, working with colleagues, or performing personal tasks.  

#5. Increased Customization

The final major benefit of automated workflow systems is that of customization. Even pre-configured automation frameworks designed for convenience can be tailored to precisely match your current requirements, lab equipment, software, and workflows. As your needs evolve, the automated system can be easily reconfigured and upgraded with little to no downtime.

Taking the Next Step

At HighRes, we believe that automating scientific processes, along with data management, aligns with the growing pace of life science research. Our customers also align with this belief. For example, we invite you to read, “An integrated robotic system for high-throughput process development of cell and virus culture conditions: Application to biosafety level 2 live virus vaccines”, published in Engineering in Life Sciences. In this paper, vaccine researchers at Merck detail their approach to automation and the results they achieved by automating their media formulation and viral production workflows.

By considering the five benefits outlined above as well as the recommendations included in Merck’s published paper, you can successfully implement and deploy a successful lab automation project within your organization.

Introducing and implementing automation across your laboratory operations can be an extensive operation. And, while there are many moving parts and different variables to consider, the benefits of automation implementation are clear.

Interested in learning more about the benefits of lab automation? Want to discuss your potential project? Please reach out to us at sales@highresbio.com.  

Revision: BL-DIG-210908-01_RevC