Another brilliant year at Lab Innovations wrapped up in November 2025, and once again the conversations on our stand highlighted the challenges labs are facing every day including how to modernise your lab to improve efficiency. Across two days of discussions with technicians, managers, R&D teams, quality leaders and directors, three key questions came up at Lab Innovations 2025 more than any others.
If you are looking at modernising your lab and are considering using a LIMS, we have pulled together clear, practical answers to the most frequently asked questions at last year’s event.
1. “Is it a LIMS we actually need?”
This was easily the number one question on the stand, and it’s one we hear from labs of all sizes. Whether you are tracking samples on spreadsheets or juggling multiple disconnected systems, it can be difficult to know whether a LIMS is the right step forward to modernise your lab.
If any of the following sound familiar, a LIMS is likely the tool your lab needs:
- Struggling to keep track of samples, results or workflow status.
- Relying on spreadsheets, paper logs or siloed databases.
- Difficulty preparing for audits or meeting compliance standards.
- Lost time due to manual data entry or double-checking information.
- Growing sample volumes or expanding services that outpace current tools.
A modern, configurable system such as Achiever LIMS brings traceability, efficiency, audit-readiness and consistency, the foundations of a digitally mature laboratory, helping you to modernise your lab.
If your lab is very small, handles low sample volumes and has minimal regulatory pressure, a full LIMS might not be your first step. But most teams we spoke to expect growth or increasing compliance expectations, both strong indicators that preparing for a LIMS now is wise.
2. “Where do we start if we want a LIMS?”
Many visitors were at the early stages of their digital transformation and simply didn’t know where to begin. The good news is that the starting point is clearer than you might think.
- Step 1: Define what you want to fix
Before exploring systems, it’s important to understand the challenges within your laboratory.
Taking time to pinpoint what currently slows your team down, where errors or inconsistencies appear, which processes could be automated or simplified, and what “better” realistically looks like for your operation provides a strong foundation. This clarity not only guides you towards the right LIMS solution but also gives you a clear baseline for measuring future success.
- Step 2: Map your workflows
Understanding how samples move through your lab, from receipt to reporting, helps define the features, integrations and automation you will need.
- Step 3: Shortlist the right suppliers
When shortlisting suppliers, it’s essential to focus on vendors who offer configurable, scalable systems, understand the specific needs of your type of laboratory, and provide strong audit-trail, traceability and quality-management capabilities. Equally important is choosing a partner who supports you throughout implementation, validation and ongoing optimisation. Our own implementation approach follows clear stages discovery, design, configuration, deployment and support, giving laboratories a structured and low-risk route to go-live.
- Step 4: Set clear objectives and metrics
Before choosing a system, decide how you will measure success: turnaround times, error reduction, staff hours saved, throughput improvements and audit readiness are common KPIs.
3. “We need a LIMS but can’t get the budget approved.”
Budget constraints were a major topic on the stand this year, with many labs knowing they need a LIMS but struggling to secure funding. The challenge is rarely the cost of the software itself; it’s demonstrating the return.
To help your organisation understand the value, consider including:
- Current cost of manual processes: Time spent entering data, fixing errors, searching for information or preparing for audits.
- Risk cost: Sample loss, delays, compliance issues and the potential impact of inaccuracies.
- Operational gains: Higher throughput, reduced turnaround time, better utilisation of equipment and staff.
- Return on investment: Many labs see pay-back within one to three years once key workflows are digitised.
We often support teams with ROI modelling , helping quantify benefits and map them directly to operational and financial metrics. For many visitors this year, this was the turning point that made a compelling internal case.
Many laboratories have successfully secured budget by starting with a focused scope or pilot to demonstrate quick wins, aligning the project with wider organisational digital transformation or quality objectives, and using real operational data to build a credible ROI model. It also helps to clearly present the risks of doing nothing, a factor often underestimated by decision-makers, and to highlight that investing in a LIMS typically replaces hidden labour and compliance costs that are already being incurred.
These key questions at Lab Innovations 2025 showed just how many labs are ready to modernise but need clear guidance on where to begin. Whether your question was one of the big three above or something more specific, our team is always happy to help you explore the right next steps to modernise your lab.
If you would like tailored advice, a workflow review or help building a business case, we are here to support you in your journey to modernise your lab.
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