Closing The Loop: Where Inventory Management Meets Inventory Procurement

It seems obvious: ELN and LIMS systems should be talking to major vendors. Why would you wait to run out of equipment or consumables, or manually order them, when this could be automated by integrating inventory management software with inventory procurement software?

In the modern lab, effective inventory management is the cornerstone of smooth operations and uninterrupted research – any researcher knows how disruptive it is to run out of a reagent when you need it most.

Yet, challenges around inventory are some of the most common problems that arise within the lab. From product ordering to maintaining adequate inventory levels, maintaining the right equipment in stock is no simple feat for lab managers, especially for those not using inventory management software.

Our all-in-one lab data management system, Labguru, consisting of an ELN,  LIMS, SDMS, and Inventory Management modules — integrates natively with Avantor’s Procurement & Material Management services via their Inventory Manager app, ensuring our customers always have exactly what they need, when they need it.

Let’s take a look at the most common inventory challenges in the lab, and explain how you can close the loop with an integrated inventory management and procurement system.

Common Challenges with Inventory Management in the Lab

Failure to manage inventory efficiently can cause various problems ranging from experiment failure to reduced accuracy, and staff frustration to results delays. This can have a knock-on effect on staff morale, reputation, and trust. Some of the biggest challenges include:

Planning Ahead

Forecasting usage is always a challenge because it not only requires a degree of organization and planning but plans also change at the last minute depending on the circumstances. Overstocking is costly and can lead to waste, but understocking could have even worse consequences and lead to delayed research. Finding the balance is not easy, but it helps to have a system in place where equipment can be restocked fast.

Human Error

Researchers are only human – and where there are humans, there is error. Relying on manual data entry and systems involving paper and copying are a recipe for tracking errors, which can become problematic if they are not caught early. Avoiding manual data entry and relying on communication between data systems greatly reduces the error – the human error rate of system-system communication is zero!

Accuracy Costs Efficiency

If you don’t purchase an effective inventory management system, you will pay with other means: your time. Often, labs spend far more time than they should on inventory management — searching for products, performing manual data entry, making purchase orders, and more. This takes up valuable time that could be spent doing research.

Compliance & Traceability

Labs must comply with strict regulations surrounding tracking and reporting of activities. Again, they are faced with the choice: manually maintain accurate inventory records, or let the software do this automatically. Of course, there is no guarantee that compliance regulations don’t change, so labs must make sure they stay up-to-date with the latest requirements.

When Inventory Management Software Meets Inventory Lab Procurement

Of course, the right Inventory Management system will make these challenges a thing of the past. With Labguru, our platform is directly integrated with leading inventory procurement services like Avantor to ensure our clients never run out of the equipment they need.

Let’s explore how this integration might benefit your lab:

Getting Orders in Order

With this integration, you can order new products, stocks, and equipment directly from your ELN or LIMS. The whole process is simplified and completed in one place, so labs can explore what they want to order, check their current stocks, and place the order itself. Done individually, these tasks take far longer than when done together in one system.

Ensure Inventory Procurement is Always Accurate

When inventory is tracked in a system, it can be tracked in real-time. This allows labs to catch lowly stocked items earlier and plan efficiently to minimize overstocking while avoiding understocking. A connected, fast inventory procurement system grants the flexibility to manage your inventory more accurately.

Save Time and Money

This integration allows the whole inventory management operation to run more efficiently from end-to-end. With reduced manual errors and efficient resource allocation, labs can maintain the right inventory levels, reduce wasted materials, and save money by ensuring they only have the stocks they need.

Smooth Data Exchange

We’ve worked with our partners to ensure the deepest level of integration between inventory and procurement software, making data exchange seamless and in real-time. This means automatic inventory updates, synced order data, and up-to-date delivery information across both platforms.

Final Thoughts

By closing the loop with an inventory procurement system that integrates directly with your ELN or LIMS, you ensure that lab activity moves forward smoothly without interruptions. Plus, you save yourself both money and time in the process. Often, a lab's failure to close the loop with the right inventory management operation ends up costing them more than they save.

Learn more about how Labguru can help you improve your procurement processes -