Every Monday, the export
The lab manager starts the week by exporting last week's samples from the LIMS, pasting them into a spreadsheet, and working out how many came in, how many were reported, what is in the backlog in each section, and how turnaround went. Finance sends a separate revenue report. Big clients' volumes are checked by hand. By the time the report is ready, it is Tuesday, and it is already out of date.
Why reporting is manual
- LIMS reports are fixed and hard to change.
- Data from the LIMS and the accounts system are not combined.
- Measures are calculated slightly differently each time.
- Reports are snapshots, with no drill-down.
- Only one or two people know how to build them.
Measures also drift. One month backlog counts samples, the next it counts tests. Turnaround is measured from receipt one week and from registration the next. The numbers move, and nobody is sure whether the lab changed or the calculation did.
What it costs
Manager time goes on building reports rather than acting on them. Decisions about overtime, staffing and priorities are made on old data. Rising backlogs in one section are noticed late. Conversations with big clients lack up-to-date figures.
| Measure | Weekly spreadsheet | Live dashboard |
|---|---|---|
| Samples received | Counted from export | Daily, by client and test |
| Backlog | Snapshot | Live, by section and age |
| Turnaround | Calculated weekly | Tracked daily, with late samples listed |
| Revenue | Separate finance report | Combined, by client and test |
| Client volumes | Checked by hand | Trends per client |
The report builder is often the lab manager, a senior scientist whose time is the most valuable in the building. Every hour spent pasting exports is an hour not spent on method development, client relationships or supporting staff. And when that person is away, the report simply does not happen.
How we build it
- We agree definitions for each measure with your managers: what counts as received, reported, late, backlog.
- Data is read daily, or more often, from your LIMS database or API, and from your accounts system.
- It is loaded into a reporting store and checked for completeness.
- Dashboards in Power BI or a custom web page show workload, backlog, turnaround and revenue, with drill-down to samples.
- Scheduled summaries go by email to managers who prefer them.
- Client-level views can be shared with account managers.
We also add simple checks on the data itself, such as samples registered without a receipt time or tests stuck in a status for longer than expected. These often reveal process problems in their own right, and they stop dashboards quietly showing wrong figures.
What changes
Managers see the lab's state any time without building anything. Backlogs are visible as they grow. Measures are calculated the same way every time. Account managers go into client meetings with current figures.
Section leaders can see their own backlog by age and priority at any time, and use it in the morning huddle. Senior managers can look at trends across months without anyone rebuilding historical spreadsheets.
Client conversations change too. An account manager can show a client its volumes and turnaround over the past year, including any late samples and why, which is a far stronger position for a contract renewal than a set of figures assembled the night before.
Is your Monday like this?
- Weekly reports are built from LIMS exports.
- LIMS and finance figures are in separate reports.
- Backlogs are noticed late.
- Only one person knows how to build the report.
- Reports cannot be drilled into.