Laboratory Asset Management

Proper Management of Laboratory Assets

Aside from the laboratory’s personnel, its instrumentation is its most important tangible asset. As laboratory operations are extremely complex and instrumentation requirement profiles constantly change, the required skills to properly manage those assets cannot be underestimated. Most laboratories, regardless of their size, lack the internal resources and expertise to properly manage their assets in a way that allows the lab to properly maintain a level of efficiency and cost effectiveness.

As the business matures, laboratories often develop ingrained ways of dealing with repairs, maintenance and the management of its assets. If done internally, the burden usually falls on facilities personnel, lab management or end users who usually do not have the engineering skills, availability or expertise to properly maintain the laboratory’s assets.

This approach usually results in critically overlooked maintenance activities, inconsistent coordination and monitoring of routine maintenance and qualification schedules and a lack of focus on the scientific mission of the laboratory.

Because of the uncoordinated nature of an unharmonized approach, underutilized assets that can often be redeployed to areas of the lab that could use the additional resources are often not on the radar screen and thus not considered, resulting in overlapping capabilities and additional costs.

Larger pharmaceutical, biotech and manufacturing companies as well as some second-tier laboratories have understood this dynamic and most outsource the managing of their assets to professional asset managers.

These services need not necessarily be reserved however for larger laboratories, as second and third-tier sized laboratories can also benefit from outsourcing these services to independent service providers, with programs specifically designed for medium and smaller sized laboratories with services and cost scaling, specific to where the laboratory is in its life cycle.

What's included in a Comprehensive Lab Asset Management Plan?

A comprehensive lab asset management plan plan should address the requirements of laboratory throughout its life cycle, from properly outfitting the lab, to maintenance, relocation and asset divestment requirements of the assets.

Outfitting of the laboratory, and the procurement of assets that are suitable to the scientific mission that are reliable, cost effective and effectively maintained by either the manufacturer or a qualified service provider is critical, whether for a start up or well established laboratory. 

Based on the operational profile of the laboratory, a comprehensive service plan, specific to the needs of the laboratory will indicate how the assets should be properly maintained, and downtime minimized. The service plan should include a combination of varying levels of service, specific to those needs. Levels of service can include full contract maintenance services (production and mission critical instruments) as well as time and material and warranty approach.

Expanding its existing space or relocating to new facilities is a requirement of a laboratory with well-established business and science plans that have outgrown the limitations of its existing footprint and seeks to accommodate its increased sample volume and research capabilities. A comprehensive, harmonized service plan if already instituted can greatly minimize the disruption to lab operations, as maintenance activities and protocols already in place that are centrally coordinated can more easily integrate into a relocation plan.

A qualified laboratory asset management company can also provide multiple options and management of the process in repurposing, reselling or disposing of redundant assets including a hybrid approach of managing the reselling/remarketing and auctioning of instrumentation. They can also arrange or directly provide the remarketing, sale, installation and post-sale support services that can greatly increase the value of redundant assets and relieve the burden of responsibility from lab operations.

Why Overbrook?

As laboratory operations are extremely complex and instrumentation requirement profiles constantly change, the required skills to properly manage those assets cannot be underestimated. Making the proper decisions how these critical assets are managed throughout their life cycle, can often determine the success of the business and thus whether needed drugs, products, innovation and cures get to market.