7 Signs Your Laboratory Needs a LIMS System

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Is your lab running efficiently or just surviving? Many laboratories still operate with manual processes, Excel spreadsheets, and paper records. This scenario not only limits the growth and quality of results, but also exposes the organization to errors, delays, and compliance issues with regulations such as ISO/IEC 17025.  

This article is designed to help you identify the most common symptoms that indicate the need to modernize your lab. If you recognize three or more of these signals, you're likely ready to implement a LIMS system for your lab, a solution that transforms efficiency, traceability, and control in analysis processes.

1. Your team wastes time searching for information.

In a laboratory without a LIMS, finding the status of a sample, the person responsible for an approval, or the results of an analysis can take minutes or even hours. Over time, that loss of time adds up and ends up affecting the entire operation.  

Here’s a clear example: After implementing Confience myLIMS, our customer, Centerlab, cut errors by 90% and doubled their workload—all without hiring more staff.

2. Frequent errors when transcribing results.

Manual transcription is one of the leading causes of laboratory errors. Mistyped data, incorrect drives, or misinterpretations can lead to product rejections, failed audits, and even public health risks.  

If you've ever had to justify a mistake to your boss or a client because of an incorrect transcription, you know how frustrating and expensive it can be.  

Studies indicate that pre-analytical errors account for approximately 60% of total errors in clinical laboratories.

3. Preparing audits is a headache.

When an audit comes, does your team panic? Do they have to search for archived papers, old emails, and scattered spreadsheets? In that case, that's a clear sign that you don't have a reliable traceability system.  

A LIMS records each action with date, time, username, and justification. Therefore, preparing for an audit is no longer a nightmare and becomes a simple generation of reports.  

Learn More: "Must Have" LIMS Features to Maximize Efficiency in Your Lab

Our customer, Ecosystem, implemented automated quality controls with myLIMS, ensuring that only approved assays are released, which facilitated compliance with the ISO 17025 standard and was highlighted in audits.

4. Your team is overloaded, and you can't hire more staff.

When there is no automation, even basic actions, such as assigning analytics, issuing reports, sending alerts: it can collapse operational efficiency. Many times, the solution is not to hire more people, but to make better use of the time of those you already have.  

"Mariana, a laboratory manager in a chemical company, worked with three assistants only to compile reports and send them to the quality area. After adopting a LIMS, he automated this flow and was able to reassign the team to more strategic tasks." ‍

5. You don't have visibility into what's going on.

Do you know how many samples are in process right now? Which customers expect results? Which analyses have the most errors?  

If you don't have these clear answers, it's time to consider a dashboard like the one offered by a LIMS system. With real-time key indicators (KPIs), you can anticipate problems and make more strategic decisions. This will help improve management and reduce customer response times.  

6. You still depend on paper and Excel for everything.

Paper is lost, damaged, misplaced. Spreadsheets get corrupted, overwritten, and have no version control. In the middle of 2025, continuing to rely on these methods is to be left behind.

Learn More: Graduating from Spreadsheets to a LIMS

7. You have difficulty complying with ISO 17025.

ISO 17025 requires rigorous process control, traceable evidence and document compliance. Complying with it manually is not only complex, but risky.  

A LIMS system facilitates this compliance by centralizing documentation, ensuring data integrity, and generating automatic records of the entire workflow.  

A LIMS helps in document management, quality control and traceability, fundamental aspects for ISO 17025 accreditation.  

Read: How LIMS Facilitates ISO 17025 Certification in Food Testing Labs

Conclusion  

If your lab is exhibiting three or more of these symptoms, it's time to evolve. It's not just about adopting technology, it's about transforming the way you operate, decide, and deliver value to your customers.  

Confience myLIMS is a cloud-based LIMS system that has already helped hundreds of labs worldwide digitize, automate, and gain competitiveness.  

Request a free demo and find out how we can help you take this step.