Module facilitates efficient lab stock management, saving cash and time
Boston, US & London, UK, March 22, 2016 – IDBS today unveiled E-WorkBook Inventory, a new module for streamlining lab inventory management. The off-the-shelf tool enables E-WorkBook users to garner a clear, real-time picture of lab stock, so that they can better manage resources, saving cash and time, as well as boosting compliance and safety.
“Inventory lies at the heart of the lab and underpins all the innovative work that goes on. It also represents one of the highest costs for any organization,” said Dr. Scott Weiss, Senior Director Product Management, at IDBS. “The financial and operational impacts of holding too much, or indeed too little, inventory in storage can have a significant impact on lab efficiency, regulatory requirements and ultimately the bottom line.”
The E-WorkBook Inventory module enables users to register and search lab equipment, materials and samples and manage storage locations. Researchers can automatically capture inventory details within experiments by simply scanning a barcode, rather than relying on siloed spreadsheets or paper processes. This eliminates transcription errors and ensures real-time visibility. The system creates and captures usage logs, making it easier to trace and audit inventory.
With thousands of dollars often tied up in hoarded inventory, labs stand to save money by better planning their resources and reducing stock wastage. This move ensures labs aren’t holding any hazardous expired chemicals against regulatory compliance requirements and organizations can also save time by making sure ample resources are ready to meet demand, rather than scientists having to delay experiments.
“Alongside the upfront costs of purchasing and maintaining inventory, organizations face a number of associated costs that stem from poor inventory management or the disconnect caused by ‘squirrel stores’ where inventory gets ‘hidden’. These include storage space that isn’t really needed, the disposal of expired chemicals and items that no-one knew were there in the first place and the time taken to find specific stock,” Scott added. “The combination of E-WorkBook and the Inventory module is a compelling solution, enabling researchers to benefit from an efficient, integrated approach across the lab. It forms a key part of our strategy to deliver a comprehensive and flexible enterprise platform for R&D.”
E-WorkBook Inventory requires minimal configuration, making it quick and easy to deploy, and includes an intuitive web-based user interface. The solution is fully integrated with E-WorkBook to create a seamless user experience, so that experiments can be recorded faster, while the traceability of inventory usage is simplified and compliance is reinforced. This new module further extends the capabilities of E-WorkBook, an enterprise web-based platform which makes it simple for researchers to collaborate and share data.
-ENDS-
About IDBS
IDBS is a leading global provider of advanced software for research and development (R&D) organizations to securely capture, manage, share and exploit structured and unstructured data. Our technology and domain expertise enable users to link data to data, data to people, and people to people, to drive innovation, achieve faster time to market and improve margins. Our diverse customer list includes R&D driven international companies in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, agricultural sciences, chemicals, consumer goods, energy, engineering, food and beverage, and healthcare.
Founded in 1989, IDBS is headquartered in the United Kingdom with offices across Europe, Asia and the United States. IDBS remains a privately held company employing over 250 staff across the world and serving over 50,000 researchers in 25 countries – including over 75% of the top twenty pharmaceutical companies. For more information, please visit www.idbs.com or follow us on Twitter @IDBSsoftware.
