As Lab Manager, there may never be enough hours in the day to tackle all your to-dos. You can’t clone yourself unfortunately, but there are tools that can alleviate the pressure of having to spin so many plates. With your lab’s safety and success as your top priorities (alongside keeping up with ever-changing regulations), choosing the right chemical inventory tracking solution is essential.
It can be tempting to opt for a “good enough” solution, but we built the following guide to help you imagine the possibilities that could come from a tool you believe in. Your chemical inventory management system can be more than just logs and reports when you ask questions like:
- “How can I increase the accuracy of my records through barcode tracking?”
- “What if we could generate reports in a few seconds rather than hours?”
- “What costs could we cut if we had just-in-time ordering and waste disposal?”
- “How much time would staff save with barcode enabled, mobile scanning options?”
Take a proactive approach to your search. Read on to see the seven main areas of concern when it comes to features you need to minimize costs, balance your inventory and free up resources for other lab functions.
Lab Safety
A safe team is a knowledgeable and effective one, so the chemical inventory management solution you choose should take all lab safety considerations to heart. The most seamless experience maintains the continuity of your records from receipt to disposal.
Your chemical inventory management solution should:
- Integrate Hazard and SDS information with your chemical logs
- Tell you what chemicals you have on hand, tagged by their essential qualities
- Capture and alert you of expiration dates and min/max thresholds
- Allow you to conduct a comprehensive audit log
- Contain GHS data logging capabilities
- Follow ADA and WCAG accessibility guidelines
Reporting
Reporting can happen in just a few clicks, but not all chemical tracking solutions offer that flexibility. Your system needs to be able to package information around nearly every activity surrounding your chemicals – and that’s a lot!
Don’t compromise on a full feature set. Your tools should do more than just satisfy an auditor: they need to help you manage your lab better. Make sure your chemical inventory management solution has:
- Fire code reporting
- Details of all waste disposal activities
- Standard regulatory reports (e.g. CFATS, Tier II, RTK)
- Reports based on custom fields (with the flexibility to create user-defined and dynamic custom fields)
- Advanced filtering capabilities (date range, chemical types, owners, location types, custom, etc.)
- Technical support to assist in custom report building
Management
Advanced reporting and safety features won’t mean much if your team is confused in their day to day tracking. Look for the following features as indicators that the solution you’re looking at can handle all your needs.
- Multi-admin login
- Barcode or other scanning capabilities for tracking
- Record logs per container with custom tagging options
- Ability to edit container records in bulk
- Integrated document management
- Automatic alerts for expired chemicals & min/max threshold
- Additional modules as options to track more than just chemicals, such as biologicals, supplies & equipment, stockroom, waste management, SDS management, etc.
- Restocking notifications
- Requisitioning capabilities
Mobile
Labs of all sizes benefit from being able to track chemicals on the go. Staff will thank you for making sure your tracking solution is mobile.
Mobile features for your chemical inventory solution should include:
- Mobile (phone and tablet) scanning
- Mobile-ready physical inventory record management & reporting
- Ability to record transfers, disposals and amount adjustments in real-time
- Compatibility with all major mobile device operating systems
Security & Backup
The consequences of poor data entry, loss or theft have far reaching impacts. With multiple users transitioning in and out of your system everyday, and cyber attacks only set to increase, we can’t stress enough the value of finding a solution with airtight security.
Keep your staff and lab secure with the following requirements:
- Multi-level user permissions
- Customizable roles and permissions by group
- Hosting options that follow industry compliance needs & best practices
- Two-factor authentication & SSO
- Dedicated security team
- Scheduled backups
Implementation
You’ve checked all the boxes so far, but don’t sign on to a new solution before digging into the installation process! Before you do, make sure to ask about the requirements and timeline as each solution varies.
Make sure your chemical inventory solution offers:
- Experience in implementations throughout your specific industry and lab size
- Guided implementation options and dedicated staff for initial setup
- Ongoing support with dedicated support representatives
- Continual training for staff after initial install
Pricing
The criteria for your chemical management software pricing varies, but the most common contributing factors will be:
- Number of containers
- Locations tracked
- Number of users
- Customized reporting needs
- Integration needs
Your primary concern when reviewing your options: be mindful of how many users will need daily access, and if you need to pay for additional ‘occasional users.’ Consider also the level of IT department involvement needed, which may translate to recurring costs and charges to update new functionality, system fixes and patches.
Software vendors should have multiple pricing options for data storage (self vs SaaS-hosted), and flexibility surrounding user licensing and modular add-ons as each lab’s management needs are unique.
Other factors to look for in your pricing evaluation:
- Flexibility around access roles and accounts as you grow
- Options to implement in-house or within a SaaS vendor-hosted solution
- Limitations surrounding container amounts or location needs as your lab grows
Conclusion
A modern lab is secure and flexible enough to accommodate new ideas. Things are constantly changing and safety needs are ever evolving. Getting your inventory under control and smoothing over your management processes makes a difference for staff and the goals your lab is trying to achieve.
Last but not least: finding the right chemical inventory solution goes beyond just features – look for partners with a track record of success you can trust.
About Vertere:
Top universities, government agencies and private corporations use Vertere to save time and make compliance simple with laboratory-specific inventory management software. Women-owned & operated for over 30 years, we specialize in chemical, biological, and laboratory equipment management with easy to use barcode tracking software.