Among the most efficient ways to reduce discrepancies, improve accurateness, and expedite a research center workflow is to use automated pipetting. The “must-have” elements for efficient process automation liquid handling, on the other hand, are dependent on your aims and applications. This post goes over some of the most important things to think about when selecting a liquid handling system for your business.
Pipetting automation is an essential step in optimizing scientific workflows, as it helps to improve consistency, enhance throughput, and avoid mistakes. For a spectrum of uses, such as specimen preparation, DNA extraction, cell-based assays, and ELISAs, research facilities rely on automated liquid handling technology solutions.
These systems are a long-term investment. Thus they should be chosen depending on their current needs and anticipated future demands.
Document and Share Your Complete Workflow
Begin by documenting the whole workflow, including the crucial timing of phases and the areas where variation is permissible. These particulars can significantly impact how a customizable automation system is designed.
Also, figure out the system’s estimated peak capacity, as well as when users will be capable of loading it. Leaving out essential elements can make workplace automation challenging to implement. For instance, failing to foresee how much storage space each kind of plate will require will drastically restrict your system’s productivity and effectiveness.
Learn the distinctions between a workstation centered on liquid handling and a platform centered on plate movement
Most workplace robotics users begin by using a liquid handler workstation with a restricted number of peripheral equipment and an inbuilt gripper that conducts all plate moves on the deck. While this is ideal for single-use, it might be pretty restrictive in future adaptability.
The liquid handling procedures are frequently hard-coded, requiring suppliers to reprogram the system to make adjustments, and there are few possible instrument expansions.
Whenever your process has to expand beyond the liquid handling phase, including a plate mover and planning software can considerably increase system comfort and choice of reconfiguration. Users should be able to easily drag-and-drop processes into place in scheduling software so that they can change them as often as they like.
Choose the most appropriate mover for your needs.
If you aren’t an automation specialist and don’t intend to be one, choose a mover that offers the proper combination of versatility, speed, and ease of use. Although automated solutions can operate without human intervention, users may need to retrain when a mover must provide a plate to a piece of equipment. This can be a quick wizard-guided procedure or a long and detailed one. Inquire with potential vendors about how they and their moving companies make this process easier.
Conclusion
Pipetting automation is an essential step in optimizing your lab workflow since it reduces error, improves reproducibility and accuracy, and increases throughput.
By carefully considering the topics presented in this piece, laboratories will be able to make informed decisions that will enable them to reap the benefits of automated liquid handling while also making life simpler and more efficient.
