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European plasma protein client

Analytics Lab Scheduler

90% less weekly scheduling effort

Background

The Plasma R&D Analytics department is the analytical backbone of plasma protein development, running around 1,500 samples a week across ELISA, HPLC, DLS, DSC and FlowCam. A 2030 target of one new plasma protein candidate and a process yield goal of 85% put throughput under pressure, with no headcount increase available.

Solution

The weekly plan was built by hand from LIMS data, consuming half a day every week, and each task was then transferred into LIMS manually. Urgent samples and re-tests could not be inserted mid-week without redoing the whole plan, so they turned into backlog. inite delivered the Analytics Lab Scheduler: a rules engine that generates the weekly plan directly from LIMS request data, applying priority rules, instrument availability and technician capacity, and produces a task list ready for import into LIMS. Urgent additions and re-tests are re-scheduled dynamically and inherit the right priority.

Results

Weekly scheduling effort down from 5 hours to 30 minutes, a 90% reduction that gives the team back a full afternoon every week. Urgent samples and re-tests are slotted into the same week without rebuilding the plan, reducing backlog. Capacity allocation is transparent and rule based instead of negotiated case by case, with fewer manual planning errors, supporting the department’s throughput goal without added headcount.

inite's role

inite facilitated the assessment that turned 48 collected pain points into 19 solution ideas, 12 recommended solutions and a sequenced roadmap. Designed the prioritization and capacity rules together with the Analytics sub-team leads, covering instrument availability and technician capacity. Built a working prototype inside the engagement, took it through testing with the lab, and supported adoption into weekly use. Provided the Product Owner and the automation expertise, working alongside the client’s Analytics leads and LIMS team.

“Building the Dienstplan by hand used to take half a day, and one urgent sample meant starting over. The scheduler now produces the week’s plan from our LIMS data in minutes, and we can slot in a re-test the same week.”

Head of Analytics, Plasma R&D · European Plasma Protein Company