Tips for Managing Your Lab Budget

By Iva Fedorka

Lab managers face many challenges and competing needs. They’re expected to control expenses while maintaining lab functionality and safety and complying with various rules and regulations. They must also manage staffing and meet increased demands for productivity with limited time and resources.

If you want to better manage your lab and budget, here are some ideas to help you address the three largest components of most lab budgets: personnel, supplies, and equipment.
 

Personnel

Staffing costs can comprise as much as 60 percent of a lab’s overall budget, but having a team you can rely on makes a big difference. People can be your greatest asset, but finding qualified, knowledgeable, and dependable staff takes effort.

Hire the most qualified people available.
When you’re responsible for staffing, especially if salaries are not negotiable, hire the most qualified people available. This may include postdoctoral researchers, graduate research assistants, students, and lab technicians in academic settings. If you can’t find prospects already familiar with the type of procedures and sophisticated instruments you’re working with, choose candidates who express a willingness to learn and offer on-the-job training.

Make daily tasks more convenient.
Even small changes can have a significant effect over time. Make sure that specific assay supplies are readily available at each workstation. Adding under-counter refrigerators and personal centrifuges, mixers, and pipettes can make a difference. Organize your refrigerators and freezers to make sample retrieval easier, too.

Reduce or eliminate lower-skill tasks.
Making solutions and dilutions, washing glassware, and preparing media can take significant amounts of time. Calculate the cost of performing these activities on site versus purchasing ready-to-use reagents and media. You may also improve your environmental footprint if you eliminate some disposable labware and install a glassware washer.

Staff appropriately.
Assign people to tasks based on their experience and skills. If you’re working in an academic setting, work-study options for basic, temporary support at affordable rates may be an option. Contract or temporary researchers can also help eliminate some overhead costs. Sequencing workflows, instrument calibration, and other tasks that require specialized knowledge and skills can be difficult or impractical to support through in-house staff.
 

Supplies

In a survey conducted by Lab Manager magazine, many labs spend over 60 percent of their non-personnel budget on disposable items like pipette tips, gloves, and reagents, an amount equivalent to about a quarter of the overall budget.

Buy consumables in bulk.
Depending on your storage space limitations, keeping products in stock on site could make sense. Suppliers may provide a discount based on projected purchases and make deliveries at regular intervals if you know how much of each product you use annually.

Ask for samples.
Try products before you switch to alternatives to confirm that they suit your workflow. Some packaging changes can affect how efficiently products can be used and may add time that offsets your anticipated savings.

Maintain a chemical inventory.
Often, chemicals must be purchased in larger quantities than you need, resulting in multiple unused chemicals sitting on your shelves. Although many don’t have true expiration dates, older chemicals may no longer be suitable for use. Determine which chemicals can and should be discarded and consult your health and safety manager and your local government to determine how this can be safely accomplished.

Share chemicals with colleagues.
There may be ways to avoid duplicate orders or the need to purchase unique or expensive chemicals and reagents by agreeing to share your inventory with other researchers.
 

Equipment

Obtaining the right equipment and instruments takes time because these decisions require product comparisons, performance evaluations, and cost justification. Although these purchases generally consume the smallest portion of a typical lab budget, capital assets are usually more expensive and may require using funds from more than one fiscal budget.

Ask for a demonstration or consult with a specialist.
Try the equipment or instrument virtually or in person to confirm that it will meet your requirements. Many manufacturers and suppliers employ specialty or technical sales personnel who can help you evaluate a product based on its intended use.

Get the best price on equipment.
Identify your requirements, compare offerings, and request quotes from multiple vendors. Used instruments stored at your institution may also be an option when budgets are tight. Even if those products are not in working order, the cost of repairs may be much less than purchasing a new item. Leasing or financing could help you secure bigger ticket items, too.

Consider multi-functional products and accessories.
Newer equipment and instruments may perform multiple functions or have accessories that extend their functionality. For example, some vortex mixers have adapters for microplates and flasks, and some stirring hotplates also rotate or mix.

Protect your equipment.
Schedule and perform regular cleaning and preventive maintenance. Manufacturers often offer a service contract or extended warranty at purchase, which may be worthwhile if the product is used frequently. Use protective covers or shields to help prevent damage to new and expensive equipment. Teach employees about proper use and keep operating manuals readily accessible to reduce the risk of accidental damage.

Budget for maintenance and repairs.
Manufacturers and distributors may offer maintenance contracts and repair services to help keep your lab in good working order. Although your staff can be taught to perform basic services, outsourcing may make more sense if staffing is limited or repairs require more expertise. Tasks like balance verifications, pH meter calibrations, and lab automation equipment checks must comply with the latest regulations, standards, and quality assurance processes.

Share equipment.
Ask to share a colleague’s tools if you have a common need for certain instruments. Find out if core facilities exist at your institution to avoid purchasing duplicates. If some equipment is used only occasionally, sharing or using shared tools can save thousands of dollars. Some universities may also contract with outside labs to let you use their equipment.

Take advantage of free software.
Various free and purchased laboratory management software programs are available to help manage your lab’s inventory and requests, while electronic laboratory notebooks can support collaboration.
 

Overall Budget Management

Keep a record of expenditures to maintain an awareness of changes in price or demand that need to be addressed. And perform quarterly reviews to stay on track, especially if your lab uses start-up or grant funds. Fund tracking tools may also be available through your purchasing platform or supplier website.

If you have access to materials management, ask for help negotiating pricing, setting up recurring orders, providing regular reports, and otherwise managing your spending.

Efficient laboratory organization, optimal resource allocation and use, and quality and regulatory control will help you maintain productivity, reduce errors, contribute to regulatory compliance, and produce reliable results.

Iva Fedorka is a Thermo Fisher Scientific staff writer.