R&D companies rely on digital tools to increase their competitiveness

Introduction

In a constantly changing economic environment, the competitiveness of companies depends on their ability to innovate quickly and efficiently.

To meet these challenges, the management of Research and Development projects is gradually evolving: previously based on paper laboratory notebooks, it is becoming digital and transforming practices to improve quality and speed.

But how are digital tools transforming the management of R&D projects and activities? What are the concrete benefits for companies?

01 | The limits of traditional methods

Companies engaged in R&D generally manage several projects simultaneously. Each project has its share of compound manipulations of its own specificities in terms of protocols, equipment or raw materials used…

These elements must be recorded with impeccable precision and traceability to ensure the reliability of the results, meet regulatory requirements and justify the financial aid and investments that the company may receive.

However, more and more laboratories are finding that traditional methods, often based on paper laboratory notebooks and Excel spreadsheets, quickly reach their limits in terms of traceability to the point of calling into question the quality of the results or the reproducibility of the experiments without really having the means to assess the relevance of historical data.

R&D teams also deplore the loss of time on low added-value tasks such as:

• Printing, cutting and pasting results into a paper notebook
• Manually updating the inventory of stocks on Excel
• Leafing through the pages of a notebook to find information
• Etc.

“More than 70% of researchers have tried to reproduce another scientist’s experiment without success.”

According to a study conducted by Nature among 1,576 researchers, 1/3 have no reproducibility procedures in place in their lab. For the remaining 2/3, one of the most popular strategies is to ask different researchers to reproduce an experiment…

In addition to wasting time and generating unnecessary costs for the company, this leads to frustration for the collaborators who perform these tasks.

So many factors that push companies to implement a "business" solution to capitalize on their know-how, improve the traceability and reliability of data and facilitate Tech Transfer.

Because even if Word and Excel remain good allies for analyzing results and editing reports, these "basic" tools do not allow teams to be coordinated and ensure the link between each of the operations carried out within the framework of an R&D project.

Not to mention the oversights and risks of errors such as: the use of an obsolete protocol, calculations based on erroneous formulas, the use of expired batches, stock shortages, handling equipment with a deviation, etc.

02 | Digital transformation as a growth driver

IT tools provide concrete answers to the challenges that companies face, such as: the multiplication of data sets, the growing need for collaboration and the need to comply with regulatory obligations. They play a key role in the growth of companies, in particular those engaged in R&D.

According to the France Num barometer on French SMEs and ETIs, companies operating a digital transformation are twice as likely to experience growth compared to others!

We see that teams that engage in this path improve their organization, reduce costs and maximize their impact on the market.

03 | Improve project management and data control

With specialized software such as ELN (Electronic Laboratory Notebook), LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Software), or a hybrid solution such as Laby, research data is centralized, tracked and protected to ensure its integrity and authenticity.

You control the level of information shared according to the project and/or the profile of the collaborator (Project Manager, Laboratory Technician, Intern, etc.).

Project management is centralized and offers a clear vision of objectives and priorities as well as the progression of tasks.

All data is organized at each stage of the project and available in real time to people with access rights. This improves team coordination and facilitates decision-making for increased efficiency.

The search engine, with filters and keywords, allows you to save time to accurately find information with reliable and contextualized data.

04 | Automate processes and save time

With a data management system, your team not only documents data easily, but finds information quickly and can even automate certain workflows.

This offers many advantages:

Error reduction: By automating certain tasks, such as updating quality documentation or inventory management, you reduce human errors and improve the reliability of your results. The researchers can create a test with the assurance of using the latest version of the protocol and enter the quantity of products consumed, which automatically adjusts the inventory, replenishment list...

Automatic traceability: Each data is recorded in a structured manner, which allows you to easily trace the origin of an observation and facilitate decision-making. A follow-up particularly appreciated by laboratory managers and very useful in the event of an audit or certification request.

Simplified reporting: Automatic data collection allows you to gather and consolidate information in one click to generate reliable and fast reports. You are able to export and analyze all the resources allocated to a project (time spent, consumables, equipment, etc.), user exposure levels to chemicals...

⏱️ Time savings observed with Laby: 4 hours / week / employee.

Automating processes guarantees better resource management by the management team and significant savings for the company.

05 | Ensuring quality and the development of innovation

An information system like Laby simplifies your processes, supports your company's compliance, and facilitates technology transfer. It ensures that you keep track of all the activities carried out in the laboratory:

• Integration of new employees (internal or external)
• Management and awareness of quality documentation
• Recording of experiments and digital laboratory notebook
• Stock management and monitoring of supplies by supplier
• Monitoring of equipment, reservations and maintenance
• Management of recipes and production
• Signature of experiments by a trusted third party
• Etc.

Resource management is optimized and rigorous project monitoring allows for more serene responses to audit requirements. All information is accessible in just a few clicks and in a precise manner, which significantly reduces the risk of rejection for your certification requests.

As for funding requests that represent a major challenge for innovation, the use of specialized digital tools is a guarantee of confidence in the context of due diligence.

They also make it possible to provide supporting documents for applications for public subsidies such as the Research Tax Credit (CIR) or Innovation (CII); calls for projects such as I-Lab or I-Nov; European projects under the Horizon Europe program, etc.:

• Detailed reports with conclusions of the results obtained
• A follow-up of timesheets by project, activity, or collaborator
• A list of raw materials used and associated costs
• A follow-up of the instruments used and the duration of the project
• Etc.

A valuable help for companies and time saving for managers.

06 | Conclusion

By equipping themselves with suitable tools, companies are not only optimizing their laboratory operations and saving time: they are preparing to meet future R&D challenges with greater agility and efficiency.

Indeed, the integration of digital tools opens the way to improved exploitation of your data in order to feed predictive model making AI an ally to accelerate the marketing of your innovations and the industrialization of new solutions.