BRIEF

3 Ways Our Lab Relocation Services Reduce Risk

Introduction

Most people turn to some form of insurance, whether it be life, health, car or trip, to mitigate risk in their personal lives. Businesses choose service disruption, product liability, and fire or flood insurance to reduce the costs of the unexpected. But what kind of insurance is needed when you are the one responsible for the safe and uneventful dismantle, transport, and relocation of hundreds of high value instruments, delicate laboratory research products, and complex scientific workflows with minimal disruption to business operations and research staff?

Of course, there are ways to cover potential asset damage and accident liability when relocating facilities, but the best insurance against operational or financial loss is choosing the right partner to help. Accurately defining scope, planning for contingencies, and getting the lab back up and running quickly can become more efficient with a partner who understands laboratory research, demonstrates deep portfolio experience, and is well versed in compliance, asset management, and local and national regulations and permitting.


PerkinElmer OneSource® offers a portfolio of laboratory services designed for all technologies with a team of experts in preventative maintenance, multivendor instrument repair, information analytics, supplemental staffing, and relocation services. Our dedicated relocation staff has facilitated complex, multilocation moves around the globe with logistics and operational project management expertise for the specific needs of pharmaceutical and analytical laboratories.

With more than a decade in laboratory relocation experience, we have identified risks that many relocation companies simply overlook. Here are three ways OneSource Laboratory Relocation Services can make a difference in your next move.

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Because we are a vertically integrated scientific company, we understand the business of clinical and analytical research and manufacturing. Our unique holistic approach starts with providing a dedicated project management team bringing a legacy of scientific expertise as a leader in the diagnostics, discovery, and analytical solutions markets for more than 75 years. As such, our science-based relocation team can facilitate your plan for safe, efficient transport of laboratory workflows.

No lab is the same. Therefore, we offer customized solutions to pack up and transport your sensitive biohazardous, temperature controlled, and biological samples protecting delicate experiments and ensuring your scientific workflow is intact. Through our Scientific Services team, we offer additional services to supplement in-transition or displaced staff, including routine elucidation work, tissue cultures, compound management, and cellular analysis from low throughput assays to high throughput screens. In addition, OneSource Instrument Concierge services are available to supplement other routine tasks in the lab once your equipment is back in place, including post calibration and qualification, validation, method development, and system integration.

Instrumentation needs to be decommissioned and recommissioned at the right intervals to ensure scientific experiments and manufacturing production are not delayed. This, of course, depends upon a complete asset inventory with serial numbers and identification for specific qualification, calibration, and temperature mapping needs upon arrival at the new facility. A science-based relocation partner understands that workflows are interconnected networks of instrumentation and software. The OneSource Information Services team helps troubleshoot or optimize laboratory data systems from one location to the next to help scientists get up and running as quickly as possible and without the need to call in additional vendors.

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How smoothly your move goes and how quickly lab operations return to normal depends entirely on planning, organization, and the ability to anticipate problems before they occur. And that takes experience. With extensive global relocation knowhow involving labs of all sizes and complexities, OneSource can help you quickly identify the routine and the unexpected situations that can occur during your move. We work with you to create actionable contingency plans ̶ A, B, C, and maybe D ̶ to head off a range of potential issues. Planning is often fluid. Chances are, the relocation plan you end up with will look nothing like your original as new information, as better alternatives and more efficient processes are added.

Experience has taught us that communication is key. Better to overcommunicate than risk the possibility that partners are uninformed about critical logistics or are misaligned about expectations. Timely communication about changes to the project scope, resource allocations, or priorities reduce the risk of logistical roadblocks or delays.

From an employee perspective, relocation can mean drastic changes to both work and personal lives. That is why clear communication of expectations, progress, and next steps in the process is critical. Ideally, it is best if everyone can be comfortable about the move. We help you find ways to make the transition more stress free for your scientists and operations staff by communicating the care we offer in packing and shipping equipment and lab products. There is also the assurance that the lab will be up and running with as little downtime as possible. Of course, outlining the value of the move ahead of time goes a long way to making the overall relocation a success.

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Nothing interferes with a well thought-out plan like overlooking or being unaware of compliance or qualification protocols. Delayed country certifications or even simple local permitting has the potential to create accidental legal issues or fines and interfere with the move. Through our experience, we have learned the best way to mitigate compliance risk is understanding local and national regulations from the ground up. Usually the decision to relocate a laboratory is made well in advance. It is vital to take advantage of planning opportunities from day one by reaching out to Finance, Regulatory, Information Technology, Facilities, Engineering, Health & Safety, Legal and Human Resources to determine permitting for every aspect of the operational and scientific workflow.

Leveraging its global footprint, OneSource partners with local teams well versed in site regulations and permitting. Expectations are carefully documented as to the exact services required from all providers as well as the desired outcomes. This includes asking what type of regulatory paperwork is required to stay compliant. Depending upon the complexity of the laboratory, either regulated GLP/GMP or nonregulated facilities, compliance may include issues relating to decontamination, biohazardous materials, radioactive materials, animals, or controlled substances. Communication with federal agencies is also essential and is a critical scheduling component of the relocation plan. OneSource works with clients to navigate the web of federal regulations related to transportation of laboratory equipment, environmental impact issues, Federal Drug Administration (FDA) compliance and Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) requirements. Country-by-country local permitting, as well as declaration of customs and European Medicines Agency (EMA) requirements are also carefully considered with the help of established OneSource international partners.


Successful relocation is about planning and reducing risk.

A trusted partner with skillful project management and an eye towards risk reduction can help deliver a lab relocation on time and within budget. With deep knowledge of the scientific workflow, proven relocation experience in jobs large and small, and a global network of resources, OneSource can reduce relocation risk and increase success in ways you may have never considered.