LRMS

Optima LRMS® is a web-based Laboratory Resource Management Solution designed to help laboratory teams plan, schedule, track, and forecast their activities and resources. Developed by NL42 Consulting, a firm with over 40 years of combined experience in laboratory management and informatics, Optima is built for both internal and external laboratory operations, enabling smarter coordination of instruments, personnel, and projects from a single platform.

The software is suited for laboratories seeking to move away from manual scheduling processes, reduce administrative overhead, and gain clear visibility into resource utilisation and lab performance. Its multi-functional design covers everything from day-to-day scheduling to long-term business planning.

Core Scheduling and Planning Capabilities

• Enables a fully digital lab scheduling process that accounts for resource availability, constraints, and deadlines.
• Allows scheduling of laboratory activities, instruments, and human resources, as well as the tasks allocated to individual team members.
• Highlights personnel availability based on performance requirements.
• Provides a quick overview of instrument status to ease scheduling decisions.
• Supports calendar sharing amongst the team for improved coordination.
• Identifies productivity gaps across the laboratory using a single integrated tool.

Tracking, Reporting, and Forecasting

• Tracks and reports all activities, projects, and resources involved in the daily routine of the laboratory.
• Provides complete insight into lab performance, including resource utilisation and instrument usage.
• Displays availability for allocation immediately within the weekly schedule view.
• Offers easily customisable reports to support data-driven decision-making.
• Empowers laboratories to forecast resource needs at short, medium, and long-term horizons.
• Enables the creation of a Lab Business Plan with a single click.

Process Improvement and Goal Monitoring

• Allows laboratory managers to set goals directly within the application.
• Monitors achievement of those goals on a weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual basis.
• Supports operative decisions and instrument qualification workflows.
• Helps optimise laboratory processes to enable smooth and efficient operations.

Communication and Customer Transparency

• Reduces reliance on emails and unnecessary meetings by centralising scheduling information.
• Keeps customers informed about lab utilisation through automatic reports.
• Provides customers with remote access to their projects for greater transparency.

Integration with Laboratory Management Systems

• Supports easy import of information from compatible laboratory management systems to automate scheduling activities.
• Compatible with LIMS, IMS, TMS, and other laboratory informatics platforms.

Optima LRMS® is a web-based application accessible via login, and is available in multiple languages including English, Italian, French, and Spanish. It is developed and marketed by NL42 Consulting, whose founders are also organisers of the Paperless Lab Academy® annual conferences held in Europe, the United States, and India — an event recognised by Gartner as one of the leading lab automation learning platforms in Europe.