One lab, five tools. Welcome to the fragmentation hell 🤯

It's morning, you open your laptop, sip some coffee, and start jumping between systems.

First stop: the ERP to check yesterday’s production. Then you open the LIS for test results. Next, you pull up Excel to match batch numbers, only to realize the numbers don’t align. Before you know it, you’re picking up the phone to chase answers.

If you nod along, you're not alone.

Here's what most QC labs are juggling with:

🧩 An ERP that’s perfect for accounting and production, not so much for lab workflows.

🧩 LIS that stores test results.

🧩 A reporting tool (anything from a low-cost LRS to patched-together Word and Excel templates).

🧩 And on top of that, QA spreadsheets where your staff keeps their Excel files and Google Sheets to stay on track.

Each system works... sort of. But they don't talk to each other.

And that creates two big problems:

1. Operational inefficiency

❌Lab personnel waste hours every week copying data between systems.

❌Manual data entry between systems = constant mistakes. And in food safety, mistakes can be catastrophic.

❌Getting the full picture of one sample means hopping between multiple screens.

2. Business risk

❌When auditors ask for traceability, you have to scramble across five different tools.

❌Tracking a contaminated batch is nearly impossible when your data lives in ERP + LIS + Excel + that one Google Sheet someone created.

❌One spreadsheet error can mean regulatory violations, fines, or even a recall.

Labs recognize the pain but don't know how to fix it:

"Should we add another reporting tool?"

"Maybe we need a premium LIS?"

So they add another tool which creates another integration headache. The cycle continues, and the fragmentation gets worse. If you recognize your lab, here’s a piece of advice:

Centralize, don't add.

Instead of adding complexity, successful labs centralize all their data into a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).

With 1LIMS, you get:

✅ Intuitive dashboards for QA metrics

✅ Configurable reporting (no separate LRS needed)

✅ Seamless ERP/MES integration so lab results and production stay aligned

✅ End-to-end traceability that’s compliance-ready from day one

✅ One login, one system, one source of truth

➡️ Case in point: Frifag Märwil AG can save up to CHF 15,400 per year using 1LIMS

Frifag Märwil AG produces high-quality poultry meat. Like many companies, they had an ERP and CRM for business processes, but no system for quality management.

Their team relied on self-built forms, Excel spreadsheets, and manual methods.

Frifag Märwil AG saw the need for change but wanted proof first. That’s why they partnered with 1LIMS to run a LabCheck, a deep dive into opportunities for automating their quality assurance processes. Here are the results of the LabCheck we conducted for Frifag Märwil AG.

Numbers speak for themselves. Automating their data management could save Frifag CHF 15,400 (16,470 EUR) per year or 22% of time. But you won’t see results like this without the right system running in your QC laboratory.

💡 1LIMS brings everything together:

✅Test results and all the context for each of your samples

✅Readings from lab equipment

✅Data on product availability and order status from your ERP

✅Orders your send to external systems and their test results

✅Full testing history and much more

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Want to digitalize your QC processes but unsure where to begin?

Get an expert evaluation of your laboratory →

P.S. Want to dive deeper? Check these out:

👉 Learn why LIS is not the same as LIMS and when each is essential

👉 Find out if an LRS alone can manage your lab process

👉 Compare LIMS vs ELN to see which boosts your lab’s efficiency

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Happy & safe lab work!

❤️ Greetings,

1LIMS Team

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