A LIMS system for a laboratory is a record of every sample from the moment it arrives to the day it is disposed of, and the arithmetic that record makes possible. Vendors describe it as a platform; the bench experiences it as the answer to four questions asked every day: where is this sample, what tests does it still need, has its result been reviewed, and can we take on next week's work. A small laboratory answers those questions from a register, a whiteboard and a spreadsheet today, and it is the spreadsheet this page is about, because that is where the arithmetic lives. The sections below walk what the system holds, what it should compute rather than merely store, and how the free sheets on this site work those figures for a bench of any size without an account.
The record: a sample from receipt to disposal
The system's spine is the sample record. It carries who sent the sample, when it was booked in, what tests were ordered, which batch each test ran in, which instrument and reagent lot were used, what the result was, who reviewed it, when it was reported, where it sits in the freezer and when its retention ends. ASTM's laboratory informatics guide describes exactly that chain of custody and data integrity as the purpose of the system, and a small lab's paper register carries the same fields in a different order. What a LIMS adds is that the fields are linked, so a question about one sample or one instrument is a lookup rather than a search.
What it should compute, not just store
A record that only stores is a filing cabinet. The system a small lab needs works the figures the manager otherwise does by hand: the analyst hours this week's samples need against the bench and the turnaround that gives, the cost of a test with overhead in it and the margin at the price, the share of the bench the quality controls take, how many months the freezers have left, what leaves retention this month, and what the year's calibration costs. Each of those is a free sheet on this site, and together they are the specification of what the system's arithmetic has to do. A vendor demo that cannot show those numbers from the lab's own inputs has shown the cabinet.
How to size the decision for a small lab
Start from the intake sheet: samples a week, tests per sample, minutes per test, analysts and bench hours. The sheet returns the hours the week needs, the bench's capacity and the turnaround. That figure sizes everything else: a bench at 80% with 30 spare hours can absorb the system's own admin; a bench at 100% needs the system to save hours before it costs any. The guide this page supports walks the rest of the choice: the record, the computation, the printing and the export. Limslane Pro keeps the record for a small lab at one flat price and prints under the lab's own name; the sheets stay free either way.
Questions people ask about lims system laboratory
What is a LIMS system in a laboratory?
The record of every sample from receipt to disposal, linked to the tests, batches, instruments, reagent lots, results and reviewers it touched, plus the arithmetic that record allows: capacity, turnaround, cost per test, QC share, storage and calibration. The free sheets on this site work the arithmetic; the paid plan keeps the record.
Does a small laboratory need a LIMS?
It needs the record and the arithmetic; whether it needs an enterprise system to get them depends on the bench. Work the intake sheet first: a two-analyst lab at 80% utilisation with spare hours can run the sheets and keep the record in Limslane Pro; a lab with instrument interfaces to manage needs the enterprise kind.
What does a LIMS system cost?
Enterprise systems are quoted after a scoping call, so this site publishes no figure for them. Limslane Pro is $39 a month for the whole lab, and every sheet on the site is free with no account.