Laboratory information management system
- Turnaround at this load, working days
- 4
- Tests the week's samples need
- 360
- Analyst hours those tests take
- 120
- Bench hours available
- 150
Every figure on this page is computed from the inputs entered, by the method stated below it. Limslane publishes no accreditation rule, no method, no QC scheme and no retention period: the minutes, the costs, the schemes and the periods are yours, and the defaults are a worked example to replace with your own figures.
The figures above start from a worked example (4). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Laboratory information management system worked example (CSV)
This is a sample intake and turnaround sheet, the first figure a laboratory information management system has to get right: whether this week's samples fit on this week's bench. Samples received times tests per sample is the tests the week needs; times minutes per test over sixty is the analyst hours; analysts times bench hours is the capacity; hours over capacity is the utilisation; and five working days times that ratio is the turnaround the load implies. Every figure is yours; the sheet publishes no benchmark for turnaround or utilisation. Free, on the page, no account; the paid plan keeps every week's intake against the lab.
Hours needed against hours available
120 samples at three tests and 20 minutes is 120 analyst hours; five analysts at 30 bench hours is 150. The sheet works both so the imbalance is a number before a client is promised a date. Bench hours are hours at the bench, not hours employed; the difference is where turnaround goes to die.
Turnaround, worked from the ratio
At 80% utilisation a working week's samples take four working days to clear on the worked example; at 100% they take five and any extra sample waits for next week. The sheet returns the turnaround the load implies, which is the number to put beside the one the client was told.
Spare hours, and what they are for
150 hours less 120 is 30 spare bench hours a week: the room for a rush sample, a repeat, or the QC the quality control sheet on this site counts. A bench with no spare hours has no room for a failed batch, and the sheet shows the figure rather than hoping.
Laboratory information management system: common questions
Is this free laboratory information management system software?
It is a free sheet, not a system: enter samples, tests per sample, minutes per test, analysts and bench hours, and it works the tests, the hours, the capacity, the utilisation, the turnaround and the spare hours on the page with no account and no card. Limslane Pro adds your lab's name and keeps every week's intake against the record.
How is laboratory turnaround time calculated?
From the load and the capacity: the analyst hours the week's samples need over the bench hours available, times the working days in the week. 120 hours over 150 across five days is four days on the worked example. Whether that meets the client's expectation is the lab's decision; the sheet shows the figure.
What bench hours should I enter?
The hours each analyst actually spends at the bench in a week, not their contracted hours: the worked example uses 30 of a 40-hour week to leave room for review, calibration and admin. The sheet publishes no rule and shows what any figure implies.
Limslane Pro
Keeping what you make
The sheets are free forever. Pro turns them into the record: every sample from receipt to report with its status, every result against the sample it belongs to, every reagent lot with its expiry, every instrument with its next calibration, your lab's name and logo on the printed sheets, no watermark, and an export when the auditor or the client asks.
- Download as PDF
- No Limslane watermark
- Save every sheet and reopen it later
- Your lab's name and logo on the paperwork
- Export every sheet and every record in one go
- Calibration-due, lot-expiry and result-ready reminders emailed to the lab and the client
- Connect your own Stripe account and get paid online
- Connect your QuickBooks Online or Xero
$39per month, whole lab
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Cite or embed this figure
Laboratory information management system (Turnaround at this load, working days): 4, Limslane, worked example.
Cite as: "Laboratory information management system, Limslane", updated 2026-09-04, https://limslane.com/tools/laboratory-information-management-system/.