Lims sample management
- Months until the freezers are full
- 9
- Vials the freezers hold
- 23,328
- Occupancy today, percent
- 64
- Free vial positions
- 8,328
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 (9). Change any input and the answer updates as you type.
Download the Lims sample management worked example (CSV)
This is a sample storage sheet, the piece of LIMS sample management that says when the lab buys its next freezer. Freezers times racks times boxes times vials per box is the capacity; vials stored over capacity is the occupancy; capacity less stored is the free positions, and over vials per box the free boxes; and free positions over vials added per month is the months until full. Every figure is yours; the sheet publishes no rule about how full a freezer should run. Free, on the page, no account; the paid plan keeps every sample's freezer, rack, box and position against the sample.
Capacity, to the vial
Three freezers of eight racks of twelve boxes of 81 vials is 23,328 positions on the worked example. The geometry is an input because racks and boxes differ by freezer; a lab with two sizes runs the sheet twice and adds.
Occupancy and the free positions
15,000 stored is 64% occupancy and 8,328 free positions, 103 free boxes. The free-box figure is the one the bench uses, because samples go in by the box; the sheet returns both.
Months until full
8,328 free positions over 900 vials a month is nine months. The figure is the lead time on the next freezer, or on the disposal run the retention sheet on this site works; the sheet shows it so neither arrives as a surprise.
Lims sample management: common questions
How do I work out sample storage capacity for a LIMS?
Freezers times racks per freezer times boxes per rack times vials per box; subtract the vials stored for the free positions; divide by the vials added per month for the months to full. The free sheet on this site works all of it from six figures with no account.
How full should a freezer run?
The sheet does not say, on purpose: a freezer that must hold a client's retained samples for a year runs differently from one holding this month's batch. The worked example runs 64% to show the arithmetic. Compare your freezers against each other.
Does Limslane track where each sample is?
Limslane Pro keeps each sample's freezer, rack, box and position against the sample and works this sheet on the live count. The free sheet works the capacity from the geometry and keeps nothing.
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.
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Cite or embed this figure
Lims sample management (Months until the freezers are full): 9, Limslane, worked example.
Cite as: "Lims sample management, Limslane", updated 2026-09-04, https://limslane.com/tools/lims-sample-management/.