Lab Relocation Consultants: Laboratory Relocation from Start to Finish
The efficient harmonization and careful planning required to successfully negotiate a laboratory relocation can be challenging. Bound by a set of complex, interconnected activities and strict timelines, getting your instrumentation from point A to point B safely and on schedule requires a well-executed plan. Your relocation has an origin and a destination, and your relocation support plan should as well. With relocation support from experienced consultants, you can focus on your scientific and business goals knowing that you have lab asset and multi-vendor instrument service experts mitigating the risks and downtime that can accompany a relocation. Here is what your consultant’s relocation support plan should include.
Communications Management for Laboratory Relocation
Establishing communication channels is a top priority. In conjunction with the laboratory personnel team and any contractors, your relocation engineers will develop a process to identify and develop the procedures for decommissioning and recommissioning the instrumentation during the planning and the actual move. This communication plan will also include extensive employee outreach to accomplish the necessary procedures. Your relocation consultants should also provide periodic, written updates in terms of the process and schedule, including new systems and milestones, as well as briefing key personnel on the relocation and new facility.
Laboratory Operations Research
Understanding the needs and operations of your specific lab is crucial. Implementing a discovery process comprised of interviews and questionnaires of key laboratory administrative employees will help to ensure a full understanding of each particular operational requirement. These requirements also include support services like existing maintenance contracts, warranties, PM schedules, and more. This discovery process will also outline any security requirements and mover responsibilities.
Laboratory Relocation Planning & Scheduling
Once a communication plan is established, and the operational needs are identified, planning the actual relocation can begin. Ensuring the continuity of operations while minimizing disruptions and downtime are the top priority. This comprehensive plan should cover all key logistical elements including operational requirements, critical environments, migration of specialized equipment, special equipment vendor engagement, lab schedules and cycles, and more. Your relocation plan should contain everything from packaging and labeling to the final placement of assets at the destination.
Scheduling is a crucial, strategic factor in laboratory relocation. Specific time allocations need to be addressed for each unit that will be moved. Your relocation schedule will include specific lab operational parameters, time and testing constraints, protocols, redundancies needed for multiple-move phases, equipment warranty-vendor requirements, equipment hook-up, equipment testing, and equipment recertification. Lastly, the schedule also needs to be coordinated with the mover and management of the new building.
Laboratory Relocation Budget Development
Of course, as a business, budgeting for an undertaking as important and complex as a relocation is vital. Your relocation consultant should help you develop a budget, offering expert insight and accounting for all direct and indirect costs associated with the migration. As the relocation process unfolds, the budget should be monitored and refined to reduce costs. Vendors and sub-contractors should also provide unit costs for their work, accounting for common scenarios that can increase expenses. All facets of the move need be considered, such as specialty vendors that will be required for the relocation and reinstallation/calibration/certification of your equipment as required by quality assurance and quality control.
Laboratory Relocation Management and Execution
Finally, once the previous steps have been established and put into place, it’s time to move. This part of the process begins by performing a physical inventory of all equipment and accessories. Supplementing inventory documents with photos and video is recommended. The creation of a relocation database is also essential. Categorizing and identifying each asset with a unique number and procedure category is step one. Your categories should include: items that require a special coordinator with a vendor representative, items that can only be off-line for a short period of time and need specific transportation requirements, and items that must be placed in a specific destination location. This database should be reviewed periodically to ensure accuracy.
Once these steps are taken, the actual moving begins. Any unscheduled, user-packed office and laboratory and other loose items, as well as packing equipment and labeling systems, are collected. Lab personnel and movers are overseen and managed by your relocation specialists for the de-installation, relocation, and reinstallation of all equipment at the destination. On-site supervision should also be provided at both the existing and new lab sites throughout the relocation process. To finish, a punch list should be provided documenting all items that left the existing lab and their proper location and connection at the new lab.
Laboratory relocation can be a daunting task with many intricate, moving parts. Leave this work to the experienced professionals that can provide peace of mind. Overbrook provides the support and expertise that lab managers and other stakeholders need in order to stay focused.
