Thread by @CterminiPhD

Week 7: the method behind the madness. My #TheLabEdit tools are inspired by past system failures that created chaos/stress and wasted time/money. I don’t think there is one way to keep track of ordering/inventory, but this is what works for us. (1/n)

Ordering starts on a shared Excel spreadsheet hosted on Google Sheets before going into the Fred Hutch system. Items are added onto the spreadsheet, inputting the date, your name, item category, informal item description, formal item name, vendors, catalog number and a link (2/n)

Is this extra? Maybe, but having the details readily accessible helps know what came from where and makes re-ordering a breeze. I made dropdown for common categories of stuff in the lab. I hope to use this annually to assess spending by category. (3/n)

Other important info: quote number, price (useful to easily copy/share when someone tries to price gauge your new PI friends or to track inflation💸😒), funding used, PO/order# (for tracking that item you swear you ordered but never came). (4/n)

Now to the color coding: I needed a good mechanism to visualize backorders and items we are waiting for. By making the cell red, we know the item is not coming anytime soon… so either search for an alternative or push the experiments that needs it. (5/n)

Most important cells are the last few: date of arrival, received by, and location upon receipt. When a package arrives, grab the lab iPad, use “Command + F” to search for the Cat# from the pack slip, put the item away and annotate where. Documentation! (6/n)

You may again think I’m being extra by numbering the bays (1-4), bench stations (1A-4B), and desk stations (1-6), but specificity is key for this system to work. Same with fridges – shelves are numbered, boxes are labeled. I don’t play around - we know where things are. (7/n)

In summary, I’ve been burned by inadequate record keeping in poorly managed labs and I’m trying to prevent my team from having to go through that as we build our lab. Command + F is a way of life. I hope this will also make the passing of batons to new lab members seamless. (8/n)

Benefits: detailed record keeping, easy to share, simplifies re-ordering, enables targeted budgeting, you get to play with an iPad, prevents double orders, enables oversight when needed.

Non-benefits: takes time and commitment by all lab members to actually work. (9/n)