How will your lab thrive through a recession?
Setting aside politics and personal party affiliations, or even individual thoughts on the economy; there will be some belt-tightening in the coming months for most companies—especially smaller businesses without as much liquidity as more giant corporations.
While it seems like a great segue into touting the value of our services, this is not the point of this email. There are many ways to conserve resources, and that is what I’d like to focus on below.
In the past decades, there has been a lot of focus on cutting back on the resources used in the offices and laboratories we all work in. It’s easy to forget the small changes that can save a lot in the long term. Here are some of the ways we have seen businesses reduce waste:
Solvents:
- Pre-mix solvents only when required
- Do not make large batches of solvents unless it is sure to be used up before expiration
- Always cover solvent containers
- Calculate the volume of solvent that will be used for a sequence, to reduce volumes placed in solvent bottles
- Use shutdown methods
- If possible, reuse waste solvents elsewhere
- Do not draw more RO/18 Ohm water than needed
- Fill glassware washers full before starting
Gas:
- Turn any applicable systems off over the weekend or when not in use for extended periods
- Transfer GC methods over to hydrogen, if possible (not as scary as you would think)
- Set shutdown methods
- Use gas saver options
- Check all gas lines for any leaks (especially older labs)
- Consider gas generators
Electricity:
- Shut systems/equipment off whenever possible, especially over the weekend
- Turn temps down for systems that cannot be turned off
- Turn off any Peltier systems/units while not in use
- All lights should have motion sensors
- All PCs should be powered down and/or using power management practices (Keeping in mind most laboratory software does not like some sleep settings. especially turning off the HDD)
- While many of the above may seem like commonplace procedures, you’d be surprised how few labs practice them. And there are bound to be other ideas that your coworkers/staff can implement fairly easily.
These are all small opportunities for your lab/business to save big for the next several quarters of economic uncertainty. Hopefully, you can put some of them in place and they will make a positive impact on you.