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Lab Logistics: Steps to Take to Relocate Your Laboratory

packing up a science lab

At first, the thought of relocating your whole lab can be rather overwhelming. You may have been working in the same space for a number of years, and you know exactly where everything is right off the top of your head. With that said, laboratory relocation is a common experience, as change is inevitable in just about every industry. If you are facing an upcoming move and don’t know how to get started, we hope the tips below will help.

Start with Inventory

This should be the first step you take, and you should get going as soon as you know that the move is going to occur. By definition, a lab is going to have a lot of things that need to be inventoried, so this is quite possibly going to take a lot of time and effort. First, you’ll have the physical equipment that you use for your experiments – some of which is sure to be quite expensive. You may already have some form of inventory in place for all of your gear, but make sure it is up to date and accurate.

Also, there are the materials you use in the lab that will need to be counted and tracked. Depending on the focus of your work, it may be that some of these materials are hazardous, so keep that in mind and be working on a plan to safely and legally transport them to your next location.

Reduce the Size of the Move

One of the nice things about a relocation is that it can serve as an opportunity to pare down the size of your inventory and get rid of a few things that you no longer need. Maybe there are some materials which are used up and simply need to be disposed of in a responsible manner. Or, there might be a few pieces of equipment that are no longer required in your lab and can be sold on the used market. Reducing inventory will make the move easier and it will also help you to avoid cluttering up your new space unnecessarily.

Create a Comprehensive Plan

When you move from one home to the next in your personal life, you can afford to take a more casual approach, knowing that you’ll eventually find everything you need, like your toaster or blender. Such a relaxed approach is not appropriate for a lab move, however, as you need to get back up and running right away in your new location. With that in mind, create a detailed plan for how everything is going to be moved, when it will be moved, and who will do the moving. Including even the smallest details in your plan will help everyone stay on the same page from start to finish.

Be Flexible

Finally, remember that it’s nearly certain that something will go wrong along the way. Despite your careful planning efforts, something will go off-track – and that’s okay. Use your plan to get straightened out and be patient while working toward a successful conclusion.

As an expert laboratory logistics service provider, BaneBio offers multiple services to help simplify your laboratory relocation needs. Contact us today to learn more about packing, delivery, installation and much, much more!