All Members Community

Hi Core friends,

We are looking at purchasing a new LIMS system here at UNC. Would you be willing to tell us what system you are currently using and your thoughts on the pros/cons of that system?

Meghan

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Meghan Kraft
Director of Research Core Facilities
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC
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We are close to deploying our new Lockbox LIMS (by Third Wave Analytics). We've been very pleased with the level of support and customization that we've received during our implementation process. Happy to chat more once our rollout happens and I get feedback from our end users

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Claire Hartmann
Director of Bauer Core
Harvard University
Cambridge MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2025 13:58
From: Meghan Kraft
Subject: LIMS system thoughts

Hi Core friends,

We are looking at purchasing a new LIMS system here at UNC. Would you be willing to tell us what system you are currently using and your thoughts on the pros/cons of that system?

Meghan

------------------------------
Meghan Kraft
Director of Research Core Facilities
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC
------------------------------

Hi Meghan,

Our Core is using LabCollector from AgileBio and is fairly happy with it. It has helped enormously with our sample management. It is easy to test out their online demo with a guest login, though the demo is a bit messy since many testers have configured it for wildly different things. I would suggest letting stakeholders try a demo for all of your LIMS candidates to get a feel for what functions are available and how each LIMS would work for them.

Pros:

We are a small core and being able to purchase only the basic package helped our budget. We would have liked to have some of the add-ons, but were able to configure it enough to meet our needs.

It is very customizable, and you can create custom modules and/or database fields to fit your requirements. Sample/equipment/reagent tracking (our heaviest usage) and purchase order management are part of the basic package.

We were able to set it up as a local installation with only minor help from IT with securing the server, and we maintain it on our own. If a bigger budget/IT support is available there is a large amount of functionality that can be purchased, and separate databases can be added for different groups.

It can be set up for either on-premise hosting or as a cloud service.

There are different access control levels available to prevent accidental changes, and compliance features as well.

Cons:

There is a learning curve, and configuring it will require reading all the manuals and the online help sections. Users will need to be trained on it.

It gets more expensive as the number of users rises. This being the only LIMS our Core has used, my knowledge of pricing for comparable products is out-of-date, so I can't say how competitive it is now.

When we purchased it, we got one of the last perpetual licenses. It is now offered only with SaaS pricing even if you are self-hosting.

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Daniella Wilmot
Research Associate IV
UMass Chan Deep Sequencing Core
Shrewsbury, MA
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2025 13:58
From: Meghan Kraft
Subject: LIMS system thoughts

Hi Core friends,

We are looking at purchasing a new LIMS system here at UNC. Would you be willing to tell us what system you are currently using and your thoughts on the pros/cons of that system?

Meghan

------------------------------
Meghan Kraft
Director of Research Core Facilities
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC
------------------------------

Hi Meghan,
Here at Dartmouth, we use the NuCore software, and we are part of the NuCore Consortium. The advantage of NuCore software is that it is an open-source software so you can download it and build upon it yourself at no cost. We like to use the NuCore Programmers Wyeworks to maintain and create new programing. As a member of the consortium, we share the cost of some new programming with the other members. However, if we need something specific for Dartmouth, we can work with Wyeworks just for our needs. Here is the address to the NuCore web site if you would like more information. I am also happy to talk to you more if you're interested. 

https://sites.northwestern.edu/nucoreconsortium/

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Christian Lytle
Co-Director Molecular Biology Shared Resource/Administrative Coordinator of Shared Resources
Dartmouth Cancer Center
Lebanon NH
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2025 13:58
From: Meghan Kraft
Subject: LIMS system thoughts

Hi Core friends,

We are looking at purchasing a new LIMS system here at UNC. Would you be willing to tell us what system you are currently using and your thoughts on the pros/cons of that system?

Meghan

------------------------------
Meghan Kraft
Director of Research Core Facilities
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC
------------------------------

Hi Christian,

Do you use NuCore for your LIMS system? I always thought NuCore was only a billing system?

Meghan

------------------------------
Meghan Kraft
Director of Research Core Facilities
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 06-10-2025 15:48
From: Christian Lytle
Subject: LIMS system thoughts

Hi Meghan,
Here at Dartmouth, we use the NuCore software, and we are part of the NuCore Consortium. The advantage of NuCore software is that it is an open-source software so you can download it and build upon it yourself at no cost. We like to use the NuCore Programmers Wyeworks to maintain and create new programing. As a member of the consortium, we share the cost of some new programming with the other members. However, if we need something specific for Dartmouth, we can work with Wyeworks just for our needs. Here is the address to the NuCore web site if you would like more information. I am also happy to talk to you more if you're interested. 

https://sites.northwestern.edu/nucoreconsortium/

------------------------------
Christian Lytle
Co-Director Molecular Biology Shared Resource/Administrative Coordinator of Shared Resources
Dartmouth Cancer Center
Lebanon NH

Original Message:
Sent: 06-06-2025 13:58
From: Meghan Kraft
Subject: LIMS system thoughts

Hi Core friends,

We are looking at purchasing a new LIMS system here at UNC. Would you be willing to tell us what system you are currently using and your thoughts on the pros/cons of that system?

Meghan

------------------------------
Meghan Kraft
Director of Research Core Facilities
University of North Carolina
Chapel Hill NC
------------------------------