Inventory
Items, lots, and stock with quantities per location, minimum-stock alerts, and 30/60/90-day expiry buckets.
When a Lab Needs More Than a Spreadsheet
Spreadsheets work while one careful person maintains them. The failure points are familiar: several people editing at once, expiry dates in someone's head, locations tracked by memory, and no history of who changed what. If your lab is asking "how much of X do we have?" and getting three different answers, you've outgrown it.
When a Traditional LIMS May Be More Than You Need
A LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) is built around workflows that process test results — accessioning, assay runs, result validation, reporting. Labs running accredited testing need exactly that. But many research labs don't run sample workflows like that, and paying for (and implementing) a LIMS to track reagents and freezer boxes is an expensive mismatch.
What ScientivoLab Helps You Manage
Samples
Location history, status, ownership, and aliquot relationships for every sample.
Equipment
Maintenance and calibration schedules with certificates, warranties, and due-date alerts.
SOPs
Versioning, approvals, effective dates, and per-version acknowledgements.
Plus a dashboard of what needs attention, role-based permissions, an audit trail, a REST API, and CSV import to bring your spreadsheet in.
ScientivoLab vs. a Traditional LIMS
| Dimension | ScientivoLab | Traditional LIMS |
|---|---|---|
| Target team size | Small and growing labs (5–50 people) | Mid-size to enterprise, regulated testing labs |
| Getting started | Create a lab, import items from CSV, then add lots and stock in the app | Configuration depends on the product and the lab's workflows |
| Inventory | Core: items, lots, stock, expiry, minimum stock | Varies; often secondary to test workflows |
| Samples | Identity, location history, status, owner, aliquots | Full accessioning, test batches, result workflows |
| Equipment | Records, maintenance, calibration, certificates | Varies; sometimes via separate modules |
| SOP workflows | Versioning, approvals, acknowledgements | Often via a separate document-control system |
| Integrations / API | REST API with OpenAPI docs | Deep instrument and enterprise integrations |
| Regulatory requirements | Provides audit trail and permissions; compliance depends on your lab's processes | Built for validated, regulated environments |
A Research Lab Example
A team receives a new reagent lot. In ScientivoLab, the item identifies the product, the lot records its batch and expiry date, and the stock record holds its quantity and location. The team can check low-stock and expiry alerts, while stock movements record quantity changes. That is an operations workflow. If the same team needs to accession specimens, run assays, validate results, and issue test reports, it needs a LIMS built for those workflows.
See the inventory workflow and the LIMS versus lab management guide for more detail.
Moving from a Spreadsheet
- Download the inventory worksheet to organize products, lots, quantities, and locations.
- Copy the products into the separate ScientivoLab item-import CSV.
- Upload and preview the items in ScientivoLab, then confirm the valid rows.
- Add lots, stock quantities, locations, and expiry dates in the app.
The CSV importer creates items, with optional categories and suppliers. It does not import lots or stock records.
Scope and Cost
ScientivoLab covers lab operations. It does not provide clinical accessioning, assay execution, test-result validation, or instrument-level integrations. Its audit trail and approvals do not by themselves make a lab compliant with a regulation.
Plans are priced per lab, with a free tier and published paid tiers. Compare plans and limits before deciding whether it fits your team.
Who Should Consider ScientivoLab?
- Biotech startups that need inventory and sample order, not test-result workflows — the biotech page
- Academic labs with shared stock and student turnover — the academic labs page
- Core facilities tracking equipment service and shared consumables
- Any lab that has outgrown spreadsheets but not into an implementation project
When a Traditional LIMS Is the Better Choice
If your lab accessions clinical or diagnostic samples, validates assay results, needs instrument-level integrations, or operates under regulatory requirements that demand a validated LIMS — buy the LIMS. Choosing less tool than your lab needs is its own failure mode, and we'd rather you make the right call.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. A LIMS manages lab workflows around sample test results; ScientivoLab manages lab operations — inventory, samples, equipment, and SOPs. For labs without test-result workflows, that's the part that actually needs a system.
A LIMS centers on processing samples through test workflows and reporting results. Lab management software centers on running the lab day to day: what you have, where it is, what's expiring, what's due for service, and which procedure version is current.
Yes, for items. Download the item-import CSV, add your products, then upload it to preview validation errors before confirming. Add lots, quantities, locations, and expiry dates separately in the app.
It provides mechanics labs use in their quality processes — audit trail, role-based permissions, versioning, approvals. Whether that satisfies your regulatory obligations depends on your lab's overall processes; no software purchase alone does it.
The middle path, without the LIMS project
Start free, import your items, and see if the operations workflow fits your lab.
Start free