Transforming Data Ecosystems & Building Long-Term Partnerships

How Karchem Consulting Solved A Biotech's Broken Data Model And Saved A Quarter-Million Dollars

The Challenge

Karchem Consulting was initially hired to help a pre-clinical gene therapy company integrate a laboratory software system for its lab. The client was having problems working directly with the vendor, and so Karchem was brought in to take over implementation. After about a year, the client was experiencing heavy data fragmentation through that system, as well as continued issues with the vendor, causing multiple disruptions for the lab. The system made it difficult for scientists to accurately track sequences, pre-clinical data, or outside data; in one instance, the lab had a sequence that was working well in a study, but because of the system's configuration, the sequence could not be found or reproduced. As a result, Karchem was tasked with transitioning the company off of the system and into an entirely new one. 

In addition, the lab as a whole had organizational challenges that needed to be addressed. Communication gaps from team-to-team within the lab led to samples becoming misplaced during hand-off, resulting in valuable research time being lost. The lab's inventory was also heavily disorganized, making it difficult for data to be retrieved in a timely manner. 

On top of it all, the client had two months until its next renewal fee of around $250,000 was due for its current lab software, creating a tight deadline for transitioning all of its data into a new system. 

The Approach

Karchem's biggest priority at the beginning of this engagement was to transition the client off of its existing lab software within two months and without losing any of the necessary functionality for scientists. The critical path at the onset was to develop a foundational  solution in a new system that could be in place within the deadline, which would then be further built upon and upgraded from there. 

To achieve this, Karchem needed to holistically understand the scientists' end-to-end workflows in order to begin crafting a new solution to fix the lab's scattered data issues that best suits its users. Karchem's team of consultants took time to learn every aspect of the client's research processes, including how data is recorded upstream, how it's handed off to subsequent teams, and what information is most vital to track. From this, Karchem was able to then structure that information into a new workflow database where it can be easily recorded and retrieved for additional analysis. This aspect was crucial to bridging the communication gaps between teams and making upstream-to-downstream data handoffs more efficient. 

Another important part of Karchem's approach within this engagement was addressing client skepticism and ensuring buy-in with the new system. The end users, although not in favor of the existing system, were nonetheless used to it, and so they were worried that the new lab software might not be an improvement. In addition, the difficulty of using the existing system caused scientists to waste too much time recording data, and so the lab's leadership was skeptical about a new software creating the same issue. 

The Solution

One of the first things that Karchem did to help with the client's data inventory issues, and as part of Karchem's signature white-glove service, was cleaning out the lab's freezers, printing barcodes for every container, and reorganizing everything into a system that made it much easier for scientists to locate samples when needed, saving the lab significant amounts of time and money. 

With the main priority being to prevent the client from having to pay another renewal fee, Karchem spent the first two months of the engagement crafting a basic solution within the new system (Benchling) that allowed the lab to move off of its previous system without any interruption to the scientists' workflows. After the lab was successfully transitioned into the new software, Karchem continued building up the data model over the next several months to ensure that upstream-to-downstream teams can record all main pieces of data and utilize Benchling to the fullest extent. Karchem leveraged its scientific expertise to understand the lab's research, and then used its technical knowledge to translate that information into system configurations. The result was a customized laboratory software that worked with the lab's scientists and their research, and allowed for highly effective and efficient data recording and storage compared to the old system.

Building A Partnership

Karchem's team worked to gain the client's trust through understanding the scientists and their research, as well as integrating closely into their day-to-day workflows. Through working with them side-by-side, Karchem was able to show them the importance of accurately recording research data, in addition to helping them get faster at it. At times, scientists expressed hesitancy with regards to the new lab software, preferring to stick to the system that they were more familiar with. In response, Karchem exhibited patience to work through the process with scientists and find the best solutions for them within the new system. This required tremendous adaptability and flexibility on Karchem's part, which helped them earn the client's trust and establish a strong partnership. With leadership, Karchem showed its value, as well as the value of the new lab software, through examples of end-to-end workflows and how data can be moved seamlessly from upstream to downstream. 

Thanks to the team's unique blend of scientific and technical expertise, Karchem became true partners with the client, leading to a long-term engagement mutually beneficial to both organizations. 

The Outcome

Owing to Karchem's hard work and dedication, the team was successful in moving the client off of its previous lab software within the two-month renewal deadline and saved them approximately $250,000. Following those two months, Karchem and the client established a long-term engagement that featured both long implementation cycles of new system upgrades, as well as a more agile approach with short-term sprints. 

In the words of the client: "The Karchem team overcame any challenge with grace and hard work. They made the seemingly impossible look effortless. They listened, made sure they had a good understanding of the work, and executed in an efficient and organized manner."

Conclusion

Karchem Consulting is an adaptable, responsive, and solutions-oriented team committed to achieving client goals and establishing strong partnerships. Karchem is made up of scientist consultants who provide white-glove service and build bridges within biotechs in order to implement highly transformative and impactful laboratory software systems. 

About Karchem Consulting

Solutions like this reflect Team KC’s broader mission to architect scientist-friendly systems that close the gap of scientific complexity with operational efficiency.

As a boutique informatics consulting firm, Karchem Consulting partners with life sciences organizations to solve the operational and technical challenges of modern R&D. We specialize in helping growing biotech companies bridge scientific workflows and digital infrastructure from ELN and LIMS implementations to data modeling, automation, and custom integrations.

Our team brings a unique blend of scientific understanding, platform expertise, and engineering fluency. We don’t just build tools; we work alongside our clients to understand their science, design fit-for-purpose solutions, and ensure those solutions scale as the organization grows.

Whether your team is registering complex biomolecules, structuring high-volume intake, or looking to automate key parts of your scientific platform, Karchem delivers solutions that reduce overhead, improve data quality, and let scientists focus on doing science.

To learn more or discuss how this framework could be adapted to your workflows, visit karchemconsulting.com.

Or contact us directly at:

info@karchemconsulting.com

1.844.527.2436