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Today’s healthcare sector is experiencing a growing demand for increasingly sophisticated laboratory testing procedures. With pressure to keep budgets lean, many laboratories are being asked to increase performance in terms of the diversity and volume of tests. The goal these days is to maximise output while minimising “cost per reportable.” Automated laboratories offer the potential for improving flexibility, efficiency, cost effectiveness and productivity. They enable a greater number and wider range of tests to be carried out by fewer people. Systems like these can deliver the all-important lower cost per reportable, while providing greater capacity. The downside is that an automated laboratory system does not come cheap, with the initial capital investment in a fully automated, customised system running into six- or seven-figure sums.