Free, no signup
Spin the LIMS Cog
Spin to see a real LIMS compliance or project issue and why it matters.
Spin the wheelResources
Resources
The CogBlog™, downloadable guides, case studies, and the InCogSights™ newsletter, distilled from 30+ years of LIMS and lab informatics project experience.
From the CogBlog™
Read the latest on LIMS and lab informatics
Practical, opinionated posts on LIMS selection, implementation, and regulatory compliance, written from 30+ years in the field.
Interactive
Free and open to everyone. Separate from CogTools™, which includes tools reserved for Cogsult clients.
Guides
Downloadable, practical guides on getting LIMS implementations right.
Featured guide
LIMS Vendor Selection: A Practical Guide for Lab Leaders
A step-by-step LIMS vendor selection process from 30 years on both sides of the table: requirements, shortlists, scripted demos, TCO, and red flags.
LIMS Use Case Template
A blank Word template with all 15 sections and a one-line rule for each, plus a walkthrough of how to fill it in.
5 Questions to Ask Every LIMS Vendor
A LinkedIn-ready carousel guide: the five questions that cut past a polished demo to what a LIMS implementation will actually look like, one idea per slide.
Top 10 LIMS Implementation Mistakes
The mistakes I see most often across LIMS projects, and what to do instead.
Case Studies
Real engagements, with the challenge, approach, and measured outcome behind each one. Read the full write-up in the Case Studies section.
Specialty Chemicals
Global LIMS Rollout for a Specialty Chemical Manufacturer
A seven-country, six-language WinLIMS rollout that cut product release time by 28% and still runs in production 20 years on. How I reconciled one global system design with real site-level differences in workflow, language, and regulation.
Pet Food Manufacturing
Fast-Track LIMS Implementation for a Pet Food Manufacturer
How I moved a pet food manufacturer off spreadsheets and paper and onto a validated LIMS, live in QC in under four months. A look at what a disciplined, KISS-scoped implementation actually takes.
InCogSights
InCogSights: LIMS across every platform and industry, roughly every other week, from someone who has sat in nearly every seat at the table. Subscribe on LinkedIn →
InCogSights · Issue 4
MVP: Minimally Viable or Meaningfully Viable?
Every LIMS vendor pitches a fast, minimum-viable go-live, and that's not bad advice on its own. This issue is about what that pitch leaves out: the data model, naming conventions, specs, and security roles aren't features you can phase in later, they're the foundation, and fixing one after go-live costs at least three times what getting it right the first time would have.
InCogSights · Issue 3
A Great LIMS Can't Beat Bad Data
Every LIMS project budgets a few weeks for data migration, and it's never a few weeks. This issue breaks down what actually blows up a migration: scattered sources, dirty data, workflow debt carried forward out of habit, and validation that's really just a spot-check in disguise, plus why sometimes the right call is leaving old data behind entirely.
InCogSights · Issue 2
One More Thing: When Scope Creep Becomes Scope Leap
A single line in a statement of work turned into a project-altering scope change, and it happens more often than most SOWs account for. This issue breaks down the four tells that separate a small ask from a 'scope leap,' and why catching them early comes down to experience, not process.
InCogSights · Issue 1
Every Seat at the Table: What 30 Years in LIMS Actually Teaches You
The debut issue of InCogSights, a biweekly newsletter on LIMS across every platform and industry. Matt Citardi introduces the perspective behind it: 30+ years spanning bench chemist, customer-side project lead, and vendor-side implementer, now independent. This issue starts with WinLIMS/eLIMS and what three decades with one platform teaches you that no training manual covers.
Looking for something more hands-on? Explore CogTools™ for interactive tools like VendorFit 4D™ and ProjectPrep 4D™.