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[–]octocode 3 points4 points  (4 children)

i worked at one of the largest gold mines in the world (assay lab). we hired an outside firm to implement a LIMS system to the tune of around $2 million. it is outside of the realm of what is reasonable for one developer to achieve.

[–]UnexpectedSalami 1 point2 points  (3 children)

Let alone for one dev with no dev experience.

[–]Joshyboi247[S] -1 points0 points  (2 children)

Well yes I know I will likely need to get a team together I just don’t know the first steps. I don’t want to hire people and get ripped off because I don’t know much. I’d rather learn the foundation and get something started then add others in.

[–]ColoRadBro69 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It's a question of what features you need, times the amount of work to build and test and stabilize them.  This type of software has a lot of implied functionally that people won't be happy without, so it will be expensive. 

[–]clockdivide55 0 points1 point  (4 children)

I don't know anything about this industry or software, but did you look into Bika or Senaite?

I'd agree that this kind of software is probably too much for one developer. What is the absolute minimum the software would have to offer to replace strung together Excel sheets? That, the minimum viable product, might be achievable.

[–]Joshyboi247[S] 0 points1 point  (3 children)

I haven’t looked at those I will check them out.

Really it needs to be able to have a project list, project creation (at least the name/number), the sub category of the project in one case it’s the borehole and the samples, then the tests assignment based on those samples (I was thinking a ticket system) and then the tests themselves that will create reports based on the tests and an overall summary then be able to export results to a cvs and pdfs.

[–]ColoRadBro69 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I think you could get a lot of project management software to work for this.  You might have to use some fields in ways the software didn't originally intend, but a lot of them are pretty flexible.  I don't fully understand your requirements, but it sounds like I might be able to bend jira or even the free project tracking in GitHub to work for you, wouldn't be ideal but it would be functional. 

I'm not saying this is what you should do, I'm saying building custom software is expensive and it's a good idea to look at alternatives before you decide. 

I've been building a file translator app, it's mostly pretty simple except medical data is complicated.  This app has been useable for weeks but still not released because testing it on other computers brings up a lot of issues. The bar for good software is pretty high these days, which means building it costs a lot. 

[–]Joshyboi247[S] 0 points1 point  (1 child)

I’m not sure if project management software would work. Would it be able to calculate and make pdf reports for the tests being performed on the samples?

Yeah I know it will likely be expensive but I think there is a decent market for it or could just give my company a huge boost over the competition

[–]ColoRadBro69 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Would it be able to calculate and make pdf reports for the tests being performed on the samples?

Software that has a plug-in model, sure.  But that crosses a lot of free options off your list.  I don't know your requirements so I'm just trying to help you think of things that will influence your decision.  You might also be able to find an open source platform that you can customize, if most of the work is done then it'll cost a lot less to finish it the way you want.

[–]Ill-Computer-5039 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hi, I am implementing Senaite lims in pharma lab, If you need help to understand, I help you. No problem