How labs run sample operations with Xavo
Xavo customers range from global pharma screening groups to biotechs that keep their inventory at CRO partners. Below are the problems they brought to us and how Xavo handles them.
Every case on this page comes from a customer project.
Compound management & screening supply
Compound and sample management teams supply assays every week. Plate formats rarely change, but the compounds, sources and volumes behind each request do. Xavo works out sources, volumes and layouts for each request and turns them into instructions for operators and liquid handlers.
Global pharma · Discovery sciencesPlate-based screening supply at scale
The challenge
A central sample logistics group supplies plate-based screening and DMPK groups with assay-ready plates. Requests differ in density, layout, controls and plate count, and the existing workflow tool could no longer keep up.
What Xavo does
- Plans and executes deliverables in 384- and 1536-well formats
- Supports custom compression and reference or control spots on every plate
- Derives multiple deliverables from a single mother plate
- Re-plans work around instrument outages and handles errors without restarting the run
- Replaced the earlier workflow manager, rolled out via test and stage environments with hypercare after go-live
Systems & equipment: liquid handlers, compound stores, corporate scheduling and IT systems
Precision oncology biotech · In-house compound managementFrom dry compound to assay-ready plate
The challenge
New compounds arrive as dry powder. Scientists need DMSO stocks, dilution series and assay-ready plates with controls. Each step used to involve manual lookups, solvent calculations and handwritten labels.
What Xavo does
- Looks up compound and concentration data automatically
- Calculates solvent volumes for the target concentration
- Guides transfers with barcode validation and range checks
- Prints labels by fixed rules and updates inventory in real time
- Generates device instructions, including acoustic dispensers, from the target layout
Systems & equipment: liquid handlers and acoustic dispensers, barcode scanners, label printers. Built in a co-innovation partnership with the customer.
Drug discovery biotech · Assay operationsPlating orders linked to the compound registration system
The challenge
Plating orders arrived as example layouts, while compound identity and batch data lived in a separate registration system. Every order meant copying data between systems by hand.
What Xavo does
- Executes plating orders computed from the requested layout
- Looks up containers by barcode directly in the registration system
- Parses results back into structured Xavo data
- Integration is configured at runtime through integration touchpoints, so changes don’t require a new release
Systems & equipment: compound registration system, liquid handlers, barcode scanners, cloud hosting with single sign-on
Distributed & outsourced sample networks
Many biotechs keep compounds and samples in their own lab, at CRO partners and in external storage. Xavo gives scientists one place to request material and keeps inventory consistent across all locations, including material in transit.
AI-driven drug discovery biotech · 3 sitesOne inventory across the home lab and two CRO partners
The challenge
Compound inventory was split between the company’s own lab and two CRO partners overseas. Nobody had a reliable view of what existed where, and orders to the CROs were coordinated by email.
What Xavo does
- Runs the home lab and both CRO inventories in one Xavo environment
- Transfers inventory and orders between the CRO systems and Xavo through dedicated integrations
- Compares all labs with the request layer every night and reports discrepancies
- Corrects discrepancies automatically where the data is unambiguous and flags the rest for review
Systems & equipment: CRO inventory systems, cloud hosting with production and test environments
AI-driven drug discovery biotech · RequestingAssay requesting across local and CRO inventories
The challenge
Scientists requested compounds for assays by email and spreadsheet, without knowing whether material was available locally or sat at a CRO.
What Xavo does
- Provides an assay request entry point and assay queue for every scientist
- Checks availability across local and CRO inventories when the request is placed
- Routes each request to the site that can fulfill it
- Rolled out with hands-on training for the requesting scientists
Systems & equipment: Xavo Requesting, CRO inventory integrations
Clinical-stage biotech · RequestingKeeping the request tool scientists already chose
The challenge
Scientists had already chosen a request front end and wanted to keep it. The inventory and fulfillment logic behind it still had to be reliable.
What Xavo does
- Connects the existing request front end to Xavo
- Handles inventory, availability and fulfillment behind the scenes
- Scientists keep the interface they know, while operations works from one system of record
Systems & equipment: third-party request front end, Xavo inventory and fulfillment
Global Logistics moduleShipment tracking between sites, CROs and external labs
The challenge
Tracking numbers for outgoing samples sit in individual inboxes, so it is hard to tell whether a plate reached the CRO on time.
What Xavo does
- Tracks packages by tracking number from dispatch to arrival, with live status and delivery confirmation
- Links each shipment to the containers and inventory it carries
- Can ingest tracking numbers automatically from partner shipment notifications
- Gives operations one view of everything in transit
Systems & equipment: courier tracking, partner shipment notifications, Xavo inventory
Production & service labs
In some labs the samples are the product: engineered cells, gene-editing reagents or compounds shipped to customers. Every handover affects whether orders ship on time and correct.
Gene-editing company · Production labFreezer management for plates, with as few clicks as possible
The challenge
Production plates for engineered cells and gene-editing kits move into and out of freezers all day. Locations were tracked by hand, and every lookup cost time.
What Xavo does
- Scan-in and scan-out workflows on a tablet at the freezer, with a cordless scanner
- Position and plate are scanned in one sequence, without a separate registration step
- Shows free space and the location of any plate
- Location queries are also available via API for internal software
Systems & equipment: freezers with rack, drawer and position barcodes, tablets, barcode scanners
Compound supplier · Order fulfillmentCompound order fulfillment from a large inventory
The challenge
Customer orders vary in compounds, amounts and formats. Each one has to be picked, prepared and shipped from a large stock quickly and without errors.
What Xavo does
- Resolves each order against current inventory and selects the right source containers
- Calculates the transfers needed for the requested format
- Guides picking and preparation with barcode validation
- Keeps inventory accurate after every order
Systems & equipment: compound stores, liquid handlers, barcode scanners
What these projects have in common
Standard formats, changing material
Layouts stay stable. Xavo resolves the sources, volumes and locations behind every request.
One system of record
Inventory stays consistent across the home lab, CRO partners and every freezer.
Works with existing systems
Registration systems, request front ends and CRO inventories stay in place, and Xavo connects to them.
Start with one module
Most customers start with one module and add requesting, logistics and automation later.
Does one of these cases sound like your lab?
Bring us your request type, plate specification, CRO setup or freezer layout.
We’ll walk you through how Xavo would handle it with your own formats and systems.