A Cardiff-based drug, alcohol and DNA testing firm has seen an increase in output of sample testing since implementing key changes.

Lextox provides legally defensible hair drug and alcohol analysis, expert evidence and DNA paternity tests for family law and child care proceedings across England and Wales.

After experiencing growth of 30% year on year, Lextox wanted to ensure its excellent service level was maintained.

It was introduced to Welsh Government’s SMART Productivity scheme which is an innovation programme designed to boost Welsh businesses’ productivity through implementing new technology.

Provided by Welsh Government’s Innovation team, the support funds a three-day consultancy from an external innovation expert. At the end of this period, businesses receive a report identifying potential improvements to productivity such as new machinery, technology or software.

New support, launched this year, provides an additional five days of consultancy, assisting businesses with implementing the recommendations in the report.

Through this consultancy, Lextox was able to automate two steps within the testing process which will result in a further saving in time spent on processing each sample, and will deliver an improved customer service at a reduced cost.

Rachel Williams, laboratory manager at Lextox, said:

“While the increase in productivity is clearly of great benefit to the company, what really struck me about the outcome of the process is the improved engagement of the laboratory analysts, as we’ve been able to eliminate some manual tasks thanks to the new processes implemented.”

“The whole consultancy period was very straight-forward, and our consultant was highly knowledgeable about our field, she took the time to observe and understand the business without being intrusive and made strong recommendations based on her knowledge of existing equipment and techniques. Overall, the process was incredibly useful, reinforced areas for improvement already identified by the business, with the outcomes far out weighing the small amount of time required from our staff.”

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