Data Preparation Sheet

Detailed Feasibility Study

Before You Begin

The Detailed Feasibility Study requires approximately 45-60 minutes to complete and produces a pre-bankable business case with NPV, sensitivity analysis, and a professional report. To ensure the highest quality output, we recommend gathering the data listed below before starting the assessment.

You will need 24 required data points and may optionally provide up to 56 total data points across 10 categories. The more data you provide, the more precise and defensible your feasibility study will be.

We suggest involving your facilities management, finance, and IT departments to gather the most accurate figures. The "Where to Find" column indicates the typical source for each data point.

1. Facility Overview

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Facility name and type	Internal records	Required
Location (city, state/country)	Internal records	Required
Operating hours per week	Facility management	Required
Facility age	Building records	Optional

2. Sample Inventory

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Total sample count	LIMS / inventory system	Required
Sample breakdown by type (DNA/RNA, tissue, blood, cell lines, other)	LIMS / inventory system	Required
Temperature distribution (% at ambient, +4°C, -20°C, -80°C, cryogenic)	LIMS / storage records	Required
Average retrievals per week	LIMS / operational logs	Required
Average retrieval time (minutes per sample)	Time studies / operational logs	Required
Annual sample growth rate (%)	Historical data / projections	Required
Projected sample count at 3 years and 5 years	Strategic planning	Optional

3. Staffing and Labor

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
FTEs dedicated to storage operations	HR / department records	Required
Fully loaded cost per FTE ($/year)	Finance / HR department	Required
Time allocation breakdown (% retrieval, inventory, maintenance, documentation, other)	Operational assessment / time studies	Optional
Overtime hours per month	Payroll records	Optional
Overtime rate ($/hour)	HR / payroll	Optional

4. Facility and Space

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Current storage footprint (sq ft)	Facilities management / floor plans	Required
Available expansion space (sq ft)	Facilities management	Required
Ceiling height (ft)	Building specifications	Optional
Floor load capacity (psf)	Building specifications / structural engineer	Optional
Cost per square foot per year ($/sq ft/yr)	Finance / lease agreements	Required
Proximity to laboratories	Facility layout	Optional
Known expansion constraints	Facilities management	Optional

5. Energy and Maintenance

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Annual kWh for cold storage equipment	Utility bills / sub-metering / facilities management	Required
Utility rate ($/kWh)	Utility bills / finance	Required
Number of manual ULT (-80°C) freezers	Equipment inventory	Required
Average freezer age (years)	Equipment records / asset register	Optional
Annual maintenance contract cost ($)	Finance / procurement	Required
Unplanned repair costs over last 3 years ($)	Finance / maintenance records	Optional
Primary cooling system type	Facilities / engineering	Optional

6. Sample Integrity and Risk

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Documented sample loss events (last 3 years)	Incident reports / quality records	Required
Estimated average value per sample ($)	Research team / finance	Required
Percentage of high-value / irreplaceable samples	Research team / LIMS	Optional
Insurance coverage for sample loss	Risk management / finance	Optional
Temperature excursion frequency	Monitoring system / incident logs	Optional
Current monitoring systems in use	Facilities / quality department	Optional

7. Compliance and Regulatory

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Applicable regulations (FDA, EU GMP, CAP, CLIA, ISO, etc.)	Quality / regulatory affairs	Required
Current compliance gaps	Quality / audit reports	Optional
Number of audit findings (last 2 cycles)	Quality / audit reports	Optional
Planned regulatory submissions	Regulatory affairs	Optional
Compliance deadlines	Regulatory affairs / quality	Optional

8. Sustainability and ESG

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Current refrigerant types in use	Facilities / equipment specifications	Optional
Estimated Scope 1/2 emissions from cold storage (tons CO2e/yr)	Sustainability office / facilities	Optional
Institutional sustainability target	Sustainability office / corporate strategy	Optional
Sustainability target deadline year	Sustainability office	Optional
Planned sustainability capital expenditure ($)	Finance / sustainability office	Optional

9. IT and Integration

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Current LIMS/BIMS system name	IT department	Optional
Integration requirements	IT / operations	Optional
IT security policies applicable to storage systems	IT security	Optional
Network infrastructure in storage area	IT department	Optional

10. Budget and Decision Context

Data Required	Where to Find	Priority
Capital budget authority ($)	Finance / department head	Required
Approval process timeline	Finance / procurement	Optional
Competing capital requests	Finance / department head	Optional
Preferred financial structure (purchase, lease, phased)	Finance	Optional
Discount rate / hurdle rate (%)	Finance / treasury	Required
Investment horizon (years)	Finance / strategic planning	Required

Ready to Start?

Once you have gathered the data above, you are ready to complete the Detailed Feasibility Study. The assessment will guide you through each section, and you can always estimate values where exact figures are not available. The system will note where estimates have been used.

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