What does your unmixing workflow really cost?

Most files unmix cleanly. It's the fraction that don't — the ones that send you back to run fresh controls, redo compensation, and burn extra time on the instrument — that quietly drive the cost. Estimate your true annual cost of manual spectral unmixing below.

▤Your lab

Files per month

Total FCS files processed across all panels

100

10500

Operator fully-loaded cost

Blended salary + benefits per FTE ($/yr)

⚠The problem tail

A minority of files don't unmix cleanly. Each can mean manual compensation, re-acquisition, and a fresh set of single-stain controls.

Share of files that need extra work

Files that fail clean unmixing on the first pass

20%

0%50%

Extra hands-on time per problem file

Compensation, re-unmixing, troubleshooting, running controls

50 min

0 min180 min

Problem files / yr

—

files needing rework

Scientist hrs / yr

—

hands-on

Your annual cost of unmixing

—

Adjust the parameters to see your estimate.

Cost driven by problem files

Base unmixing (labor)—

Compensation & rework—

New controls (reagents)—

Instrument time—

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How this is calculated. Every file carries a baseline analysis cost (~10 min hands-on). A configurable share are problem files that add the hands-on rework you set, ~20 min of extra instrument time at $125/hr, and — for ~60% of them — a fresh single-stain control set (~$90 in reagents). Defaults reflect a research-use 32-color human PBMC spectral panel. Labor rate = fully-loaded salary ÷ 2,080 hrs.

Illustrative, based on your assumptions and typical 32-color panel costs (reagents ~$35–200/sample, instrument $125/hr, ~30–40 min hands-on/sample). Replace with your figures. Contact Ozette for a personalized assessment.