Lab Software · Integration

Lab Systems Integration: SiLA 2, LIMS, ELN, and Beyond

QPillars builds standards-compliant integration layers for laboratory instruments and informatics. SiLA 2, MCP, vendor SDKs - we contribute back to the open-source ecosystem, openapi-to-sila2 on PyPI is ours.

Scope Your Integration See openapi-to-sila2 on PyPI

What We Integrate

Four integration shapes the lab-automation market actually buys.

SiLA 2 Server Implementation

We implement SiLA 2-compliant servers for instruments that do not yet speak the standard. We are open-source contributors to the SiLA ecosystem - openapi-to-sila2 on PyPI is ours, Apache 2.0.

Vendor SDK Integration

We wrap proprietary vendor SDKs (Hamilton, Tecan, Beckman, and others on request), serial / GPIB / CAN protocols, and REST or gRPC APIs into clean, typed integration layers. The instrument firmware does not change; we own the translation.

LIMS / ELN Integration

Connect instruments to the LIMS or ELN you have - via its REST API or SiLA 2 gateway. Each integration is built specifically for the LIMS in front of us, so the schema mapping and auth boundaries fit your environment. Bidirectional data flow, mapping, and audit-trail requirements your QMS expects.

MCP for AI-Native Integration

Model Context Protocol (MCP) is the AI-native integration layer arriving in 2025-2026. We expose your instruments as MCP tools so any AI agent can discover and operate them - human-in-the-loop required.

What our clients say

“

What impressed me the most about them is their passion to deliver good products. QPillars has been an integral part of our team - their deep understanding of instrument software has been transformative for our product development.

Dr. Andreas Frutiger

VP of R&D, Lino Biotech AG

“

Their rapid understanding of our needs, agile way of working, and communication stood out. They delivered exactly what we needed - reliable, well-engineered software for our LigandTracer instruments.

Jos Buijs

CEO, Ridgeview Instruments AB

Frequently Asked Questions

Lab systems integration connects instruments, LIMS, ELN, data lakes, and cloud platforms so data flows between them automatically. The hardest part is the protocol layer - SiLA 2, vendor-specific drivers, REST/gRPC APIs - and the validation requirements that come with regulated environments.

Most LIMS expose REST APIs or vendor-specific SDKs. We build a bidirectional bridge: instrument data flows up to LIMS (results, run metadata, audit events) and LIMS flows down to instrument (sample assignments, methods, schedules). The complexity is in mapping schemas - SiLA 2 and proprietary structures rarely match LIMS data models 1:1, so a translation layer is required.

A first SiLA 2 server for a single instrument runs 6-12 weeks depending on instrument complexity and the maturity of the underlying API. We have an open-source accelerator - openapi-to-sila2 - that converts OpenAPI specifications to SiLA 2 Feature Definition Language, cutting the FDL boilerplate from weeks to hours.

Yes - that is most of our work. We wrap proprietary APIs (REST, gRPC, serial, vendor SDKs) in a SiLA 2 server so the instrument speaks the standard your downstream systems expect. The instrument firmware does not change; the integration layer takes the translation work.

MCP (Model Context Protocol, an open standard backed by Anthropic and rapidly adopted across AI agent frameworks) is the integration layer for AI-native workflows. It exposes instrument capabilities to AI agents the way SiLA 2 exposes them to LIMS. We typically build both - SiLA 2 for the LIMS world, MCP for the AI-agent world - sharing the same underlying instrument-control logic.

Have an instrument that needs to speak SiLA 2?

Send us your API spec or vendor SDK documentation. We will scope a SiLA 2 integration in one week, fixed-price.

Get a Scoping Engagement