Handwriting labels for 27 bags and tubes per order isn't a failure of attention — it's a failure of process. No matter how careful your team is, manual steps create exposure. Brian Griffeth, Director of Operations at Level One Labs in Scottsdale, Arizona, knew this. So he fixed it.

The short version: Level One Labs has been running on Confident LIMS since 2018. In that time, they’ve slashed sample prep time by over 50%, virtually eliminated transcription errors, and built a workflow that adapts to Arizona’s ever-changing cannabis regulations — sometimes within a single day.

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A Small Team Holding Its Own

Level One Labs isn’t a massive operation. Ten employees — six in the lab, three on the business side, one in sales. They serve both large producers and home growers across Arizona’s cannabis market, and they’ve carved out a reputation by staying lean, accurate, and fast.

"We maintain our volume but stay competitive. The key is having systems that can scale with us without creating chaos."— Brian Griffeth

Before Confident, that scaling came with friction. Sample labels were handwritten. Data moved between spreadsheets manually. Every handoff was a chance for something to go wrong — and in a regulated industry, “something going wrong” means more than a headache. It means audit findings, client complaints, and wasted hours fixing what should’ve been right the first time.

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They Tried a Competitor First. It Didn’t Go Well.

Level One Labs didn’t land on Confident by accident. They evaluated other options — including one platform that promised a 90-day implementation.

"They told us we’d be up and running in 90 days. Six months later, we were still waiting. The software wasn’t usable, and they couldn’t handle Arizona’s specific requirements."— Brian Griffeth

That experience shaped what Brian’s team looked for next: a platform that could actually deliver on implementation timelines, handle state-specific compliance requirements, and — maybe most importantly — be something their clients would actually want to use.

Confident checked every box. “AZ is run by Confident,” Brian puts it bluntly. “Confident filled the needs for Arizona’s compliance regulations that other LIMS could not deliver on.”

They also looked into others lims later on, but stayed put. The reason? Their clients already knew and loved the Client Portal. Switching would’ve meant disrupting the one thing their clients praised most.

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Where the Real Impact Shows Up

The transformation wasn’t dramatic in the Hollywood sense. It was dramatic in the operational sense — the kind of change that compounds every single day.

Labels That Don’t Lie

Before Confident’s labeling feature, Brian’s team handwrote labels for every sample. For a typical order of 27 bags and tubes, that took 10 minutes and 39 seconds. With Confident’s automated label printing on a Zebra printer, the same task now takes 4 minutes and 33 seconds.

52.7% reduction in prep time. Per order. Every day.

"It’s phenomenal when getting ready for orders. When samples come in the door, we can quickly get them checked in and ready for analysis. Labels have been a huge help for the reduction of transcription errors and efficiently processing samples."— Brian Griffeth

Data That Flows Where It Should

The second major shift came with automated data importing. Before this feature, results were entered manually — and occasionally ended up attached to the wrong sample entirely.

"When you’re writing numbers all day, we’re all human — things get mixed up and create problems down the line. The stickers and importers have been super helpful in preventing those issues before they start."— Brian Griffeth

When Confident configured their instrument import files, it took a few weeks. The competitor they’d previously tried? Over six months for the same task.

Regulatory Changes on the Lab’s Timeline

Arizona’s cannabis regulations shift frequently. For most labs, that means scrambling. For Level One, it means a quick call to Confident’s support team.

"There was a specific instance where the state asked for updates to reporting logic. Confident had the updates ready for us within a day. Dealing with the service team is always easy and painless."— Brian Griffeth

That configurability — the ability to adjust workflows, reports, and compliance logic without rebuilding from scratch — is what Brian values most.

"The flexibility of configuration within Confident is very beneficial when going through mandated regulatory changes and requested changes by their clients. Confident makes addressing audit findings and mandated regulatory updates a breeze."— Brian Griffeth

Clients Who Stick Around

In cannabis testing, your clients have options. What keeps them coming back isn’t just fast turnaround — it’s how easy you make their experience.

Most of Level One’s clients place their own orders through Confident’s Client Portal. Home growers, large producers, long-standing accounts — they all use it. Brian’s heard the alternative firsthand: “Labs in our area created their own platforms, and we kept hearing horror stories about how horrible they were to use.”

With Confident, new clients can create an account and start placing orders without a tutorial. That simplicity translates directly to client retention.

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Six Years and Counting

Level One Labs has been on Confident since 2018. They’ve watched the platform evolve from what Brian describes as “an ordering platform” into a full laboratory information management system (LIMS).

"Confident has definitely stepped up their game in terms of becoming an actual LIMS as opposed to an ordering platform. It’s been improving and on the constant up and up."— Brian Griffeth

After six years, the math is simple: faster sample prep, fewer errors, instant compliance updates, and clients who prefer the experience. For a 10-person lab competing in a consolidating market, that’s not just efficiency. That’s a competitive edge.

If your lab is still wrestling with manual processes, slow implementations, or clunky client experiences, the question isn’t whether you can afford to switch. It’s whether you can afford not to. 

Level One's story isn't unique — it's just one they were willing to share. Hundreds of labs across the country are running on Confident right now, solving the same problems Brian's team solved in 2018.

Curious what Confident could look like in your lab? Get a demo — we'll walk you through it, no pressure, no pitch deck.