In the classic Aesop fable, “The Fox and the Grapes,” a fox desires some grapes hanging high overhead. When he is unable to come up with a way to reach them, he convinces himself that the grapes are probably sour and therefore not desirable anyway. “Sour grapes” has become an idiomatic expression to convey simply the universal human condition of feeling disdain for something that one could not attain.

During the past decade working with life sciences companies, we have seen our fair share of “sour grapes” applied to quality systems and, more specifically, laboratory automation. Although most life sciences and consumer health care companies are in a position to reap significant benefits through process improvements coupled with automation of their laboratories, the cost, resource requirements, and limited flexibility of their systems have remained largely unreachable and therefore, perceived as “sour.”

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