At a time when diagnostic bacteriological testing has become more complex and its associated costs are steadily increasing, the expected benefits of TLA cannot just consist in a simple transposition of the traditional manual procedures used to process clinical specimens. In contrast, automation should drive a fundamental change in the laboratory workflow and challenge users to reconsider all the approaches currently used in the diagnostic work-up (from receiving samples to communicating the results to the prescribing physicians). This thesis fits several purposes: 1. to highlight key issues faced when shifting to Total Laboratory Automation (TLA) 2. to illustrate the selected implementation steps without discontinuing the routine diagnostic service 3. to discuss the impact of TLA on various aspects following implementation: a- project management and change management b- training and adherence of our Technical Support team (technologists and biologists) c- managing the quality of the operational processes d- adjusting the workflow for efficiency e- assessing the impact of TLA on turnaround-times f- providing an outlook of the challenges following the implementation of TLA and an overview of the upcoming studies 4. to illustrate the implementation of a fully automated solution for antimicrobial disk diffusion susceptibility testing, and the clinical validation study performed before the implementation of this approach in our routine 5. to discuss the upcoming validation project of the EUCAST rapid AST using TLA, and its impact on the early adjustments of antimicrobials by physicians