In many industrial companies, laboratory progress determines when and with which quantities production can start. However, more and more raw materials, materials and preliminary products are subject to ever stricter quality requirements. The scope of testing is increasing accordingly. And the variance of the orders anyway.
Optimal utilization of testing capacities is therefore critical to business. For this purpose we offer the laboratory information system QDA LIMS, which is part of the CAQ suite QDA. Our laboratory software integrates the measuring equipment and the business IT of your company so that you can automate large parts of your process organization. This reduces throughput times and the costs of testing operations. At the same time, the quality of the data increases. And the speed at which your production gets the necessary approvals.
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The laboratory resource management of our LIMS uses the order data of your production planning. This allows you to keep the interval between sampling and test release as short as possible.
Integrated laboratory planning calculates the optimum sequence of test orders. The starting point is the higher-level production planning. Its quantity structure serves as a guideline for the allocation of available personnel, qualifications and laboratory equipment. Building on this, we offer you a detailed planning solution that allows you to compensate for short-term fluctuations in your planning parameters (e.g. due to machine or personnel downtime) in a resource-saving manner.
Our laboratory software controls and monitors all test processes, reacts to deviations and ensures compliance with standard specifications.
The LIMS system provides standard-compliant workflows for all laboratory operation tasks – from drawing the sample to analysis work to archiving the test certificates. In addition, the laboratory software controls all validation and release processes. If process steps are executed incorrectly or incompletely, the integrated escalation management starts.
Industry standards such as ISO 9001:2008, IEC 17025 and FDA 21 CFR Part 11 are met as standard with GermanedgeQDA LIMS. You can map additional customer-specific requirements yourself at any time using our application composer. And: If test specifications change, only the master template needs to be adapted.
The laboratory information system gives you full transparency on the processing status of all test orders.
The LIMS software provides resilient real-time information on the progress of current testing operations. Our status dashboard makes it transparent since when which samples have been available to the lab, where the testing process currently stands, and when results can be expected. When important milestones are reached, the LIMS notifies the process participants on the end device of their choice.
The LIMS system organizes the handling of analysis samples in compliance with standards.
The laboratory information system sends a message to the workers on their tablet when which sample is to be drawn. The sample is scanned and automatically assigned to the associated test order. Workflow management ensures that analysis work can begin immediately after the sample is drawn. After the tests have been completed, the samples are stored as retained samples with the corresponding batch assignment. Audit-proof storage of the test documents takes place in a process-oriented document management system that is part of our CAQ suite QDA.
In interaction with gauge management, GermanedgeQDA LIMS ensures the validity of inspection results.
In addition, the LIMS synchronizes itself with the gauge management, another module of our eQMSCAQ suite. The synchronization process required for this runs fully automatically in the background. This ensures that your laboratory only works with correctly calibrated test equipment and thus obtains comparable measurement results at all times.
In the event of measurement deviations, our complaints management takes action. Suppliers can also be integrated into this in compliance with standards (including 8D).
If a sample does not meet the specification, the LIMS starts a corresponding process in the complaint management software NCM-Engine. As a further module of our eQMSCAQ suite, the NCM Engine now takes over the management of the deviation detected in the laboratory (Non-Conformance Management, NCM) and guides the responsible parties to the solution of the underlying quality problem.
QDA LIMS automatically reads your test equipment and synchronizes with your business IT
Thanks to its modern open system architecture, our LIMS can integrate all testing systems used in the laboratory at optimal cost. This also applies to your legacy systems. From the event bus to the RS-232 interface, we have developed numerous interfaces with which laboratory technology of any kind can be easily connected.
In addition, our laboratory information management supports bidirectional data exchange with the ERP and MES levels. This ensures that the LIMS always works with the most up-to-date master and order data. In turn, the LIMS feeds the lab results back to the ERP and MES systems. Thanks to this automation, you can significantly reduce the throughput times of your test orders.
A LIMS is a business software that can be used to plan and control the workflows that arise in the course of sample management along the entire value chain. The information technology backbone is a database that brings together all order data, laboratory master data (especially on equipment and test standards), and test and analysis results.
In a first basic step, the laboratory information system plans the capacities of the testing operation. The subsequent order management ensures that the planned workflows are compliant with standards and that the planned deadlines are met as agreed. Status management makes it transparent in real time where the various test orders currently stand. Predefined escalation processes take effect if there is a threat of deviations from the plan.
To keep the lead time between sampling and production release as short as possible, laboratory planning should be aligned with higher-level production planning. The data exchange required for this with the ERP and MES levels is bidirectional. This ensures that the LIMS can feed back relevant test results to the value chain. For example, process releases or information about possible specification deviations.
If the latter is the case, it is advisable to integrate the LIMS with complaints management so that the underlying causes of defects can be identified and eliminated as quickly as possible. In addition, a document management system should be part of the LIMS solution in order to store test certificates in an audit-proof manner and make them searchable along the entire product life cycle. Last but not least, the LIMS software organizes and monitors the storage of samples.
A fully integrated LIMS system integrates all value-added participants who contribute to the success of the testing operation. Role-specific user interfaces ensure that the various subtasks can be completed with the least possible input effort. In this context, it makes sense to fully exploit the automation potential of a fully integrated laboratory information management system. This ensures that manual work and thus the risk of data entry errors are kept to a minimum. At the same time, process automation ensures that the costs of test operations are reduced and the throughput times of test orders decrease significantly.
Would you like to know more about our solutions? Then please write me using the contact form. I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Ludmila Lebedev
Sales Team Germanedge