JOBMA NAGER
TAILORED LIMS (LAB INTEGRATED MANAGEMENT SYSTEM)
Introduction
From our inception, OCAS has been convinced of the need to organise data, processes and procedures to support our project management approach. The first in-house developed database was a tool to register and allocate hours to projects. Gradually, the database functionalities were expanded.
Following the introduction of internal requests (called ‘jobs’), additional modules were added to the database for:
Project management
Equipment management
Quality management
Human resources management
Chemical products
Warehouse management
Sample management
Separate modules and software applications were added one by one − and continuously improved − but always aligned with one coherent database.
“A laboratory information management system (LIMS), is a software-based solution with features that support a modern laboratory's operations. Key features include—but are not limited to—workflow and data tracking support, flexible architecture, and data exchange interfaces, which fully "support its use in regulated environments". The features and uses of a LIMS have evolved over the years from simple sample tracking to an enterprise resource planning tool that manages multiple aspects of laboratory informatics.
source: Wikipedia
Evolving into an LIMS (laboratory integrated management system)
In 2009, the decision was taken to integrate all modules in one application. A new version was launched, including all improvements and using more advanced software and hardware possibilities. The new application was called ‘JobManager’ − and the major changes compared to the former version were: the integration of jobs linked to projects (the ‘tree’), topics related to Occupational Health & Safety, introduction of the ‘article catalogue’, to manage all kinds of items such as test materials, chemicals, laptops, etc.)
Until 2011, the above-mentioned ‘jobs’ and ‘articles’ objects were sufficient to manage our projects. Meanwhile, OCAS transformed JobManager into a lab integrated management system (LIMS).
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management - Roles & Responsibilities
Reporting Management system (Quality, OH&S)
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
LIMS
With this important step, OCAS integrates even more content: the computer knows “what needs to be done on which sample” and records the measured properties in a single database.
Each sample is subject to a ‘standard operating procedure’, enabling a detailed description of the job in a straightforward manner. Each standard operating procedure generates data that is stored for further use.
With the latest update of JobManager, OCAS linked its lab efficiency to an even higher level of quality assurance: the reporting module has been improved with monitoring
tools and dashboard views. Validation flows are also integrated.
In addition to the benefits of this modular in-house developed application, the major advantage is the fact that it is highly reliable, very close to lab needs and easy to customise to its ever-changing environment. Thanks to its modular structure and reliability, other organisations have shown interest in the application. OCAS therefore licenses the use of JobManager to external partners as well.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Company structure and staff
The integration of the company structure into the LIMA is easy: Departments and sub-departments, teams, etc. can be created in such a way that roles/ functions can be assigned to individuals. Individual pages for every staff member allow to manage input e.g. booked hours.
Information such as my trainings, my catalogue items, my signals, my activities, my roles & authorisations, my appointments, etc. is immediately available.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Project Management
The project portfolio is visualised by means of a project tree, handling any kind of portfolio structure, e.g. domain, programme, project, work package, etc.
Synchronisation with external project management tools (e.g. NQI Orchestra) can be implemented. Additional trees for
organisation & support tasks can be added.
Operational units (jobs) can be created anywhere in the trees, allowing hour registration on jobs.
Budget management is also possible, however is currently not yet active.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Document management
The following options are available:
“Controlled Documents” with validation flow, confidentiality management, versioning, safe storage (dedicated repository), search engine
50+ document types (audit report, test report, research report, test protocol, procedure, training manual, task risk analysis…)
Validation flow depends on document type and is based on roles (author, reviewer, prevention advisor, head of department…)
Distribution list depends on document type and is also based on roles (my team, all auditors…)
Templates for any kind of report can easily be customised.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Catalogue
The catalogue manages all kinds of items used in the company: equipment, chemical products, safety gear, raw materials, consumables, test materials and their samples, reference materials, etc.
All items have unique identification, location (both with QR codes), manufacturer, EAN code, etc.
Items can be moved by scanning their QR-code to the new location with mobile phone (Android App)
Other options include:
Item category specific metadata: e.g. flash point for chemicals, CE-label for equipment… Inventory management (with low-stock alert)
Replenishment: drafting SAP compatible purchasing orders
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Equipment management
Equipment is an important asset of any lab. This LIMS allows for:
Inventory, location & identification (using Catalogue),
Calibration & Maintenance management, Risk analysis, Isolation procedure, Operator management , of equipment.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Chemical Products management
Chemical products management includes all legal requirements of the occupational health & safety standard (OHSAS 18001).
Inventory, location & identification (using Catalogue)
Safety Data sheet (SDS) management
GHS labelling with pictograms
Automatic extraction of GHS hazard statements from SDS
Possibility to add specific risk analysis
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Training management
Organisation, participant management, training manuals, training certificates
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Organisation, participant management (including visitors), room reservation, travel approval for external events
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Sample management
Sample identification & tracking is of utmost importance for the lab quality. Therefore this LIMS allows for:
Inventory, location & identification (using Catalogue)
Sample tree: test materials can be sampled, samples can be sub-sampled and so on
Sampling plan allowing to position (sub) samples in their ‘parent’
Sample identification via QR code can be scanned by any device equipped with QR code reader. The description is then displayed.
As locations also have unique QR codes, samples can easily be moved from one location to another by scanning the sample on its new location.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Security ManagementRoles & Responsibilities
The access to the LIMS is managed by strict authorisation.
Single password authentication
User-based application configuration: use role(s) to define which modules the user may access
Some modules need specific authorization granted through roles
Raw data results are protected
All jobs, tasks (=groups of jobs), signals, activities and many other entities have a file repository
File access is granted to specific roles when required
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Reporting
Database reporting is automated. 100+ reports and dashboards for extracting any kind of database information are available.
New reports can easily be created e.g. jobs due by, agenda displaying a weekly list of meetings/visits, etc.
Test reports (standard tests) are automatically generated based on validated data. (Also see: “Standard activities”)
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Management system (Quality, OH&S)
Most aspects of an integrated management system are implemented in the LIMS. This includes:
Continual improvement management (non-conformities and other findings, corrective/preventive actions)
Audit management
Controlled documentation (management review reports, audit plan, risk analysis…)
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Internal Requests management
The organisation of all operational work within the lab typically implies that project managers request tasks to be carried out. These tasks are called “internal requests”. They can be used for processing and testing orders (casting, rolling, heat treatment, coating, welding, sample preparation, chemical analyses, physical properties, etc.).
Requests are processed at operational group level.
Planning is based on priorities set by programme managers. Priority setting is integrated in the LIMS. For standard processing/testing activities much more options are available.
Also see “Standard activities”.
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
Standard activities
A standard operational activity is a well-defined task addressing the following questions: how shall the activity be performed? What is the recipe (=SOP: Standard Operating Procedure)? which resources are needed to perform the activity (machine, tool, chemical product, sample, specific PPEs or any other registered item...)? who is allowed to perform the activity? what are the safety risks linked to the activity? Here we have created digital avatars for SOPs.
These “digital” SOPs have been conceived as generic objects. This way, creating a new digital standard activity does not require any programming.
Parameters can be pre-processing (targets) and or post-processing (measured) parameters. For example, chemical composition is a pre-processing parameter for the casting activity (a target) and a post-processing parameter (a measurement) of a chemical analysis activity. Some can be preand post-parameters: e.g. target temperature for a given test and effectively measured temperature.
For uniformity reasons parameters are always based on predefined basic physical quantities such as length, weight, time, temperature, energy, resistance... All parameters have a standard format (integer, float, boolean...) and a basic SI unit. A unit conversion system is available when required. Hence all temperatures are expressed in Kelvin in the database, but the temperature parameter can be displayed in °C or °F.
Other parameter types are also available such as drop-down lists, time series, images, 1D curves, 2D mappings, files, etc.
For complex activities a custom Basic Data Field can be created but this usually requires a lot of programming. Examples are Chemical Composition and Rolling Scheme.
Parameters can be attached to any type of resource but in the practice a vast majority is attached to samples. Occasionally, parameters are also attached to equipment (e.g. for calibration purposes).
Pre-processing parameters must be defined when preparing the request. Let’s consider the activity: “Evaluating material toughness by Charpy impact testing”. The request for a Charpy test lists the samples to be tested and the temperature at which they have to be tested. The temperature is here a pre-processing parameter. Testing a sample delivers a result, in this case an energy, that will also be “attached” to the sample. The Charpy energy is here a post-processing parameter.
Sample properties are propagated in the sample tree based on specific rules. For example, a cast ingot is sawed in rolling blocks. After rolling, the strips are sampled to perform tensile tests, metallography, etc. A small sample is also taken from the ingot for chemical analysis. This small sample is tested and the result (i.e. the chemical analysis) may be propagated back to the ingot but also to the rolling blocks, strips, tensile samples, etc.). However, the thickness of the rolling block is not conserved during rolling and cannot be propagated…
Before being released results must be validated. Outliers are also registered but these are tagged to easily remove them from statistics. However, outlier management is very useful to evaluate method robustness.
Hence, Digital SOPs pave the way to the first global OCAS materials database as it is datamining and deep learning ready. Within a couple years enough digital material will be available to start a virtual metallurgy project.
Note: nothing prevents to feed the database with data acquired in the past providing that measured properties can be linked to each other: it makes no sense to upload tensile results if chemistry and processing parameters are missing.
Some quick wins of the system
Fast reporting: as the database contains all necessary information: method, samples, operators, validated results… there is no need to write a report anymore. It can be generated automatically.
Data is transferred from equipment to database through Excel connectors avoiding typing errors
Data consistency is checked with business rules such as ‘a chemical composition must be close to 100%’ or ‘the average value shall be between min and max’
Operational excellence: dynamic statistical process control, easy determination of uncertainty of measurement, easier planning (people & equipment)…
Improved process control: life expectancy of consumables (e.g. crucibles), detection of systematic deviations (e.g. chemical composition of castings)
LIMS
Company structure and staff
Project Management
Document management
Catalogue
Equipment management
Chemical Products management
Training management
Meetings, Visits, Conferences
Sample management
Security Management
Reporting
Management system
Internal Requests management
Standard activities
System requirements
System requirements
Client: Microsoft .NET for Windows (XP or later)
Server: SQL-server (version 2008 and up)
Future: full web-based solution (planned for 2020)
Outlook
The new version scheduled for 2020 will be web-based. Meanwhile, we already modified our testing procedures to make them fool-proof, and we transformed our lab management system ‘JobManager’ into a comprehensive LIMS by adding functionalities describing our testing offer and to register testing results in the database.
This result database is the keystone for further developments including ‘Big Data Analysis’. In a few years, we will be able to use all test data at all times and to re-analyse them to find new alloys without performing lab experiments (the virtual metallurgy concept).
For more information and licenses, contact Roger Hubert | roger.hubert@ocas.be or Herby Roeges | herby.roeges@i-sens.be
JobManager is a product developed by I-SenS.
OCAS is the research centre, while facility services are delivered by I-SenS. Both OCAS and I-SenS are part of the Finocas Group.
ocas
OCAS is an advanced R&D centre active in metallurgy, coating and application development, providing metal based products and services. OCAS speeds up the R&D processes of its customers through a specialised multi-disciplinary approach combined with innovative testing methodologies.
www.ocas.be | services@ocas.be
OCAS is part of the FINOCAS holding which is a joint venture between ArcelorMittal and the Flemish Region.
