December 19, 2017 - More LIMS Myths – Busted

One of our past blogs entitled “Top 5 LIMS and LIMS Consulting Myths – Busted!” was met with great enthusiasm.  Interestingly, several of the comments on this blog pointed out other LIMS myths and misconceptions.  After reviewing these and taking stock with several of my fellow lab informatics aficionados, we have decided to revisit this topic and present here several more LIMS myths that deserve public busting.

December 5, 2017 - Holiday Planning Tips for a Joyous LIMS Project

Let’s explore some of the holiday planning and preparation tactics that can be leveraged to help make your LIMS project a true celebration.

November 29, 2017 - Improving the Efficiency of Cannabis Testing Laboratories using Affordable Cloud-based Lab Information Management System (LIMS)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana, is a flowering plant indigenous to Central and South Asia. The plant has been valued since ancient times for its psychoactive, medicinal, and fibrous properties. With the increasing legalization of both recreational and medical cannabis, there is a need for robust and reliable cannabis analytical testing to ensure consumer safety and potency.

November 29, 2017 - ISO 9001:2015 Certification: It’s a Big Deal

Virtually every corner of our life is touched by ISO standards. What began as a method for standardizing weights and measures has evolved into both a philosophy and a series of processes that maintain quality in just about everything we encounter on a day to day basis. Our health and safety, the food we eat, the cars we drive, the toys our children play with, the medical devices at the local hospital, the environment around us — they are all impacted in one way or another by the governing principle behind ISO: maintaining the reliability and efficiency of products and services in our lives.

November 15, 2017 - Easy scheduling of LIMS activities with Matrix Scheduler

Matrix Scheduler is an optional module for the Matrix Gemini LIMS (Laboratory Information Management System) from Autoscribe Informatics. Users can automatically schedule reports, worklists, registration of samples and more. In this way activities can be managed more efficiently and significant savings in staff time can be made.

November 9, 2017 - SAP QM vs. LIMS: What's all the fuss about?

Why is there still such a debate raging between the use and benefits of SAP QM vs. LIMS? Is it a technical issue? A political/control issue? Or is it purely a cost issue? Let’s discuss these points and attempt to determine the true root cause of this debate.

November 8, 2017 - Check out this Journal article on a new Free open source ELN for Chemists

I think this is something that has been needed for a while for chemists. Here is the journal article from the Journal of Cheminformatics: https://www.limsforum.com/chemotion-eln-an-open-source-electronic-lab-notebook-for-chemists-in-academia/70707/

November 1, 2017 - A Guide for Management: Successfully Applying Laboratory Systems to Your Organization’s Work Part 1

This tutorial is designed as a management level view of laboratory systems and is appropriate for anyone planning, reviewing, or approving the acquisition of laboratory informatics. A background in science is not necessary to follow the presented material. Its purpose is to provide you with an understanding of how these technologies (Laboratory Information Management Systems, Electronic Laboratory Notebooks, Scientific Data Management Systems, Laboratory Execution Systems, Instrument Data Systems, and supporting technologies ) can be used to support/improve your labs operations, and the considerations that need to be taken into account before they are purchased.

November 1, 2017 - How a LIMS Implementation Enhances Data Quality for Your Environmental Testing Lab

Protection of the environment and improving its quality are imperative for human beings, plants, aquatic organisms, and for a balanced ecosystem. An environmental laboratory serves as a fundamental cornerstone in assessing the quality of our environment. Environmental laboratories are under incessant pressure to produce high-quality data while working on a tight laboratory budget. A LIMS can play a pivotal role in enhancing data quality, maintaining data integrity, automating laboratory workflows, and in saving resources such as time, money, and manpower.

October 31, 2017 - Lab Informatics Business Analyst: The Benefits of Having One

Laboratory Informatics software is continually evolving to make use of new technology, which in turn has generated an increased need for a “bridge” between IT, lab informatics developers, and stakeholders (scientists, technicians, managers, etc.). The “bridge” in this environment is a Lab Informatics Business Analyst.

October 27, 2017 - SampleManager LIMS Version 11 Stability Module: What You Need to Know

The SampleManager LIMS Version 11 provides a crucial capability for drug discovery in its Stability Module. Many people take it for granted that commercial products they use will perform their advertised function effectively. Medical patients, for example, assume that the pharmaceutical drug products they consume will perform the therapeutic activity for which they were designed.

October 18, 2017 - Drive Data Sharing, Collaborative Research Among the Network of Biobanks Using Cloud

Biobanks play a pivotal role in biomedical research. To facilitate research for improving the health and welfare of individuals, communities and population, sharing of biospecimens along with health-related data among the collaborators is crucial.

October 12, 2017 - Remote LIMS Work: Working Smarter

Have you considered the positives of remote consultants? Are you concerned about not having “face time”? In this blog post, we’ll address some of your concerns and also look at the value remote consultants can provide.

October 11, 2017 - Why build your own?

I was recently at a conference and spoke to a small municipal laboratory prospect that had suddenly gone quiet about a year ago. In speaking with the laboratory manager, she told me they had purchased a modular LIMS and were “building it to be their own!”

October 4, 2017 - Leveraging Cloud Technology to Manage Processes and Data to Maintain High-Quality Storage Services at The University of Sheffield Biorepository

Founded in 2009, the Biorepository at The University of Sheffield is critical for the progress of health-related research. They provide storage services and high-quality human biological samples to research groups for supporting cutting-edge investigation in the areas of oncology and human metabolism; infection, immunity and cardiovascular disease; and neuroscience.

October 2, 2017 - SampleManager LIMS v12 Upgrade

If your organization has an older version of SampleManager LIMS, we want to share with you several good reasons to upgrade, some new capabilities and functionality available in v12, and some strategies on how to go about upgrading your SampleManager LIMS.

September 21, 2017 - Tips for SampleManager Implementation and Upgrades

SampleManager LIMS™ is continuously upgraded to meet the changing needs of laboratories across all industries – pharmaceutical QA/QC, food and beverage, oil and gas, petrochemical, water and environmental, manufacturing, contract labs, and more. Each new release of SampleManager contains new functionality that is built upon feedback and customer input from these sectors, and this ensures an upgrade path that respects your previous investment while allowing you to take advantage of collected industry knowledge to respond to changing business or regulatory demands.

September 19, 2017 - Lab Informatics System Risk Assessment – Done! Now what??

The idea of “one-and-done” risk analysis puts your company at risk for quality and compliance issues. Managing Risk throughout the Laboratory Informatics Lifecycle is both a regulatory expectation and a business benefit when performed correctly.

September 13, 2017 - How to Meet Cannabis Testing Standards and Regulatory Requirements with LIMS

Watch the video or to download the presentation slides of this complimentary recorded webinar that delves into the current challenges of cannabis testing laboratories and how a LIMS plays an important role in effectively addressing these challenges. The webinar highlighted the market potential of the cannabis industry and role of LIMS in ensuring quality assurance and in meeting regulatory requirements.