Major Releases of Waters Laboratory Informatics Solutions Enhance Laboratory Productivity
Addressing the productivity challenges of analytical laboratories, Waters Corporation today announced the availability of Empower™ 2 Method Validation Manager and Empower Enterprise Data Manager, two enterprise options for its market-leading Empower Chromatography Data Software. Also included in today’s announcement is the introduction of Waters® eLab Notebook™ Software 3.0 that delivers a new level of workflow efficiency and knowledge creation.
Waters Laboratory Informatics solutions enable scientists to capture, catalogue and access content from all instruments, data sources and information centers. Integrating this content – from empirical data to observations and proof points – among applications lets scientists more easily find information and collaborate with their colleagues so they are better able to translate knowledge into innovation and quality care.
Empower 2 Method Validation Manager (MVM): Productivity Gains
The first enterprise option is Empower 2 MVM, which seamlessly automates the entire chromatographic method validation process from experimental planning through final report generation. IT departments also benefit from Empower 2 MVM because it eliminates the need for purchasing, installing, validating and supporting additional third-party applications.
Scientist James Morgado, of Pfizer’s Global R&D department in Groton, CT pointed out, “The industry is very much in need of a workflow-based, configurable system that allows users to implement an organization’s method validation practices. An approach (e.g. Waters Validation Manager) that seamlessly implements method validation requirements but is inherently flexible and manages the data effectively standardizes an often tedious and time-consuming process,” he said.
Empower 2 MVM:
- incorporates established SOP parameters to determine if the data adheres to SOP requirements and if the results are within specification
- saves time with automatic data checking, reusable report templates and a single window to perform and manage the workflow from acquisition through reporting
- stores all types of relational data so that method developers can easily trace validation results back to the raw data, metadata or chromatographic results
- calculates and stores statistical results directly in Empower thereby eliminating the need for data transfer and the tedious process of checking for transcription errors
- meets compliance requirements through audit trailing, a full set of user privileges to control user activities and data approvals
Empower Enterprise Data Manager (EDM): Archives and Extends CDS Results
Empower EDM is an option for networked, enterprise Empower and Empower 2 environments. The software is designed to address the data management, compliance and QA needs of end users as well as IT teams that support the Empower platform. Empower EDM offers enhanced data management capabilities for archiving chromatographic results and making that data more available throughout the organization through a Web browser.
IT departments benefit from Empower EDM’s ability to archive inactive projects to lower-cost external media devices, scale from a single lab to a global enterprise without affecting the existing IT infrastructure and balance long-term record retention with the need for immediate access to data through a centralized installation.
“With Waters Empower 2 Method Validation Manager, the laboratory now has a faster way to automate chromatographic method validation that improves productivity by automating manual tasks prone to transcription-related errors,” said Pat Martell, Director of Informatics at Waters. “In addition, Waters Enterprise Data Manager manages the large volume of reports generated by chromatographic analyses,” he added.
eLab Notebook 3.0: New Level of Dynamic Content
eLab Notebook 3.0 Software provides a total management platform for electronically documenting scientific processes and collaborating in the laboratory. eLab Notebook Software dramatically improves information management and intellectual property protection by giving staff, in any scientific workplace, one seamless portal to analytical processes and to various software programs they use daily. eLab Notebook Software 3.0 addresses the needs of chemistry discovery laboratories with modules for handling specialized data types, chemical structures and reactions, generic structure support, Oracle® Chemistry Cartridge™ support, stoichiometry, spectrum search and reaction pathway management.
Integrated Solutions Strengthen Lab Processes
“Waters Laboratory Informatics approach harmonizes the way users access, acquire and process data and generate reports to unlock the value of the information they gather,” Martell stated. “Today’s announcement extends the ability of researchers to integrate other sources of scientific information for easy automation and collaboration,” he said. For instance, scientists can:
- browse Empower 2 Software results directly from eLab Notebook Software
- create a sample list in eLab Notebook Software for execution in Empower 2 Software
- search for Waters NuGenesis® SDMS Software information from within eLab Notebook Software for inclusion in laboratory journal entries
- transfer results from Empower 2 Software to eLab Notebook Software
- retain links from the corresponding eLab Notebook Software entry back to Empower 2 Software
“These capabilities are all possible with a level of integration not yet available from any one vendor,” emphasized Martell.
About Waters Corporation
Waters Corporation holds worldwide leading positions in three complementary analytical technologies: liquid chromatography, mass spectrometry, and thermal analysis. These market segments account for $4.5 – $5.0 billion of the overall $20+ billion analytical instrumentation market.
Waters and NuGenesis are registered trademarks and Empower, MassLynx and eLab Notebook are trademarks of Waters Corporation. Chemistry Cartridge is a trademark and Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.
