Thermo Introduces Retriever Software for Expanded Data Access, More Knowledgeable Decision-Making
Thermo Electron Corporation today introduced Retriever version 3.0, a web-based data extraction and presentation solution that enables secure access to laboratory data, no matter the originating data system. Retriever extracts aggregates and transforms data into “laboratory information with a business context,” so that the data can be used to make rapid, informed business decisions.
“The market is ripe for a solution like Retriever,” said Dave Champagne, vice president and general manager of Thermo’s Informatics business. “Multiple systems resulting from mergers and acquisitions, partial migrations that leave data in legacy systems, and the growing need for non-users to be able to access laboratory data – all these challenges and business pains can be immediately alleviated with Retriever.”
Often captured in individual systems within an enterprise, the volumes of laboratory data that drive product quality and process efficiencies are difficult to gather in a single solution for business use. Retriever users – from laboratory managers and executives to customers – do not require access to the original system from which the data is extracted. Instead, Retriever delivers the information via a single, intuitive user interface.
In version 3.0, reports, which can include textual, graphical and tabular data, are configured using the new Thermo Report Designer. This application was designed to allow laboratory-centric functionality to be delivered through the report-writer, reducing the pain of report development associated with generic report-writing tools.
“We are using Retriever v2.1 and are beginning to realize significant benefits in data sharing throughout the organization,” said Brad Huddleston, LIMS Administrator at Schwarz Pharma Manufacturing, Inc. “The introduction of the Thermo Report Designer with version 3.0 will enable Thermo to deliver the functionality we require for our lab reporting directly in the report-writing application. With our current generic report-writing application, we have to program the logic ourselves and be experts in the software.”
Retriever enables information from laboratory information management systems (LIMS), as well as database applications such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Process Information Management Systems (PIMS), and Chromatography Data Systems (CDS), to be shared across the organization and externally with approved users, securely and rapidly. Precise control over which reports and data views are available to which users is maintained by the Retriever security system. In addition, the data, because it is reported directly from the source database, is displayed in real-time.
“We designed Retriever to deliver business intelligence from laboratory data,” said Clive Seaton, product manager.
