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| home > epc > autumn 2004 > developments and trends in lims - a 'coming of age'? |
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European Pharmaceutical Contractor
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Over the last 10 years, laboratory information management systems (LIMS) have changed beyond recognition. Increased regulatory requirements have meant that much more data is now being recorded; data that must be turned into useful information that is immediately available across the enterprise. This leverages operational excellence by allowing rapid business decisions based on better information, driving up efficiency whilst reducing costs. New technologies have facilitated the extension of the LIMS outside the traditional confines of the laboratory, providing deployment options that allow remote access from satellite laboratories, field workers, customers and so on. This has meant that the LIMS can truly be considered an enterprise level business system, with the capability to be deployed globally, irrespective of different time zones or local languages.
All this has meant that the modern LIMS is designed to be much more flexible than its predecessors were. This flexibility can take several forms. A modern LIMS makes extensive use of workflows that can be easily configured to match existing business processes, meaning that a LIMS implementation no longer requires that these processes must be re-engineered. Workflows determine the steps that define the sample life cycle, including batch release. They also cover supporting processes such as specification review and release. Workflows also define the testing procedures, which may consist of multiple, non-linear steps.
Each step may involve the recording of data, and the result for a given step may determine which of several possible next steps should be performed. In earlier systems, typically only the final outcome of the test was recorded in the LIMS; in modern systems, the LIMS leads the operator through the defined steps making appropriate recommendations based on the entered results, the raw data or a resource reference. This leads us to another development in LIMS: the increased capability of recording business logic within the system, where it can be automated, rather than within procedures that must be manually implemented.
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By Stefano Marocco, Account Manager and Elian Winstanley, Managing Director at STARLIMS, UK
Stefano Marocco is an Account Manager at the UK STARLIMS office. Primarily an expert in LIMS implementation, he offers advice on how to develop time- and cost-effective solutions that optimise automation of laboratories' operations, and ways to manage samples in an environment that complies with regulatory requirements. Stefano holds an honours degree in Business Studies from South Bank University, London. He has over five years' experience in the LIMS industry, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector, gained with various solution providers.
Elian Winstanley has been involved with LIMS since the early 1990s. He has led teams who have successfully implemented LIMS for clients in a wide variety of market sectors including pharmaceutical, environmental monitoring, chemical manufacturing, food and beverage and contract laboratories. After graduating from Manchester University with a joint honours degree in Pharmacology and Physiology, followed by a masters in Physiology, he worked as a Liquid Chromatography and Data Systems specialist for a major laboratory instrument supplier before moving to laboratory information management. He currently manages the UK STARLIMS office.
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Industry Events |
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News and Press Releases |
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MipTec, October 14 – 16, 2008, Switzerland
MipTec about to take off by joining forces between Life Sciences Week, ALL-SystemsX.ch-Day, & Jobvector.com
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