Expedited LIMS Data to GIS/AutoCAD Reporting


Written by A. Russell Schindler, P.G. at SampleServe.com and Robert Benz, Khemia Software

The successive and successful relationship between environmental based laboratories and engineering companies has long been vital for both entities. Fortunately, with the adoption of modern LIMS in laboratories, in conjunction with advanced software tools available to engineering companies, these important ties have become quicker, less labor intensive, and more reliable.

LIMS have largely helped automate laboratory flow, allowing for streamlined operations and ensuring proper quality control, even if project or site specific. The finalized data from laboratories today is generally of higher quality and produced much quicker than years past. Of course, the proof of this is in the finalized data output to the client, often, an engineering company.

In the past, engineering companies have had to take data reports from the laboratories and then generate the needed GIS/AutoCAD reports. Countless hours have been spent “simply†transferring data from one source to another; Not only a time consuming step, but one fraught with potential transcription errors. However, with the interaction of specifically designed electronic data deliverables (EDDs) from LIMS and the use of SampleServe.com, the processes involved in generating a sophisticated CAD site drawing may be reduced to minutes.

From Khemia’s Omega 11 LIMS, a specific EDD can be generated by the laboratory for the engineering group. When the EDD is overlaid in with non-laboratory data provided by the engineering group, the site information can be directly imported into SampleServe.com. SampleServe will then, often in less than 10 seconds, produce a full scale, highly detailed GIS rendering displaying all the necessary information. This short demonstration video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh97b82Om4Y, shows the importation of a file into SampleServe.com and the production of the finalized CAD drawing. By fully integrating laboratory data, engineering data and using the power of SampleServe.com, an engineering group may drastically reduce the man hours required while at the same time improving the quality of a project.

For additional details from SampleServe.com (www.SampleServe.com), please contact A. Russell Schindler at Schindler@sampleserve.com. For any details regarding Khemia Software’s LIMS (www.khemia.com), please contact Robert Benz at rbenz@khemia.com.

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Speakers for NEMC (August 2017)


Please see the below description of the LIMS session at NEMC (www.nemc.us) next year. I am actively looking for a few speakers to fill a couple of open slots.
LIMS in the Modern Laboratory

Session Chair: Robert Benz, Sales & Marketing Director at Khemia Software (www.khemia.com)

In today’s laboratory, the LIMS is playing an ever more critical role in centralizing and making available all data. LIMS are called on to help laboratories adhere to stricter quality control, handle more one-off projects, work with more third party programs and produce more advanced reports while maintaining stringent IT protocol. In this session, talks may include discussion on APIs, advanced reporting modules both internal and external, SaaS agreements versus internally housed LIMS, one-off applications, internal quality control “modulesâ€, etc.

If you have any interest in speaking at NEMC’s LIMS session next year, please submit a talk to the NEMC website or feel free to contact me directly at rbenz@khemia.com. The cutoff for abstract submittal is January 31st, 2017.

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Quality Control and the University Application of a COTS LIMS


Written by Robert Benz, Sales & Marketing Director at Khemia Software

Proper quality control is critical for the production of any valid laboratory data, whether regulatory or research. However, how this quality control is applied may vary greatly depending upon the application. In the regulated environmental community, set rules are applied to the type, limits of and number of quality control samples. These rules are well established and published by various organizations (www.nelac-institute.org; www.epa.gov; www.iso.org).

Within academia, the set rules of the regulated community do not always apply. In many cases, even the simple batching methodology used within regulatory compliance does not smoothly fit. While anyone with laboratory experience will vouch for need of proper quality control, how and how often may vary greatly depending on the research being performed.

The use of COTS (configurable, off the shelf) LIMS by academia is often made possible through the ability to turn on/off various QA/QC criteria, as well as adjust holding time acceptability, minimum/maximum temperature allowances, etc. The configurability in a particular COTS LIMS can be key.

Upon occasion, the typical QA/QC processes used in regulatory laboratories may be overkill for a certain project. In other cases, especially if there exist potential for matrix interference, the quality control may go extremely in the other direction with virtually every sample matrix spiked. It is definitely not a case of one size fits all. The end user must have the flexibility required to adjust QA/QC to the appropriate levels for a given project even if it varies between multiple projects.

For any additional information or questions regarding the article, please contact Robert Benz (rbenz@khemia.com) at Khemia Software, Inc. (www.khemia.com).