Lab Process Improvements Archives - INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE

The importance of configurable workflows in your LIMS

Sharon Williams — Mon, 27 Jan 2025 11:18:15 +0000

In today’s fast-evolving laboratory landscape, no two labs are identical. Each has its unique goals, methods, data requirements, technologies, and outputs. How your lab operates plays a critical role in delivering accurate results, maintaining efficiency, and ensuring quality and compliance. This is where workflows and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) integrated into a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) become essential tools for laboratory teams. While some LIMS come with pre-configured workflows, these may not always align with your lab’s unique processes. Rigid systems can force teams to work around them, leading to inefficiencies and, in the worst scenario, a reversion to paper-based methods. A flexible LIMS with configurable workflows allows your lab to meet its bespoke requirements, without compromise. The role of workflows in LIMS Workflows in a LIMS play a pivotal role in ensuring laboratory processes are streamlined, repeatable, and compliant. They deliver this in a number of ways: Increased efficiency: Configurable workflows allow automation of repetitive tasks, reducing manual data entry and minimising errors. This boosts productivity by freeing up staff to focus on other, more important activities. User support: Workflows guide new team members through unfamiliar processes and help experienced staff navigate seldom-used procedures, ensuring consistency in execution. […]

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5 Steps to Implementing Efficient Lab Processes in a LIMS

Sharon Williams — Mon, 15 May 2023 16:22:10 +0000

Laboratories, large and small, increasingly rely on technology and digital solutions, such as Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS), to manage their lab processes and data efficiently, and securely. By connecting and automating processes, data, instruments and systems, a LIMS promotes improvements in data quality, integrity, compliance, and productivity across your laboratory. However, many LIMS implementations fail to deliver the anticipated benefits; leaving managers and laboratorians frustrated and reverting to manual, paper-based systems. But is the LIMS at fault? A digitally connected laboratory The aim of digitalising and connecting your laboratory processes and activities is to provide a frictionless experience for laboratorians. However, this does not mean that every activity should be automated or digitalised. Some activities will, appropriately, remain manual. What’s more, implementing efficient lab processes in a LIMS involves more than digitalising what you currently do manually. For instance, mapping an inefficient process into a LIMS will not make it efficient. Instead, you should identify where the inefficiencies are and redesign the process to eliminate or reduce them. In addition, unlike manual process design, considerations such as when and how users will input data into the LIMS will have a significant impact on process creation. For example, do users […]

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Benefits of a LIMS Managing Your Laboratory Workflows

Sharon Williams — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 09:01:56 +0000

In the laboratory the term ‘workflow’ defines the steps and processes scientists follow when carrying out tasks. Often taking the form of standard operating procedures (SOPs) lab workflows are designed to instil consistency and standardisation as well as encourage best practice. Workflows can be configured in modern laboratory information management systems (LIMS) so you can follow your lab processes within the software. When these workflows are well-defined, optimised, and where relevant automated, they can help increase your lab’s efficiency and reproducibility. What’s more, ensuring everyone is following defined lab processes helps you meet regulatory compliance such as GxP, GCP (Good Clinical Practice) and ISO standards (ISO 17025, ISO 9001, and ISO 15189). Helping promote quality across your lab operations. What are workflows in a LIMS? In a LIMS like Achiever Medical, workflows are pre-configured operations that guide users step-by-step through a series of tasks. These predefined workflows include frequently managed activities such as registering a tissue sample and creating sample aliquots through to the less routine tasks of withdrawing patient consent. They can prompt the user to enter critical data at specific points in a process, take the user to the next step or automatically insert data values based on […]

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5 ways a LIMS supports laboratory process improvement

Sharon Williams — Mon, 03 Aug 2020 12:00:11 +0000

A laboratory information management system (LIMS) can play an essential role in your lab. One that goes beyond sample and lab data management. A LIMS can streamline and optimise your laboratory processes, leading to improvements in productivity, quality and efficiency. What’s more, it also helps you meet regulatory compliance. So, how does it do this? And importantly, what do you need to do to get the most from the system? 1. Manages your existing laboratory processes – but with improvements In many advanced laboratory information management systems, you can configure or customise the software to manage your existing processes. Each system will handle this differently depending on the tools and technology available. As you start mapping your processes into the software you have the opportunity to review them to see where you can make any improvements. Plus, you can see what the software can do to make the process easier for you. The LIMS software can guide you step-by-step through your processes and make sure everyone is completing the same steps for consistency and reproducibility. You can also maximise efficiency and quality by ensuring that these processes are in line with your Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). The software makes sure […]

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LIMS CAPA Management for Process Quality Control and Improvement

Gary Rooksby — Tue, 14 Apr 2020 08:00:04 +0000

Efficient and standardised business processes are fundamental to the effective running of a lab or biobank. That’s why it’s so important to have clearly documented Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). Hopefully your SOPs closely match your business requirements and everything’s nice and rosy. But what if they don’t? Or if your business needs change? In that case you need to update your SOPs. This might include documenting the issue or change as well as noting any corrective and preventative actions (CAPA). You want to be able to handle these updates efficiently. After all, you’ve all got your day job to be getting on with. Could a laboratory information management system (LIMS) help you manage such SOP changes along with any associated CAPA? Audits to the rescue So, how do you ensure that your SOPs are still working effectively? Well, an audit works well. But the mere mention of an audit can strike fear into the hearts of many. Done badly they can be really intrusive and disruptive to the normal work processes and that’s counterproductive. If the act of reviewing a process causes that process to change then it’s not capturing a true result. Really effective audits need to be light […]

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6 ways modern Biobanking software promotes best-practice

Gary Rooksby — Wed, 06 Nov 2019 16:26:34 +0000

When you use or implement any software system you hope it’s going to improve how you do things and impact the quality and integrity of your data. When adopting new software, many companies underestimate the business changes that it will introduce. This is especially true for systems that underpin your critical lab and sample management processes. Even if you already have systems in place, keeping them relevant as your needs change is essential. If you are prepared for change then these systems can deliver real business benefits and impact. This is especially true with Biobanking software that, amongst its proven benefits, can help promote “best-practice” in your lab and Biobank. What’s meant by “best-practice” when it comes to Biobanking? As a Biobank you will no doubt have to comply with the appropriate legislation. Compliance is not only a legal requirement but also instils best-practice. Many compliance requirements are there to make sure that what you are doing is of a high-quality and standard. Compliance gives labs and Biobanks that quality seal of approval. However, when implemented correctly compliance can also give you additional benefits including saving time and costs. So, don’t think of compliance as something to ‘get through’ but […]

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Find solutions to your Biobank data challenges with our team at the ‘CM-Path Biobanking Workshop’ on May 14 2019 in London

Sharon Williams — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 13:22:13 +0000

‘CM-Path Biobanking Workshop – Do We Really Need Another Biobank?’ is focused on the challenges affecting new and existing Biobanks. The Biobanking Workshop will bring together experts offering real-world advice on topics ranging from funders expectations to quality and sustainability. Whether you are a new or established Biobank, our experienced business analysts are ready to help you solve your Biobank data challenges. Our Achiever Medical solution has successfully helped improve our Biobank customers’ data quality whilst allowing them to meet their researchers’ requirements. In addition, we are working closely with the UKCRC Tissue Directory and Coordination Centre to offer integrated tools within our Achiever Medical solution to connect to its Tissue Directory. These tools will enable our customers to provide researchers with greater access to and visibility of the samples available. Therefore, raising the profile of Biobanks and encouraging greater collaboration between academia, industry and the NHS. If you want to discuss your Biobank data challenges our team of experts offer advice on: Complying with the Human Tissue Act (HTA) without adding to your researchers’ workload Managing informed consent data and ethics approvals to verify sample usage Securely sharing data with researchers via online catalogues and portals Managing patient identifiable […]

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