LIMS Testing labs: Digitize laboratory processes with LIMS

A testing laboratory with accreditation plays an important role in the quality assurance of end products in all industrial sectors. This already starts in the incoming goods department with the testing of delivered materials. Test steps are integrated into the production process and the final inspection of the products also frequently requires testing of certain parameters in the laboratory. For this purpose, testing laboratories calibrate themselves precisely, not least to prove their conformity. The data generated during laboratory processes must be collected, analyzed, networked, and stored securely.

Test samples must also be managed, and the path of each individual batch of material must be traceable all the way to the goods issue. Added to this is ensuring and documenting the correct calibration of the test equipment used: this is the domain of LIMS systems.

The [FP]-LIMS works with raw data.

If materials are examined in test laboratories, the LIMS stores the raw data of the measurements. Advantage: If a previously undetected defect subsequently occurs in the products, the raw data can be analyzed. This makes it possible to determine the affected batch in which these defects first occurred. Thanks to digitized data, expensive product recalls are a thing of the past. The affected products can now be removed from circulation in a targeted manner.

The abbreviation LIMS stands for Laboratory Information and Management System. This refers to software that records and evaluates measurement data in the manner described above, as well as managing the work of the laboratory and the testing technology used. Fink & Partner GmbH has been active in this field since 1992 and is a well-known software provider in the testing laboratory sector. In close cooperation with customers and laboratory equipment manufacturers, the software system has been developed from a pure solution for managing and processing measurement results in materials testing into a comprehensive product family that can be used in almost all industries and also includes quality assurance functions.

How is our LIMS used in testing laboratories?

With a LIMS, the data of a testing laboratory can be digitized. The modules analysis, recipe and test order management, as well as the input dialog are used in the test laboratories. In conjunction with test procedures, data can thus be processed efficiently. Measurement methods such as emission spectrometry, X-ray fluorescence analysis, and spectral analyses are used in materials testing.

Test laboratory accreditation – using LIMS systems sensibly and advantageously

The use of such a software system makes sense in order to acquire, store and analyze measurement and analysis data largely automatically. Fink & Partner provides interfaces for data acquisition. These are used to transfer raw data between the measuring device and the software. Fink & Partner has been working with leading manufacturers of laboratory and analysis equipment for many years. We are able to query or develop provided interfaces. Thus, it is also possible to integrate newly acquired laboratory equipment into the existing software system without much effort. We have close partnerships with the manufacturers Hitachi, Spectro, and Thermo Fisher, among others.