Confience’s Sample Master® LIMS and Result Point® Web Portal make Profitable Impact at Colorado Analytical Laboratories, Inc.
For more than 15 years, Sample Master® LIMS enhanced with a customer web portal have supported the laboratories' data management, automation and expansion needs.
Founded in 1962, Colorado Analytical Laboratories, Inc. (CAL) has developed a 40+ year track record providing high quality analytical services. Originally, an agronomic and animal feed testing laboratory, CAL has expanded its focus to water, wastewater and soil testing specializing in inorganics, microbiology, and metals. Certified by the Colorado Department of Health and Environment (CDH), they analyze drinking water for organic contaminates (SOC’s & VOC’s), inorganic contaminates (metals), nitrate & nitrite, cyanide, fluoride, and coliform bacteria. CAL participates in the Soil Science Society of America’s quarterly proficiency testing program that includes soil, water, and plant tissue analysis. They are also certified by the U.S. Composting Council for their Seal of Testing Assurance program and a DMRQA (Discharge Monitoring Report-Quality Assurance) participant. These certification programs demonstrate their commitment to delivering accurate and timely analytical results.
Their Challenge
Colorado Analytical Laboratories needed improved sample organization; faster turnaround; automation for QC data, reporting, and invoicing; and secure web access to data. Once this was implemented, they needed to maintain continuity with current protocols (various reporting formats, matrices, etc.). Due to their overwhelming growth and success, they needed a tool that would provide their customers secure, 24/7 access to laboratory data, reports, invoices and more. In addition to internet access, they also expanded to a second location and needed to expand their LIMS to accommodate their growth.
Stuart Nielson, Vice President
Colorado Analytical Laboratories, Inc.
Our Solution
Colorado Analytical Laboratories determined that Confience’s Sample Master LIMS would best support their data management, automation and expansion needs. As a result, hold times don’t get missed, results are calculated inside of the LIMS without going to Excel, and QA/QC results are linked directly to samples (which their Colorado Department of Health auditor appreciates), all in a secure environment with multiple approval process levels supporting regulatory compliance requirements.
Confience also addressed their need for a web portal by installing Result Point for secure client access (data is encrypted), with an unlimited user license. This cuts back on status calls and the cost of manually sending hard copy reports and invoices. Providing customers with 24/7 access to their sample results, reports and invoices has resulted in increased customer satisfaction.
By far the biggest administrative efficiency enhancement was derived from Sample Master LIMS Auto-Reporting, Auto-Invoicing and Auto-Emailing functionality, which provides customization of any report. The Auto-Invoicing feature has allowed CAL to easily create price quotes and offer custom pricing on an individual customer basis. When the results are complete and have gone through the approval process, presto! Reports and invoices are immediately available via PDF, and results can be automatically e-mailed. Previously, two administrative employees were needed to accomplish these tasks. Now those full time employees are helping grow their laboratory, having been allocated to their second laboratory location.
Another significant benefit came with instrument integration. Results entry became automated thanks to the parsers built by Confience for several instruments, including the Dionex IC. Electronic data transfer functionality and integration capability combined have saved several hours per week (per instrument) offering the ability to import results into the LIMS, resulting in increased throughput and enhanced data quality. CAL also utilizes RS 232 cables to input data directly from their balances into the LIMS. The laboratory has experienced a reduction of transcription errors from no longer hand entering data.
An additional benefit is the use of worklists to stay organized. Confience LIMS ability to allow worklists to be created by one employee for another employee has afforded a supervisor to create specific worklist assignments for other employees. By using the query functionality of the LIMS, end users can retrieve samples by their worklist, tests, due dates, etc. Worklists can also be printed as a report and modified by the end user, which is an excellent method to provide bench sheets.
Throughout the LIMS deployment preparation process, Confience staff did an excellent job identifying CAL’s needs and fulfilling them. Confience’s LIMS Support combined with diverse training offerings results in strong, responsive, and educational customer service amenities.
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