Data management in the lab is a mixture of various independent, nonintegrated data-processing systems on paper and in electronic form. Paper is the preferred documentation medium when you have a mix of countless computerized systems such as analyzers, office applications and upper-level systems, for example, laboratory-information management or enterprise-resource planning (ERP) systems. Such a scenario results in producing a hybrid system with numerous media gaps this is the real root of all evil, leading to ine
The high level of quality risk (due to the high number of manual data transcription steps) is countered with extensive control steps – but that results in less efficiency and longer throughput times. The use of isolated systems prevents the timely transfer of information, which leads to further delays and additional costs. And last, but not least, it can result in a considerable amount of the enterprise’s intellectual capital being wasted. The cost of using various isolated systems to collect data for modern knowledge-management systems (statistics, data mining, reporting, exception handling, etc) is simply too high. So much knowledge that could be extracted from the data collected remains untapped. In the industry, there are three different approaches to addressing this root problem.
• The first – is the optimization of the existing hybrid system by adapting the existing processes and systems. It goes without saying that such an approach only brings selective and slight improvements.
• The second is the introduction of Electronic documentation systems (often described as electronic lab notebooks) that show the paper data in electronic format. While the introduction of such a system brings certain benefits for quality and compliance purposes, the real problem is simply transferred from paper to an electronic format (“paper on glass”) and the hope for gains in efficiency are only very small. And the practicality of introducing electronic documentation into the laboratory (using tablet-PCs or other mobile devices) is highly questionable.
• The third approach, which we discuss in more detail below, is the optimization and simultaneous electronic support of the actual laboratory processes – the introduction of the paperless lab. Since introducing a paperless laboratory involves more than simply implementing another IT application, the procedure model we use here takes into account other perspectives in order to build a sustainable overall concept.
These perspectives fall into three main areas – the business needs, the user’s needs and the technical perspective. The business point of view defines the project’s goals and vision and ensures that the introduction of the paperless laboratory complements the company’s overall business objectives. Typical goals for companies are increasing net cash flow, reducing development time and thereby generating additional sales or reducing warehousing and stock costs to free up more capital.
Naturally, various other goals or combinations of targets are possible – but what is decisive is that a quantitative connection can be made between laboratory activities and business objectives. This is achieved by defining a business-specific cause-effect model and implementing it into a corresponding financial model [1]. That is the only way that you can ensure that the implementation project meets the company’s targets and that the cost-benefit analysis accounts for all relevant factors.