LabWare LIMS from the company of the same name in Delaware is offered as an enterprise class laboratory information management system, touting feature breadth and its all-encompassing functionality.
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Thermo Fisher SampleManager LIMS
Score 10.0 out of 10
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Thermo Fisher Scientific supports laboratory research with supplies and equipment but also software; the Thermo Fisher SampleManager LIMS is a widely used laboratory information management system dedicated to data and resource management, as well as automation and operational support.
It is well-suited to a busy QC laboratory with a medium sample load. It is a good mechanism for managing sample flow. It may not be as easy to use in a busier laboratory with a very large sample load that may overload the LIMS system.
The program is well suited for those companies that have numerous experiments being conducted at the same time, because it allows our professors to walk around or use their own computer and see how the experiments are being conducted. This is the most useful part of the program.
One of the strengths of this program, as previously stated, is to track your sample through the entire testing process, from log-in to results reporting.
It is also handy to generate reports of sample results using the LabWare LIMS program.
LabWare LIMS provides a great way to preserve testing results electronically for future needs.
The management of Event Triggers can stand to use some improvement. Especially when it comes to using the "DEFAULT" template event versus the specific template event.
Licenses are considered "concurrent". But LabWare does not have a feature that tells me (at any level) what my peak license usage is. For example ... if I own 100 licenses, LabWare will tell me at any given time how many licenses I am using. But it won't tell me at the end of the day, week, or month, what my peak usage was. So if I own 100 licenses, and I look at my usage right now, it might say I am using 50 licenses out of 100. Does this mean I have 50 too many licenses? Probably not. I just need a way of telling what my peak usage is so that if I want to roll LabWare out to another site, do I need to buy more licenses? Or will my 100 cover for it?
Importing data into static data tables is not well done in LabWare ... or even available. I can do it outside of LabWare with database management tools such as TOAD. But it is up to me to make sure all the tables and columns are populated correctly. It would be nice to have a feature within LabWare to do import data (from Excel spreadsheet for example) directly into some of the main tables.
LIMS can be an extremely slow system if not updated to the most current version, which can also cause the system to crash in the midst of recording/testing.
Disables certain features to be accessible depending on user status.
Does not always adhere to set protocols or standards made for specific data input.
Thermo Fisher Scientific LIMS is fantastic in that it has a wide range to store and change data regarding instrumentation, reagents, equipment, materials, and testing layouts. Information can be backed up for quite some time, which is great in the instance that data needs to be pulled immediately, regardless when it was last accessed. It also enables testing to follow a better flow through following the way in which the set up is displayed within the LIMS system.
Decreased the number or employees needed within certain departments due to effectiveness and efficiency.
Although mostly beneficial, there were times in which the system caused the company to lose out on money by wasting time to wait for the system to reboot or entire loss of data.
Enabled data to be seen and sent to various departments faster than paperwork.
