Laboratory information management system (LIMS)

Laboratory information management system (LIMS) SIMATIC IT Unilab - a platform that allows you to keep all the main aspects of quality control processes, covering the planning phase, the production and analysis, creating a common information system of automation of the analytical units in the enterprise.

Integration system  industrial gas chromatograph – Unilab ensures an online quality control and adherence to manufacturing process by automated gathering, processing and storage of the information about a process of production, current information output to the process control operator, stabilizing of main process parameters.

Advantages of LIMS usage:

Ordinary laboratory

• manual data gathering and processing;
• hand-written laboratory notebooks
• increasing mistakes while data input

=>  Decreasing of work efficiency and productivity in the laboratory.

Laboratory with LIMS

• auto-registration with unique number assignment to every sample.
• assignment to every sample of list with determined parameters with indication of a particular method of analysis
• autorisation of entered results according to the staff authorities and reliability
• creation of different reports about performance results according to the enterprise regulations

=>  Increasing of efficiency of analytical quality control. Increasing of productivity without labor cost growth.

Main functions of LIMS:

Human resources management

• process quality control;
• access right control;
• maintanance of personnel certification;
• record keeping of authorities, competence, education, functions.

Sample management

• Sample registration (automatic or manual);
• assignment of a unique number to every sample;
• assignment to every sample of list with determined parameters with indication of a particular place of analysis;
• tracking of every sample (life cycle);
• automatic acquisition of research results;
• planning and load distribution of equipment.

Validation of analysis results

• Checking of entered results by its comparison with specified criterions, prevention of technical mistakes while entering of results;
• Validation of the results (its comparison with standard norms);
• Three validation levels (product specification, production specification, legal norms);
• warning message output while overrunning of results out of the standard norms.

Report generation

• Generation of the output documents (reports, analysis results, diagrams)

Phases of LIMS implementation at the enterprise

1. Determination and analysis phase

The following tasks are solved during the  determination and analysis phase:

– to determine design limits;
– to analyse the current business processes;
– to review the main technical processes;
– to design the improved business processes;

Read more about the stages of implementation

Flow chart of hardware equipment for chromatograph integration system into the LIMS Unilab

Every chromatograph is equipped with the Ethernet-port for connection to the plant network Ethernet (Enterprise bus), through which the data transfer to the OPC Server is carried out. Then, due to the integration system the data are transferred to the на SIMATIC IT Unilab Server and are shown in the client-end portion SIMATIC IT Unilab. User can on-line look through the analysis results and immediately control the production quality.

Also the information about the sample analysis is transferred from the chromatographs over the Ethernet through SIMATIC.NETOPCServer to PLC, which carry out the control of technical process and work of equipment. ACS of TP allows the operator to interfere into the process operation by the parameter breaking and by emergent accidents or accidental situations.

Flow chart of integration system software

Flow chart of feedbacks in production management based on datas of gas analytical complex

Diagram of sample treatment in LIMS

Service Maxum Unilab Integration delivers «Sample Message» into SIMATIC IT Unilab.
Sample registration and add of the analysis results goes automatically, without interfering of lab assistant. Then, comes the phase of sample confirmation. The analysis results are compared to the limit values of norm. If the sample doesn’t fall outside the limits of norm, it has a status “Accepted” and shines greenly. If it falls outside the limits of norm, it has a status “On hold” and shines redly. After the sample processing is finished, we can look through the diagrams of statistics of the analysis results.

Business process of sample selection on the production area and outgoing inspection in the ON-LINE mode

Architecture of the integration system SIMATIC IT Unilab into the general production management system

Information about the process operation from ACS of TP and about the analysis results from GCMAXUMII is transferred through the OPCServer into the data collection system, TMSChronicler. Then, the analysis results due to the integration system MAXUM-Unilab come to SIMATICIT Unilab and over the plant network are transfered further to the request of the specific control systems. The connection between the control systems is carried out by MicrosoftBizTalkServer.