Implementing Calibration Management Software in laboratories
SCC has wide experience of implementing and introducing IT changes in various segments of the service industry. Calibration Service Industry is one such segment of industry where SCC is providing its unique solution to manage complete core process from quotation till invoice and from Service request form receipt till certificate publishing using its flagship product Smart Calibration LIMS. It is the wish of all laboratory managers to
I. Bring efficiency in their operation,
II. Improve quality of their work
III. Client satisfaction by faster turnaround
IV. Complying with tough regulation and guidelines of ISO17025.
First of all if you are wishing to introduce calibration management software in your laboratory, following questions should be asked and answers to be detailed and understood by one and all (at least from top management till middle management i.e. CEO/proprietor till technical managers).
- What benefits are expected from the IT solution? Too much would be aiming for too long and to less will make it infeasible. So be honest, by keeping achievable benefits within next 6 months to 1 year.
- What level of involvement and commitment from you and your subordinates is required? Do you see any resistance in any of the contributor? If yes, explain the benefits to the concerned stakeholder and try to bring him/her around or make a plan to mitigate risk posed.
- Do you have spare funds to invest on this initiative (pl. include budget required to keep the software application operational in successive years in addition to first time cost)?
SCC calibration management software is quite exhaustive and expects a lot from the organization before it start benefiting the organization. The list of inputs that need to be recorded on the database related to your laboratory could be long, but following are a fair sample list of key inputs that need to record into application database:
- List of Standard used and all vital data associated with these (last calibration due, by, certified uncertainty, etc.)
- List of Products/Scope that has been approved by regulating agency (or if otherwise, list of product services that the laboratory is capable of servicing)
- Technical data related to each of the type of calibration (this data is also known as type b uncertainties or budget of the laboratory for calibrating each particular product in scope of lab and specific to each alternate method or with distinct standard/reference instruments/equipment’s)
The above list makes it clear that the data required to be setup is quite large and technical, knowledge of which cannot be generalized or copied from earlier implementation of the software in other laboratory. However, SCC can help you in migration of this data if it is in organised form on spreadsheet or documents.
The next question that arises naturally is how much time period is suitable for implementation of the solution. The answer to this question is not simple, but you are in better position to guess it most accurately then software or software service provider. Following will help you in estimating time period for implementation of this software in your laboratory.
– Do you have data structured and documented, most of the laboratories have kept their standard procedure documented and keep their spreadsheet updated, but still it is good to identify if there are any human dependency in the process.
– How much time you are expecting from your team to contribute for setting up of data? Or ask your supplier if they can help in setting up data quickly with the help of toolset or scripts at their disposal. They may charge a fee for the service so be upfront in asking the cost.
– Keep at least a day for testing of each product in the scope divide by size of team will give a ballpark time period required for testing.
(advisory: Pl consult key stakeholders in getting these estimates)
Take benefit of experience of your software supplier or software service provider as they may have gained this experience while implementing in other laboratories.
Based on SCC experience, following risks and pitfalls are common and have potential to bring your initiative to a halt or possibly snail pace that could lead it to slow death, if not managed properly.
SCC work collaboratively with its customers and guide the contributors through the setup process while making sure that quality of data is kept good at all the time by auditing data at various checkpoints during the process of setting up of calibration parameters and associated data attributes.
Additional services offered by SCC:
Data Interpretation and setting up of Lab Calibration Capability:
SCC has knowledge and experience of implementation in calibration laboratory, thus can help in converting data from spreadsheet to the application for a reasonable per day fees. (thus you may need to keep resources reserved for implementation)
Validation Service:
SCC staff performs validation of each and every instrument type and all calculations and provide documentary evidences comparing against existing spreadsheets and certificates, properly organised and stacked for easy reference in future and to show documents to support validation assignment to Auditors.
Common Risks :
Resistance to implementation by middle management (technical manager/quality managers)
Mitigation Plan: Get your key contributor along in the conceptualizing stage itself. Let them have free and fair view on software and its benefits.
Lack of collaboration among contributors OR
Lack of commitment to this initiative over other day to day work if made acceptable, then staff may find one or other excuse of delay in adding their contribution due to their BAU workload)
Mitigation plan: Assign a staff to coordinate with all staff contributors and supplier also, who should be managing timeline and if required authorize staff contributors to work overtime in order to avoid delays due to BAU overload.
- Lack of enthusiasm among the contributors due to prolong time period could kill your initiative and also make data setup some time back inconsistent (for ex. Standard reference data may get revised during the period)
- Lack of control in setting up key controlling data, we often found redundant or duplicate data setup by different resources working on different set of products but overlapping process.
Mitigation Plan: Let the key master be setup by one authorized person.
- Staff not capable or junior with limited knowledge is task
ed to setup key technical data. It might be a smart idea of someone to avoid responsibility and contributing directly, but it is a big waste of time and energy for setting up junk data that may not serve any purpose at all.
Mitigation Plan: Check and control the tendency of seniors and if it is indeed required then senior must revise the data setup by end of day. This adds to another sort of risk as well for e.g.
- Stipend trainees may leave after completing their training period thus leaving the vacuum behind. Filling of vacuum would have to wait till next batch of trainees thus delaying benefits
Mitigation Plan: Donot place temporory staff on mission critical jobs such as setting up of LIMS as their attrition after completion of implementation is expected to leave a large hole in the capability.
About SCC IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd.: is an organization with focus on serving small organizations with their state of the art products and quality of service. SCC specializes in delivering solution to service industry that are guided by processes or project based deliverables. SCC developed SmartCalibration LIMS product which is transforming the calibration industry in India in a big way moving the small calibration laboratories away from papers to paperless office. SCC offer various services from project management, consultancy service to delivering product services on software as service basis. SCC approach to successful implementation is due to unique partnership that we develop with our stakeholders.
