The 'out of the box' Lims rental has helped QTS Analytical to boost efficiency and improve accuracy of its laboratory information management procedures
QTS Analytical, of East Malling, Kent, a contract laboratory that measures pesticide residues in fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs, has enhanced the organization's contract laboratory's customer service by utilising QSI's WinLims Rental for contract laboratories.
QTS Analytical's contract laboratory service, which is aimed at organisations throughout the fruit and vegetable supply chain - growers, wholesalers and retailers, tests for pesticides in a variety of areas including fresh produce, soils, water and environmental analysis.
Potential QTS customers include any company importing or growing fruit and vegetables.
The QTS laboratory has Ukas accreditation for its pesticide residue analysis, covering a wide range of pesticides in fruit, vegetables and tea leaves.
The company also participates in the internationally recognised Fapas proficiency scheme.
Fast turn-around times are vital for most contract laboratories and QTS is no exception.
Although the standard turnaround time for QTS is five days the company also offers an industry-leading 12 hour emergency turn-around on residue testing.
To achieve such demanding turn-around targets, speed and accuracy of reporting are crucial factors that have been greatly improved with the advent of the WinLims Rental package.
Before the QSI solution was introduced the largely manual reporting process was a major bottleneck.
At peak times, staff sometimes had to work unsocial hours to keep up, and the administrative load also introduced invoicing delays.
"We have benefited considerably from WinLims Rental's reporting capabilities - our reports vary greatly in format dependent on the type of testing being carried out for each customer".
"WinLims was able to cater for this requirement straight from the box and as such has made significant time savings, seven hours per week if not more," explained QTS Analytical's founder Steve Gardner.
"We typically generate 500 to 600 reports a month.
"With WinLims it is all now done automatically.
"We simply select the type of report, and based on the type of commodity, the system prints out the report.
"We also now have the added benefit that it simplifies trend analysis.
"Reporting had long been a slow part of the process prior to introducing WinLims.
"Now we get the reports out in less time and with more reliability as well because the report is now automatically generated rather than being generated by a human.
"In the past it was all too easy to try and lash something together in a hurry in Word and invariably that's when things could start to go wrong".
QTS investigates a typical sample load of 500 samples per month using in-house GC-MS and LC-MS procedures.
The contract laboratory has five standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have been developed in house to cover the bulk of the work.
The GC based systems routinely handle 200 determinands per sample while the LC systems service up to 80.
Based on the WinLims Rental system QTS has recently set up a remote sample booking system via the company's web site.
The new remote facility gives QTS customers the option to directly feed sample data into the company's WinLims system.
QTS is also in the process of setting up the facility to automatically generate invoices using the WinLims system".
"QSI's WinLims Rental solution offered a cost effective way of obtaining a LIMS system that was capable of meeting our exacting requirements and also offered a wide range of additional capabilities that would meet our future needs," said Gardner.
"Even if you go and buy a WinLims it is still a significant cost up front.
"However, with the WinLims Rental system you can have a really good Lims right now".
