Evaluating a LIMS From Sample Intake to Final Report
If you’re booking a LIMS demo, I’d bring a blank copy of a report your lab already uses and a sample you can follow through the system.
That gives you something familiar to talk through. You know what needs to go on the report, who checks it and what has to happen before it goes out.
For the demo, make up a sample that needs two tests and someone else’s review. Keep the details fictional, but use the fields and report headings your team works with.
Have the person who normally receives samples start the record. Then let someone else find it, check what testing was requested and add a result. Can they pick up where the first person left off without needing someone to explain where everything is?
I’d also change something along the way. Maybe an intake detail was entered incorrectly or a result needs correcting. See what happens afterward. Can the reviewer find the earlier information and understand what changed?
These are useful things to try with the people who’ll actually use the system. Someone who spends their day receiving samples or reviewing results may have questions that wouldn’t occur to anyone else in the room.
Once you’ve followed the sample through, produce the report. Open the exported file and compare it with the blank one you brought. Check the test names, units, notes and anything your customer expects to see.
If the report still needs work, talk through it. What needs changing? Who will set that up? When can your team try the revised version?
Keep a few notes as you go. Write down what you saw working, what needs setup and what you still need to check. That’ll give you something useful to come back to after the demo.
Bring your lab’s specific accreditation, security and client requirements into the conversation too. Those need their own checks alongside this exercise.
If you’re considering BlueLot LIMS, bring the same questions. BlueLot covers sample and test records, tracking and reporting, so following a sample through is a practical way to start looking at how it could fit your lab.
You can get in touch about a demonstration with a blank report and a little about how your team uses it.
BlueLot is from BenchLab Solutions, where our work includes laboratory software configuration, instrument setup, training and support.
Further reading: NFDI4Chem’s guidance on choosing an ELN.