2017 Review of the Best Data Management Connected Tools

Do you have to ensure the traceability and the quality of the data produced in your lab? Do you need to use computer applications for this?

Then you might be interested in our review of connected solutions and SaaS for researchers. This article is part of a series of 3 that cover management solutions, tools for inside-the-lab and publication related applications.

To start with, let’s talk about lab management. You might have heard about scientific data management systems. Often, the roles and possible interactions between those connected lab tools are not always well defined.

However, we are going to try and puzzle out the roles and interest of using each one of those management solutions at your lab.

Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)

What is a LIMS?

LIMS has been known for more than 30 years as a major tool for operational management in laboratories. These applications are widely used in research.

They enable labs to meet the quality and traceability requirements of the control and accreditation bodies. They offer a range of functionalities that can meet most laboratory needs.

The computerized management of the data with LIMS saves time.

Staff time can be reduced up to 25% on input stations according to lims.fr, allowing you to focus on other activities.

Common features of LIMS

If you decide you are interested in LIMS, let’s see what they have to offer.

They offer various functionalities such as managing analyzes, and technical data (identification, definition, suppliers).

It allows sample management and comparative analysis of data taken on those samples.

Management of methods (procedures for analyzes) and traceability are also an important role of LIMS.

In general, it helps laboratory load and cost management (time per analysis, equipment capacity, consumables, hourly rates).

It allows the recording of incidents with the comments and anomalies noted.

LIMS are also used for communication to equipment and to enterprise information systems (integrated Enterprise Resource Planning for example).

And, it also helps to visualize available resources in the lab.

Labii’s LIMS

Online tool (SaaS), software • For all scientific fields • Made in the USA

This tool aims at helping you document, manage and interpret your research data.

At Labii, they offer a LIMS solution as well as an electronic laboratory notebook ( ELN).

Before, data recorded in ELN could not pass to LIMS. This wasn’t really intuitive, so they decided at Labii to integrate the ELN and LIMS.

The ELN acquires the experimental procedures and LIMS records the inventory. Labii LIMS supports the ELN to extract and record critical data.

It also tracks the consumption of samples and reagents during each experiment.

Scientific Data Management Systems (SDMS)

What is an SDMS?

A scientific data management system (SDMS) is a piece or package of software that acts as a document management system.

It enables capturing, cataloging, and archiving data generated by laboratory instruments (HPLC, mass spectrometry for example) and applications (LIMS or electronic laboratory notebooks) easily and always in accordance with regulations.

You may wonder what distinguishes SDMS from other connected solutions. Well, basically, a LIMS has traditionally been built to handle structured and homogeneous data. On the contrary, an SDMS is built to handle unstructured and heterogeneous data. This includes PDF files, images, instrument data, spreadsheets, and other forms of data rendered in many environments in the laboratory.

An SDMS aims at increasing research productivity using data sharing and collaboration efforts. It integrates information from corporate offices (safety documents for example) with data from lab devices and other data management tools. It indexes this data and makes them searchable from a central database.

Common features of SDMS

A standard SDMS should include certain features like retrieving worklists from LIMS and convert them to sequence files. Interacting in real-time with simple and complex laboratory instruments.

It should analyze and create reports on laboratory instrument functions and performing complex calculations and comparisons of sample groups.

An SDMS software usually enables monitoring environmental conditions, and react if base parameters are out of range.

It should act as an operational database. For instance, it should allow selective importation and exportation of ELN data for example.

And finally, it should manage workflows based on data imported and enable the researchers to validate other computer systems and software in the lab.

Abbott Informatics STARLIMS SDMS

Online tool (SaaS), software • For all scientific fields • Made in the USA

STARLIMS SDMShelps you to organize standard operation procedures (SOPs) and certificates of analysis. It also pulls in unstructured data from HPLCs or other instruments you can have in your lab.

You also have the possibility to create custom workflows that ensure documents are reviewed and approved by the right people. Which enable automation of the approval process of SOPs, test methods, and many others.

The goal of STARLIMS SDMS is to transform unstructured documents or files into searchable structured information. It enables you to extract any valuable data you need. Like keywords, values, graphs and data tables that are pulled from your project files.

It also aims at eliminating disparate data sources. So you don’t have to wrestle with lots of useless data in the middle of essential data.

A special feature from Abbott is the “SDMS Grabber” that monitors designated locations and automatically picks up and processes new files from or to it. It includes an automatic data routing towards the location you want it your data be, based on file type.

Finally, STARLIMS SDMS promotes collaboration by allowing access to document information from a web browser. That means that, wherever you are (in your lab, or in a conference), you have access to your processed data. You can search by keyword, metadata to find any result.

The SDMS tool integrates into the STARLIMS system you (might) already have in your lab.

Whether you need to monitor experiments, assign tasks and equipment access, keep an eye on the advancement of projects or else, connected management solutions and SaaS are your saving grace.

Those solutions address the lab activities in a new and integrated view.

They enable any researcher to meet the quality and traceability requirements in his lab and to manage the data they produce way more easily.