It's Official...LABVANTAGE 6 Has Been Released!
24 Jan 2012 Video Blog by Dave Ciabattoni and Jeff Vannest of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.
Dave
Ciabattoni, Senior Director of Software Development, and Jeff Vannest,
Director of Strategic Solutions, discuss the recent release of
LABVANTAGE 6.
LABVANTAGE 6, which was released on Monday, January 16th, was an
intensive, 18-month project. Jeff and Dave touch upon many topics,
including how the developers worked closely with customers, the three
leading industry application servers and opportunities for SQL*LIMS
customers. The video below explains much more on these and other
important topics. The video can be viewed here
About LABVANTAGE
LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. is headquartered in Somerset, NJ, with offices around the world. We offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for the laboratory, including Laboratory Information Management Solutions (LIMS), quality electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) and business intelligence. www.labvantage.com. | | Posted By: KRAT727 | 0 Comments | | | JBoss Application Administration Training
24 Jan 2012 Written by Jeff Zollars of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.
I
had the opportunity to attend a Red Hat training class on JBoss
Application Administration in the LABVANTAGE training center located in
Somerset, NJ. Before this class, I’d only worked with the Oracle
Application Server 10g. I was quite impressed with the capabilities of
the JBoss Application server.
First, I want to mention that the LABVANTAGE training center is
wonderful. The classroom is configured well for PC training classes,
well-stocked with snacks, drinks and coffee, therefore creating a very
inviting learning environment. I appreciated the one cup at a time
coffee maker, those of you who know me know that I am a “coffee
achiever” and run on a high-grade dark roast coffee. This requirement
was well satisfied the whole week. The desks and computers were
comfortable to work on as there was plenty of room for both the keyboard
and manual on the desk, which can easily make many PC training classes
awkward.
JBoss is an open-source Java EE-based application server from Red
Hat. JBoss implements the full Java EE part of Java. Also, because it is
Java-based, the JBoss application server operates cross-platform,
running on any OS that supports Java. I was quite impressed with the
capabilities of JBoss and how easy it is to install and configure. The
install is essentially to unzip the distribution onto the server. I also
found it quite easy to deploy applications. In addition, once installed
and configured it is also simple to backup and restore.
Unlike other application servers, JBoss is not an integrated
environment. There is no development environment, JVM or database built
into the application server. Instead, each of these can be supplied by
your in-house standard installations or a preferred vendor.
The current JBoss application server is fully featured, and supports
SSL, LDAP and clustering. The app server has a new GUI, called JConsole,
that displays the application server processes and work in progress.
The class exercises were quite complete and provided a chance to work
with all the major features discussed in the class. These included the
installation of the Java JVM, the JBoss application server, configuring
and connecting via LDAP, setting up encrypted passwords, SSL and
configuring clustering to name a few.
While I do not feel like a fully seasoned JBoss administrator just
yet, I do feel like I have a solid foundation to install, configure and
deploy applications in a JBoss application server. I also
whole-heartedly recommend installing applications on this robust app
server. About LABVANTAGE
LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. is headquartered in Somerset, NJ, with offices around the world. We offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for the laboratory, including Laboratory Information Management Solutions (LIMS), quality electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) and business intelligence. www.labvantage.com.
| | Posted By: KRAT727 | 0 Comments | | | An Instrument Interfacing Business Case: Interview with Hera Group
24 Jan 2012 Written by Sergio Nasi of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.
When planning a LIMS system implementation, connecting the instrumentation is
very often in the scope of the project. However, its execution is
almost always left among the final tasks of the plan, if not even after
the go-live, as the analysis of the laboratory business processes, the
configuration of the sample life cycle, reporting and training are
usually taking precedence over the interfaces with instruments. After
all, a LIMS system can be put into production even when the result entry
is performed manually.
Yet, effective and streamlined interfaces between a LIMS
system and analytical instruments can have a great and positive impact
on the productivity and profitability of the laboratory.
We discuss this topic with Daniele Nasci, Head of the analytical laboratory of Sasso Marconi (Bologna, Italy) of Hera Group,
one of the biggest Italian, multi-utility companies which provides
environmental, water and energy services. Hera Group was created in 2002
from the merger of eleven public utilities companies operating in Regione Emilia Romagna. They
are publicly traded on the Italian stock exchange, have a workforce of
almost 7,000 employees and have impressive revenues, which exceeded 3.7
billion euros in 2010.
Q: Mr. Nasci, could you please give us a short history of the evolution of the laboratory within the Hera Group?
DN: Since the inception of the holding, the laboratory has
always been an important part of our enterprise business processes and
over the years it has become a paramount business unit, playing a
critical role in the control of the quality of the services provided by
Hera to its customers.
Q: How many laboratory units belong to your organization and what geographical area do they cover?
DN: There are three lab units, specialized by analytical matrix and localized in the following sites:
- Sasso Marconi (Bologna) for water and microbiology analyses
- Forlì for solid waste, micro-pollutants and atmosphere emissions
- Ravenna for hazardous liquid waste
The collected samples come from an area covering more than
60% of Regione Emilia Romagna and in particular the districts of
Bologna, Modena, Ferrara ,Bologna, Forlì, Cesena and Rimini.
Q: For how many years have you been using a LIMS system and what are the most important benefits?
DN: We adopted a LIMS system back in 1991 when we launched
the initial implementation on SQL*LIMS version 4.0.16,
subsequently upgraded to newer versions, a milestone achievement
which drastically boosted laboratory productivity and produced countless
benefits. To name a few: a dramatic increase in speed and accuracy of
the electronic processing, management and archiving of data, ease of
access by our customers to the information stored in the system. Our
LIMS is centralized, it serves the three laboratories and our clients
can review analytical results in real-time, be notified via email in
case of out-of-specs, generate and print analysis reports, etc.
Q: What were the main factors which drove the adoption of interfaces between LIMS and laboratory instruments?
DN: In the Sasso Marconi laboratory alone, we perform about
500,000 analytical tests per year. Prior to establishing the
connectivity between LIMS and the instrumentation and automating the
data collection procedures, 2 FTEs were assigned to manual result entry.
With the adoption of instrument interfacing we were able to re-assign
this staff to more productive tasks, almost eliminate the errors in the
transcription of results from the instrument to the LIMS and greatly
reduce the task turn-around and time. We could then deliver analytical
results to our customers faster and more reliably, reduce the
re-analysis rate, abate the number of complaints and increase the
overall quality of our services.
Q: What are the types of instruments currently interfaced?
DN: We connected the most commonly used analytical methods
such as Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP), Gas Chromatography and Mass
Spectrometry (GC-MS), Total Organic Carbon (TOC).
Q: In light of your experience ,what do you think future developments might be?
DN: We aim to implement fully bi-directional protocols in
that complete worklists (including the list of samples to be analyzed
and the required analytical parameters) can be transmitted to the
instrument, sparing the operator from the hassle of manually specifying
on the instrument’s computer the list of submitted samples and the
wanted analytical determinations.
Q: Where do you see margins for improvement and how do you think LABVANTAGE can help you?
DN: I’m seeing a clear trend towards the adoption of fully
computerized procedures and progressive elimination of paperwork. This
trend, which is proceeding at a fast pace in other industries such as
pharmaceuticals, is now gaining momentum in laboratory units of utility
companies like ours. We are therefore considering with great interest
the electronic laboratory notebook solution (ELN) offered by LABVANTAGE. About LABVANTAGE
LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. is headquartered in Somerset, NJ, with offices around the world. We offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for the laboratory, including Laboratory Information Management Solutions (LIMS), quality electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) and business intelligence. www.labvantage.com.
| | Posted By: KRAT727 | 0 Comments | | | ESBB Inaugural Conference 2011
23 Jan 2012 Written by Andrew Miles of LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc.
Matt Rogers and I were very proud to attend the first annual meeting of ESBB (European, Middle Eastern & African Society for Biopreservation and Biobanking) held in Marseille, France from November 16th to 19th 2011. LABVANTAGE has supported this European chapter of ISBER since its inception in 2010 and is delighted to have 2 representatives on the ESBB Vendor Committee.
The organizing committee couldn’t have chosen a better venue to host this inaugural meeting. It opened in warm autumn sunshine and clear blue skies at the Pullman Palm Beach Hotel, off the shores of the Mediterranean. I have known the ESBB President, Pasquale De Blasio, for two years now, through our work with Biorep in Italy. It was great to meet him again as he personally welcomed us to the conference.
Approximately 350 delegates, from all around the world, registered for the event and enjoyed a challenging and varied agenda of lectures and presentations following the conference theme of “Identifying the challenges and opportunities for biorepositories today and in the next 5 years.” Focused sessions highlighting ethical issues, funding, biobank networks, and novel technologies, amongst other subjects, were well attended and generated much interest and lively debate amongst the audience. Having the opportunity to attend some of the lectures in person is a valuable opportunity to broaden and update our domain knowledge within the company, therefore allowing us to provide better solutions for our customers. An informal evening reception provided the ideal opportunity for delegates to catch up with old friends and colleagues and relax over a glass (or two) of wine. Matt and I took the opportunity to enjoy a leisurely dinner with one of our partners from France who was attending the meeting.
 An extensive exhibition area was open to delegates throughout the 3 days of the conference, 36 vendors and sponsors representing a broad range of hardware and software solutions from across the Biobanking sector were present. LABVANTAGE was delighted to welcome both new prospects and existing customers to its exhibition stand during the event. As always, there was a significant amount of interest in our market-leading Bio-Bank solution. An existing customer came over to say hello and mentioned a couple of issues that needed attention. A short discussion and a phone call later, the issues were resolved. You never know what will come up during these meetings, but we are always happy to help.
For more information on ESBB and to view the full conference agenda visit www.esbb.org.
About LABVANTAGE
LABVANTAGE Solutions, Inc. is headquartered in Somerset, NJ, with offices around the world. We offer a comprehensive portfolio of products and solutions for the laboratory, including Laboratory Information Management Solutions (LIMS), quality electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) and business intelligence. www.labvantage.com. | | Posted By: KRAT727 | 0 Comments | | | | << | 1 2 | >> | | Showing Results 1 - 4 of 6 |
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