Preview of Pittcon 2014 LIMS & Informatics Events

 The Pittsburgh Conference, aka Pittcon, is the premier conference and exposition on laboratory equipment and chemical analyses in North America. This year it returns to McCormick Place in Chicago, IL from March 2-6.

 

As always, there are LIMS and Informatics sessions, short courses, and workshops to bring you up to date on the latest in LIMS, informatics, laboratory automation and laboratory regulations. In fact there are a lot of short courses, making Pittcon one of the best bets for in-depth training customized to any attendee's particular needs. 

 

To assist you in making the rounds of LIMS and Informatics events and exhibitors, this article highlights the details at press time. 

 

 

• Reducing Project Scope Creep (Monday Conferee Networking Session)

• Controlling Instruments Using Non-Manufacturer Software Packages (Monday Conferee Networking Session)

• Does Your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Replace LIMS? (Tuesday Conferee Networking Session)

• Laboratory Information Management and Laboratory Automation Through Unique Identification of Individual Labware and Sample Vials (Tuesday Conferee Networking Session)

• Progress Toward Creating an Intelligent and Automated Analytical Laboratory(Wednesday Conferee Networking Session)

• Labs and Apps - Transforming Gadgets into Lab Utilities (Wednesday Conferee Networking Session)

• Direct Access to Chromatography Data System through Smart Device (Wednesday Poster Session)

• Laboratory Informatics and Management (Thursday Oral Session)

 

 

Reducing Project Scope Creep, Conferee Networking, Room N427d, 8:30-10:30

Facilitator: Jeff Policastro, CSOLS, Inc.

Overview: One of the biggest project risk factors that cause project delays and cost overruns in Informatics implementations is scope creep. In this session the group will discuss critical success factors and strategies to ensure effective project scope management and stakeholder engagement. As a first step the group will address their perspectives on the differences between scope change and scope creep, discuss their experiences in handling the unique challenges of laboratory informatics projects, and how they addressed the special concerns of user community. Participants can then share their techniques on how to capture, evaluate and classify, and contain, change requests. The session will conclude with the group sharing lessons learned from their project experience.

 

Controlling Instruments Using Non-Manufacturer Software Packages, Conferee Networking, Room N427d, 1:30-3:30

Facilitator:  Missy Burke, Hospira

Overview: With the move to 21 CFR Part 11 compliance and the integration of instrumentation into LIMS and other paperless systems, labs are often forced to find ways to control instruments using software packages that are not recommended by the instrument manufacturer. We will present issues we have had using non-manufacturer software and some of the pitfalls we have encountered. We invite attendees to bring their issues to find common problems and discuss solutions. Our experience is mainly with chromatographic systems but would like to discuss the topic across all instrumentation types.

 

Does Your Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Replace LIMS? Conferee Networking, Room N427d, 8:30-10:30 

Facilitator:  Stuart Craig, CSOLS, Inc.

Overview: Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions are used extensively within IT at Life Sciences and laboratory process-based companies for governance, risk, compliance, and performance management. Increasingly, organizations are investigating the merit of replacing existing LIMS systems with ERPs which incorporate some LIMS and CAPA functionality.

Laboratory Information Management and Laboratory Automation Through Unique Identification of Individual Labware and Sample Vials, Conferee Networking, Room N427a, 1:30-3:30  

Facilitator: John Wang, TWD TradeWinds, Inc.

Overview: Latest technologies in barcoding and RFID are capable to provide individually identified products at reasonable costs, which could facilitate laboratory equipment to process samples, analyze results, and record information with much higher efficiency and accuracy.

 

 

Progress Toward Creating an Intelligent and Automated Analytical Laboratory, Conferee Networking, Room N427bc, 8:30-10:30

Facilitator:  Dana Vanderwall, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Allotrope Foundation

Overview: Allotrope Foundation has begun development of its open Framework (data standards, metadata dictionaries, and class-libraries) for managing analytical data throughout its lifecycle. Members of the analytical community are invited to share their perspectives and help shape the technical approaches and strategies to ensure that the Framework meets the community's needs.

 

Labs and Apps - Transforming Gadgets into Lab Utilities, Conferee Networking, Room N426c, 1:30-3:30

Facilitator: Katja Holland-Moritz, S.T. Japan USA, LLC

Overview:  The growing penetration of smart phones and tablets into everyday life increases the need to make these devices also part of a researcher’s working life in the analytical lab. There is a growing demand to provide mobile and web applications for scientists in routine analysis to make the handling of scientific instruments & data simple and trouble-free. To streamline international research endeavors we need to identify all players in this process and consolidate all aspects for an efficient integration of mobile devices in the analytical lab. In order to respond to the scientists’ specific needs and therefore to optimize research, it is not only essential to use apps to control analytical instruments, but also to access the collected scientific data anywhere at any time. Scientific apps for instrument control, for data acquisition, for the storage of measuring results, for accessing scientific information, etc. should be easily and individually accessible to allow scientists, researchers and students to search, access, share, and archive scientific information via their mobile devices.

 

Direct Access to Chromatography Data System through Smart Device, Poster Session, Exposition Floor, Abstract Number: 1660-2, Back of Aisles 1000-2500, 8:00-12:00

 

Laboratory Informatics and Management (Half Session), Oral Session, Room S502b

8:30     Development of an Open Framework for Laboratory Data

8:50     LIMS or ELN: Which is Right for Your Lab?

9:10     Benefits of an Integrated LIMS and ELN Platform Solution

9:30     LIMS Implementations - Lessons Learned

 

The Exposition floor will be open from Monday, March 3 to Thursday, March 6.

 

Abacalab, 3963 NEW

Accelerated Technology Laboratories, 4059

Accelrys, 3661

Advanced Chemistry Development, 3861

Allotrope Foundation, 3762 NEW

Autoscribe Informatics, 3859

Baytek International, 3659

Bio-Rad Labs, Informatics, 2339

BSSN Software, 4159

Caliber Infosolutions Inc, 4263

Cerno Bioscience, 2507

ChemWare, 3759

Core Informatics, 1057

Ethosoft, 3961

Freezerworks, 3761 NEW

Khemia Software, 3862

LabAnswer, 4560

LabVantage Solutions, 3663

LabWare, 4060

LIMSABC, 1418 NEW

Molnar Institute, 4557 NEW

Promium, 4148

Quality Systems International, 3964

RURO, Inc., 4262

Siemens Industry, 2841

STARLIMS, 3863

ST Japan, 1139 NEW

Thermo Scientific, 2441

Waters Corporation, 3648

For additional details about Pittcon, please visit http://www.Pittcon.org.