What’s new in this version?

Improved security

Using SMTP Oauth2 for Office365 and Gmail to comply with Microsoft and Gmail’s secure SMTP integration requirements, we added the highly expected mode.

Integrating OAuth2 has several benefits: 

• it allows you to read a user’s data from another application;
• it supplies the authorization workflow for web, desktop applications, and mobile devices;
• is a server-side web app that uses authorization code and does not interact with user credentials.

Check out our guides below ⬇️ on how to add this security to your instance.

Labels improvement, Risks & Safety icons

Now you can create barcode labels much faster, easier and more responsive. They will automatically adjust to the meanings that you add to your label.

We also added Risk & Safety icons to the label maker, which will allow you to have the corresponding pictograms on a label. This will help with the compliance of the lab and improve its safety.

Equipment and Reagents modules

We totally redesigned the Maintenance and Lots tabs with sorting, filtering and full support of dynamic multi-level custom fields.

Now you can have all the empty/not frequently used columns hidden. Click on a green circle, to extend and see more columns, and to return back click on a red circle. Sort columns by clicking on them and find needed equipment much faster. A search bar was added and the overall user experience was improved. Test it now!

Archive improved

While archiving projects is comfortable and useful, it was a problem to come back to them and find their code number. Well, not anymore! With this version, users can see and unarchive project codes that they need.

Find all of your archived projects and their codes easily, follow the next steps: Tools ➡️ Manage Project Codes ➡️ Archived Project List

Configuration of the user levels & admin access

Admin users can now have access to specific administrative areas chosen by Super Admin. This will help with managing LabCollector and your lab.

Configure the user levels that are allowed to delete records. Now have the option to decide who can do it and who can’t, just remember that non-Admin users can only delete their own records.

Learn how to manage users in our Knowledge Base 📙

Calculated fields

This field allows using a formula on a decimal and datetime field (and other calculated fields) to have an automatic result in view mode. Now supported in Maintenance, Registry Book, Risks and Lots Tabs, and allows performing needed calculations right in place.

Other updates

• Timestamp certification by Time Stamp Authority
• Name modification in the module form now displays a warning if the name is currently used in an autocomplete custom field
• Mol/SDF formats are now validated in the import
• Custom fields focus icons can now be enabled or disabled depending on the setup option
• LSM tab in a Documents module to automatically get a hardcopy of reports for the finished job
• fixed bugs
• check our changelog for more information

And many more! We believe that with your feedback we grow even faster!

Download LabCollector v6.11 and enjoy!

What is ELNDocSend App?

ELNDocSend App allows you to send your paper annotations, notebook pages or other pictures directly to LabCollector Electronic Lab Notebook in a few clicks. With this app you can simply take photos, edit them, take notes and send them to ELN add-on. A lot of options are available with the version 3.0.

Make everything digital in few steps

Connect your app

You can find the application directly on the Google Play Store by typing “labcollector”. You will find all the applications developed and usable with LabCollector LIMS (view our catalog). Select and install ELNDocSend.

The application must then be connected to the ELN LabCollector. To do this, you need to configure the LabCollector API. Everything can be done very easily thanks to our step by step guide.

Step 1: Take a picture

Take a picture with the camera of your mobile phone or with a PDA in one click. The ELNDocSend v3.0 application is directly connected to the camera app of your phone, allowing you to access all its innate features.

Step 1: Edit the picture

The application connects to all your editing applications on your phone. If you have for example Google Photos, the application will propose you to edit your image directly in this application. Multiple features are then available: crop, adjust brightness, contrast, blur… the catalog of filters can also be used!

Step 3 & 4: Scan & Send to ELN

Send the photos in a few clicks! Choose the book, the experiment and finally the page where you want to send your document. You can do it manually or by scanning a simple QR Code present at the top of the page. Your document will be visible a few seconds after sending directly on the selected ELN page.

Stop losing time, make everything digital!

You like paper notes and having illustrations of your experiments in your ELN but it’s often a considerable waste of time to add all this to your ELN. Thanks to the ease of use of the ELNDocSend application, everything is faster and easier. Update your Electronic Lab Notebook with old documents from paper lab notebooks, add your notes from an experiment without having to transcribe everything and add all pictures you want and need! Extend the possibilities, make everything digital!

The 3Q approach

Validation of software before its use is essential to guarantee the quality of data processing. In the context of software, the 3Q approach is followed in the process of validation.

Overall, the goal of performing IQ, OQ and PQ is to ensure that the software can be implemented successfully and that all functionalities can be used without any problems.

These 3 steps should generally be done in order. Once the installation is complete, the functionality can be tested, and the performance measured.

Installation Qualification (IQ)

Installation Qualification (IQ) is the validation process to verify that the supplied software can be successfully installed on the specified environment, with the specified configurations.

Operational Qualification (OQ)

Operational Qualification (OQ) includes all the tests to be performed in order to verify that the software is operationally ready to be deployed to customers. The key functionalities of the software are verified in this validation process. The team of testers is in charge of this step and all the tests performed and the results must be provided in a document for the customer.

Performance Qualification (PQ)

This key step is the Performance Qualification (PQ) to ensure that the software, when installed on the final system, can handle the real load, respect the expected response time and does not fail in case of high demand or spike in use when connecting users simultaneously.

Validate a LIMS for better performance!

The success of the IQ-OQ-PQ validation process is a very important step for all the actors. It not only gives confidence in the software, but also gives peace of mind to the customer and the vendor’s team. This validation makes it possible to meet the compliance requirements set by the FDA (FDA 21 CFR Part 11) or ISO.

Performing IQ-OQ-PQ also reduces the risk of a live deployment and eliminates failure.

LabCollector’s teams help you from start to finish! If you need to validate the system to meet the demands of certification bodies, we will perform the IQ, OQ, PQ process for you. Don’t hesitate to contact us for more information.

Start your FREE trial with LabCollector LIMS now!

Lab inventory management

Version 6.0…What’s new?

Let it be a laptop, computer, or be software…Stylish is the new normal! We are happy to introduce our LabCollector v6.0 with a responsive interface and refashioned design and refreshed stylish look in over a decade. Are you a researcher? I bet you would love to see an attractive user interface on any software. LabCollector v6.0 for sure is now easy on the eyes!

Good things come to those who wait… and the wait was worth it!

What makes the new LabCollector v6.0 so special?

We all know the struggle of webpages not adjusting on different sizes of screens or mobile. The new trend is easy on the eyes….easy on the mind!

This is exactly what our new version 6.0 offers. A new revamped interface with responsive design makes LabCollector the ultimate LIMS for labs!

Let it be your laptop, computer or your phone LabCollecter v6.0 is now OMNIPRESENT with a revamped design and responsive screen. Responsive LabCollector design makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen size. its the need of the hour after all….LabCollector v6.0 is compatible with all types of screens.

What’s in it for you?

Just the NEW LOOK was not enough for us! We wanted to make sure that we make your experience with LabCollector more adaptive & memorable. Our teams have developed various new features that will allow LabCollector to adapt to your lab needs much more swiftly. You can now save your “searches” and memorize them & use it later. Moreover, so let’s look at the highlights of some new features.

Improved security

If you are a researcher from academia, pharmaceutical, or a biotech company, I am sure you are worried about your important files and folders being accessible to others. For exactly this reason LabCollector v6.0 now makes sure that no one can tamper with your documents or data anymore. You no more have to worry about your research data getting leaked. We provide reinforced security with:

• PHP 7.x compatibility for accessing files & folders. Moreover, PHP configurations make LabCollector secure now more than ever.
• A strong password is one of the goals for security and avoids data breaches. LabCollector now uses strong password rules (legacy, SHA, SHA 256+).
• Who doesn’t want to be more efficient in their work! But with all the applications one uses its tiring to remember all passwords! This is where the Single Sign On (SSO) function comes as our savior. It simply means login in your computer and you automatically log in to your computer and you are automatically logged in in all the applications you use. LabCollector now offers more configurable options with SSO that improves security, reduces password fatigue, and enhances identity protection.
• Do you fear losing all your data? After all, computers or mobile are not invincible! All that hard work and research just erased if your computer hard disk is corrupted. Not to worry anymore, LabCollector now offers automatic data backup that backs up your data in a safe place where you can access it later.

Better Configuration

Do you like customizable configuration settings on your phone, computer, or laptop? As a researcher do you like organizing experiments or data the way you like? Of course, you do! Who doesn’t like to customize things according to their choices? Now imagine this freedom for configuration to organize your lab! With LabCollector v6.0 you can:

• Design your home page as per your choice.
• Customize configuration according to each user (Superadmin/admin/users, etc)  in LabCollector.
• Create custom modules for data inventory.
• Reorder the fields inside the modules.
• Activate or deactivate custom field types for any module.
• Search easily with advanced options.
• Import existing data with ease.
• Prepare reagent recipes (for e.g. buffers) with traceable consumption of reagents.

New User & Groups features

Do you have different teams in the lab working on different projects? Don’t you want the choice for different permissions levels for different groups in the lab? User settings are now made better and feasible in the new LabCollector v6.0.

• It allows you to choose the logic of permissions between different groups.
• You can now import users (including LDAP users) easily using CSV.
• Lab users can now have a badge employee ID with the help of LabCollector.

Easy Purchase order Management

Do you want to purchase new reagents for your lab? Are you tired of the long purchase processes? Not to worry! LabCollector helps you to create purchase orders and buy reagents/supplies very easily. The purchase order management in LabCollector v6.0 offers you many new exciting features:

• Improved risks & safety setup for hazardous chemicals and their approval before purchase.
• Creation of quotes and linking them to orders.
• Creation of barcodes of your choice for ‘lots’.
• Derivation/Movement of “lot” for more than one unit which was not possible in the previous version.

Lab Automation & New add-ons/utilities

File from lab instruments is often not easy to interpret. Therefore connecting lab instruments to LabCollector offers lab automation thereby also decreasing human errors. You can connect your lab instruments to LabCollector with a help of add-ons and middleware that helps interpret the complex result files from instruments and integrates them in LabCollector.

• Lab instruments can be connected using our middleware I-Collector. (*read more on our blog about I-Collector).
• Our add-ons like Win2Parser, tube sorter, etc help in parsing complex instrument files into a simple format like CSV.
• ‘Order manager’ is a new add-on by LabCollector that help you keep a track of all your lab orders for reagents and supplies.
• We often upload files in LIMS LabCollector. However, in any LIMS software, we can rarely edit the files. LabCollector offers its new utility called Fileconnector where you can edit a file in realtime. (*read more on our blog about file connector).

Effortless Storage Organization

Are your reagent stocks running low? Not sure which reagent quantity has reached its minimum or maximum level? Every lab uses 1000’s of reagents and supplies and keeping track of their usage is not an easy task to achieve. Nothing to fear when LabCollector is here. LabCollector v6.0 allows you to have top-notch storage management. You can now:-

• Manage more easily the storage for reagents & supplies.
• Set alerts for Minimum & maximum quantity of reagents and supplies that are being used up.
• Create alerts for tubes (cells, primers, plasmids, etc) reaching minimum quantity as well as the expiration date.
• Minimize the risk of tubes getting contaminated due to continuous thaw and freeze cycles? v6.0 now allows the display of the number of thaw cycles performed on the tubes. So after a certain amount of thaw cycles you can discard the tubes and minimize contamination and delay in your experiments.
• Display of vials storage location & the total stock of straws & tubes is now available with LabCollector v6.0.

New LabCollector v6.0

Try our LabCollector v6.0 today!

Image/Graphics Credits: – Icons from www.flaticon.com – Graphics from https://fr.freepik.com/

With today’s advancing lab processes with LIMS software, instrument integration has become an essential part of lab automation. Moreover, labs that need to follow regulations laid by the FDA or ISO, etc need to be more vigilant in their lab workflow. Manual errors can create various hurdles for such labs. Most of the lab processes are today made sophisticated and organized by LIMS such as LabCollector. However, collecting data from instruments and analyzing it, is still something difficult, to attain for many labs. Thus automated data acquisition is becoming a need for every lab. Generally, any instrument can be communicated with the help of API (Application Programming Interface). API communicates with the instrument, by giving commands using a ‘middleware’ application. However, one needs to create commands, by using scripting programming languages, to process the files. This is a work for a developer, which consumes a lot of time and needs to be scripted according to respective instruments. I-Collector is ready to use ‘middleware’ that eases the process of communicating with several laboratory instruments.

Check our webpage to read more about I-Collector automation by LabCollector!

Applications

Plugins

Check our webpage to see the list of instruments compatible with I-Collector

Check out all LabCollector v6.0 today!

To help set up LabCollector v6.0 please refer to our Manuals and our Knowledgebase.

Image/Graphics Credits: –Icons from https://flaticon.com/

In the fast-growing world, where every industry’s endeavor is to balance the supply and demand of things, automation has proven to be a boon to achieve these goals. Although lab automation is being widely practiced nowadays, the initiation of laboratories using automated machines was pioneered long back in the 1980s. Since then automation has become one of the necessities of today’s research practices. Even though various academic labs still occasionally rely on automation, test labs, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries have rapidly evolved themselves to automate their research labs. Right from receiving the samples to its storage and final usage in assays is now being documented with the help of machines and software that help labs automate these processes thus making them efficient.

If you are a researcher you can visualize easily making an inventory of samples, reagents, assays, etc manually, repeating the same process which ate up a lot of productive time. You could have done an experiment during that period or other necessary things. A Ph.D. student or a post-doctorate or any researcher can relate to such situations, where they have wasted hours in tracking a reagent, sample, or making inventories manually. Owing Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and automation tools offered by them have changed the laboratory management tremendously over the decades.

LabCollector LIMS allows you to bring all the laboratory information in one place.

It’s not just the automated tools but LIMS that help connect the machines to one main anchor such as LabCollector thereby linking every process in the lab & achieve complete lab automation. Imagine if the machines just sort your sample or reagents or perform assays for you! You will have to use these samples or reagents or results from the machines to complete your experiments or analyze your results. Every researcher can relate to doing experiments, for example using a PCR machine and then analyzing its data in excel sheets to make graphs. Here, you would have to take the results in USB key from the computer near the machine or transfer to a common folder to copy the machine results and then analyze them on your computer. This way only a part of the lab is automated and the rest still depends on manual prowess which is prone to human errors. Thus every lab needs LIMS software which helps in achieving Laboratory automation. LabCollector serves this purpose where researchers can attain the lab automation by various tools and add-ons that it offers.

Check our webpage on Laboratory automation by LabCollector!

LabCollector helps with lab automation by offering:-

Sample management

• Complete sample management starting from the sample receiving to tracking the sample for example, in which tests it was used. Our powerful add-ons and tools such as samples and Strains & cells module, rack scanners, tube sorter, sample to batch tool help your laboratory attain successful sorting and managing your samples.
• Barcode feature allows you to generate customized barcodes thus making samples tracking a piece of a cake. You can visit our website storage accessories to buy compatible sprinters and barcode scanners.

Buy your tubes rack scanners directly on our online shop.

Lab inventory management

• Modules like reagents & supplies, primers, sequences, antibodies, plasmids, chemical structures help you create a hassle-free inventory system. You can integrate all the details relevant to the reagents or supplies needed in the lab.
• Our purchase order management tool helps you track the order and purchase of reagents or supplies that in minimum quantity or are expired. LabCollector creates alerts for such components thereby making it easier to track lab supplies.
• The recipe manager tool helps you keep track of reagents used in making recipes. For example, if you are making Tris-HCl buffer, you can track amounts that are used up in making such recipes so that you are aware of the reagents used up.
• The storage tool helps you mark down the location of all your samples, products, everything that you use in your lab. You can create storage places like a cupboard, or racks or liquid nitrogen containers, freezers, refrigerators, etc to mark the location of your reagents or samples making tracking of the lab supplies much easier.

Experiments / Assays / tests management

• The equipment module helps you to register all your laboratory equipment with its location, maintenance, etc. All the documents related to any instrument, for example, like, calibration or maintenance reports can be uploaded in documents module or can be uploaded in the equipment modules itself.
• Lab Service Management (LSM) add-on is very useful for tests lab offers as it documents and processes tests and generation of reports. Starting from the sample to creating tests and parameters that lab technicians can follow, to the completion and validation of tests is all performed inside LSM. Moreover, it also helps labs to create invoices and keep track of all the tests cost and sending invoices to the clinics/hospitals for the tests performed.
• For a more stringent environment of the lab, our workflow add-on offers precise follow-up of standardized steps in a lab that requires supervisor validations. This can be very useful in drug development labs where every step of experiments require supervisors validations.
• All the assays or experiments or tests performed can be written down in our electronic lab notebook add-on (ELN) which is the replacement of paper lab notebook. ELN allows you to draw graphs, plates temples or link the locations used in the experiment to their rightful location

Instrument integration & data acquisition

• LabCollector offers various add-ons such as I-Colletor, Parser, Win2Parser that help in instrument integration and thus help in automated data acquisition thereby removing manual error while data collection. I-Collector can help the integration of instruments like qPCR and others that help acquire data by parsing directly on your computer.
• Moreover, LabCollector’s custom API feature lab, automation, and integration of data from instruments become more smooth thereby decreasing manual errors in data collection.
• Photobank uploader add-on helps in automated image acquisition which can be useful for saving heavy microscopy images.

LabCollector LIMS helps connect all lab processes!

Check out all LabCollector v6.0 today!

To help set up LabCollector v6.0 please refer to our Manuals and our Knowledgebase

1. Why adopt a paperless laboratory?

Nowadays, most scientists still keep experimental records on paper notes, paper notebooks, and sometimes using some informatics tools like Excel, Word, Power Points files… Each one stored in different folders and computers. Still relying on the head of the lab or key staff to look where to search for that information… This unstructured way to keep your lab information leads to time consuming tasks and even loss of information across time!

This is far from being a new issue: a report published in European Pharmaceutical Review in 2015 reported that over the past 10 years, one of the biggest challenges in R&D is “to find the information when I need it”!

Decisions taken are based on lab information, hence having a reliable system to serve as your lab information repository can enable you to make better and faster decisions.

An article published in Scientific Computing in 2004 based on client cases lists the main goals of the adopters of a paperless laboratory:

Faster data manipulation of digital data
Increasing efficiency: by sharing data more easily and quickly
Speeding samples throughput: from electronic data entry in real time to automated data acquisition
Regulatory compliance
Reduced costs: doing the same work with fewer resources, or more work with the same resources

2. What are the differences between ELN and LIMS?

Confusion is often made between lab information management software (LIMS) and the electronic notebook (ELN). Scientists see the immediate value of an ELN to search and document their experiments which helps them tracking and sharing their experiments. Lab heads can manage and follow more efficiently the current projects in the lab, which are accessible online and shared among colleagues. It is when researchers start using an ELN that they see the need of a LIMS, to recall their samples, reagents, chemicals and be able to find them even after being for years. It is not only important to annotate your experiments but also to build in the lab a collaborative network of shared resources, as well as having a full traceability of your research activities.

A properly managed inventory will: increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the laboratory, because it will provide an uninterrupted flow of needed materials and ensure products are available when they are required. This is also in compliance with ISO standards. Even in pure R&D labs, new quality standards are pushing into more structured information.

To meet regulatory compliance and really benefit from a real increased efficiency an ELN cannot exist without a LIMS. To meet the best of both worlds it is important to assess a system having an ELN with built-in a LIMS/inventory.

A LIMS together with an ELN is a more stable, searchable and sharable way to manage any information in a lab. An all-in-one solution is the wat.

3. A Step by Step Implementation

Michael Elliott, chief executive officer of Atrium Research & Consulting, clearly points out important features when choosing a LIMS in an article published in Science “Clients want scalability, a user-friendly interface, and outstanding global support”, he also talks about product transparency “However, products vary in these capabilities, don’t choose based on a presentation or brand name. Think carefully about your needs now and in the future”. So, a scalable system is key as your needs can grow in the future, and changing from a system to another would be a loss of time and money. The other point is the transparency of products; a presentation of a system without a real experience can be very deceiving.

By choosing a scalable system, you can start implementing today! A customizable LIMS/ELN can be implemented quickly with higher rate of adoption than waiting years for the development of a rigid system to be ready, using a big bang approach. A step by step approach allows users to see the benefits of a LIMS/ELN and slowly integrating the LIMS in their lab daily life.

A customizable LIMS/ELN such as LabCollector offers the possibility to adapt your entry data, your inventory modules, in addition to the basic frame of the LIMS, scale up your users at any time and you can choose the supplementary modules you need. Examples of these modules are the ELN, Data Logger (sensors Tracking), WorkFlow to set up jobs from repetitive procedures in the lab (e.g. next gene sequencing protocols) to clinical trials workflows or even modules based on client services like the Lab Service Manager, or the Sequencing Service Manager for NGS labs.

4. Full Automated Workspace

Imagine a world where scientists annotate their experiments with their tablets or iPads simultaneously keeping records. Reagents, samples and instruments with unique IDs labelled with barcodes allowing you to de-stock digitally, you can find quickly the information about a sample or box without any ambiguity. Knowing exactly what is in your inventory and where. A fully automated system to simplify research by capturing experimental details in an easy and efficient manner with the automatic retrieval of results from your analytical equipment’s to the right sample record in your database? Well, this world has finally arrived…

Several labs have moved to this digital era finding the efficiency, regulation compliancy they were looking for. Laurent Boulanger, Engineer at the French Agronomic Institute (INRA) lab has implemented LabCollector since 2010 says “I just have one piece of advice to give: Don’t just think about where to store your samples, but also where to find them in the future. If you use the database and the electronic lab notebook (ELN), you will have a very effective tool to follow your experiments, the samples generated and where they are stored.”

5. Changing minds

Trying to change an old lab management system can be tough and facing installed routine and conservative minds is challenging. The best way to make a change is to just try! Use the free version of LabCollector and try it in your lab (in parallel with your existing system). The results might be enough to convince all your team!

Time invested today will help gain quality results, professional and personal satisfaction, and peer recognition.

Everyone in the laboratory is responsible for quality performance:

– Laboratory leaders and managers must commit to meeting quality needs.

– Laboratory personnel must follow all quality assurance procedures and adhere to requirements and standards.

The time of digital labs has come. Electronic notebooks and online data are the new rule for efficient work on the bench.

LabCollector, first developed for Life Science applications, is an extensive solution to manage any R&D lab activities. LabCollector is an all-in-one solution with all the features needed in a modern laboratory, adapting to a simple usage to complexes workflows with equipment integration. It is also fully suitable to any type of lab, from research to analytical and diagnostic labs. LabCollector has 650 clients worldwide, being able to support and scale up organizations needs from start-ups to medium and large organizations.

For those who want to try LabCollector, you can download the FREE VERSION here. Perfect opportunity to try it and ultimately keep using it!