Communicating between LIMS and Process Control

If you have a LIMS software application and also a Process Control software application, can they communicate with each other for the sake of reporting and data collation?

Granted  a LIMS is very different type of software app from a Process control app, however many institutions rely on both. We are going to discuss this topic in quite some detail.

LIMS solutions often need to handle the import of data from external sources, like a custom written instrument interface file. This file might be in one of several formats: .XLS, .XLSX, .CSV or even plain .TXT (ascii). The LIMS may even offer to export data for the sake of a separate bookkeeping app, like producing a fully formatted .IIF file that needs to send invoice data over to Quick Books.

On the other hand, even the simplest Process Control app may need to import hordes of data from a SCADA interface.

In either case, both apps are usually robust enough to handle the producing of export files and/or the consuming of import files.

That being said, if your organization has both a professional LIMS package and a professional Process Control program, do they understand how to talk to each other?  They would if they came from the same software vendor.

Does your current LIMS software vendor also offer an OTF affordable Process Control software app? For that matter do they offer affordable LIMS software? If you are in the market right now for either a Process Control app or a LIMS, or both, shouldn't you investigate a complete solution for a single source? That is the only way to absolutely guarantee a successful integration between the two intiatives, especially when it comes to producing single reports that must read information from both sources.

It all boils down to how your lab will need to track the results of different items. Certain analytes may need to be tracked all across town, via samplers, like pH, temp etc, for water distribution points. many more (non field) tests will need to be done in the lab for the same samples. The water treatment results are a different story all together and usually need to be tracked (partly via SCADA interfacing, perhaps) in a nice juicy Process Control database. This is a totally different app, with possibly totally different folks doing the data entry, etc.

At some point however, like at the end of the month, you may need to take huge chunks of data from both programs and combine them into those really big reports (DMR, eDMR) that need to go to the state.

If you have to pull the data from two programs that cannot speak to each other then this must be done by hand, painfully, for hours, every month. Sound familiar? This can take some lab folks about 6 or more hours per month! Now, if you are looking for job security, and like to have that 6 hours to work on reports, I get that, but if you are looking for accuracy, productivity and automation, then you need to read on.