industrial IT > Laboratory Management LIMS

Under the Opcenter brand, SIEMENS Digital Industries Software developed the most extensive and unique market offer of Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) solution for digitization of manufacturing processes for Industry 4.0, which also includes Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) called Opcenter Laboratory (Opcenter LAB).

ASKOM, as the only certified SIEMES partner in Poland, offers a full SIEMENS Opcenter MOM software portfolio, including Opcenter LAB LIMS system that had already been deployed in several companies in Poland and abroad.

LIMS by Siemens

Opcenter Laboratory is a proven, universal LIMS by Siemens that has been on the market for almost 30 years (previously known as SIMATIC IT Unilab), and is now a key element of a broader suite of solutions for Research & Development Departments, known as Opcenter Research Development & Laboratory (Opcenter RD&L). Opcenter LAB can be used as an integral element of the Opcenter Execution MES, a part of an integrated solution for and R&D Department or as a stand-alone LIMS for supporting the operation of any laboratory. Opcenter LAB can be deployed, among others, in:

• quality control laboratories of manufacturing plants

• production laboratories as an integral element of the Opcenter Execution Process MES

• R&D laboratories for testing new recipes and new product introduction (NPI)

• accredited commercial service laboratories performing contracted tests

Main features of LIMS

The most significant features of the Opcenter Laboratory LIMS include:

• Comprehensive support for manufacturing, R&D and commercial service laboratories

• Simple set-up of any types of laboratory tests and analyses, including any parameters, measurement methods and control limits

• Built-in barcode and RFID tag support (option to print labels for samples with barcodes and quick sample finding in the LIMS through reading label code)

• Supervision over control I&C (calibrations, validations, approvals)

• Option to directly couple the instruments to a LIMS and to automatically read measurement results

• Managing laboratory personnel qualifications (training, licenses and authorizations to conduct analyses)

• Compliance with the most important standards: GLP, GAMP, ISO, HACCP, FDA, 21CFR11

• Simple and intuitive operation of the app available on any device (computer, laptop, tablet, smartphone) using any browser (Edge, Chrome, Safari)

• Mobile work using portable devices (tablet/smartphone)

• Support for the latest database servers and operating systems

• Simple and convenient system installation and updating owing to WWW technology

• Integration with any MES, ERP and PLM systems, including a SAP-QM interface

• Convenient and automated reporting and analysis of qualitative data

• Option to work both on local servers (including virtual environment), as well as the Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Microsoft Azure cloud environments

Who uses Opcenter LAB?

Numerous companies all over the world, from small and medium-sized enterprises to large corporations, use Opcenter LAB as a part of their solution for quality management. Software flexibility means that it can be utilized in practically any laboratory, regardless of the manufacturing sector:

• Food industry

• Pharmaceutical industry

• Cosmetics industry

• Chemical Industry

• Accredited commercial service laboratories

• Wastewater treatment plants

• Other sectors, including discrete ones, such as the automotive, aviation or machine-building industries.

Complete family of solutions

Opcenter LAB is not an isolated LIMS concept but rather an element of an integrated Opcenter Research Development & Laboratory (Opcenter RD&L) solution, which uniquely combines key functionalities within a single system that are important from the perspective of R&D and QA/QC Departments. These functionalities include:

• managing product, raw material and packaging specifications

• support for modification and development of new product formulations (recipes)

• active cooperation with selected regular raw material suppliers

• support in the new product introduction (NPI)

• managing research projects

• joint management of documentation and R&D project documentation (ELN - Electronic Lab Notebook)

• comprehensive operational support for quality control and R&D laboratories

Comprehensive functionality

The Opcenter Laboratory solution contains the following integrated components:

• Sample and request management: supervision over the creation of test request and samples, as well as their orderly management

• Test execution: managing the execution of analytical tests in a quality control laboratory or third-party laboratories

• Instrument integration: enables integrating analytical instruments with the system and their ongoing maintenance (e.g., calibrations and interventions)

• Trending and charting: generate trends and graphs for the user, which can later be used when making the right decisions regarding product quality and laboratory operation

• Result validation: supports the laboratory manager when validating test results relative to the specification

• Reporting: enables generating test certificates and management reports, including ones containing key performance indicators (KPI), as well as other reports tailored to user needs

All components are compatible with each other and comprehensively support the operational management of any laboratory.

Opcenter platform element

Opcenter LAB is one of the components in the integrated Opcenter MOM platform. Therefore, owing to integration with other Opcenter elements, it can provide functionalities unique to the market, such as:

• Optimization of instruments and available laboratory personnel owing to integrated workload planning in the Opcenter Scheduling module (APS)

• Full management of quality control within the manufacturing process and Statistical Quality Control (SQC) thanks to integration with Opcenter Execution Process (MES)

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Opcenter LAB screenshots:

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