Resource Management for Resource Optimization
Laboratories are dedicating considerable resource efforts to ensure the best task allocation between the operators and the instruments available. In some occasion, even a team of several FTEs is dedicated to only manage the activities of large laboratories.
The related costs are often underestimated. Several thousands of euros are spent every year to ensure that the laboratory is able to deliver the expected results to internal and external customers in a timely fashion by hiring laboratory supervisors focusing mostly on the best resource allocation over time.
Optima offers a single platform to respond to the questions that are typically raised to laboratory managers
- Which is the current workload of my lab?
- Which is the resource availability?
- When can I deliver the results to my customer?
- How many resources do I need to respond to an increased demand of analysis?
The above questions are just some of the most asked and the most common way to have the related answers is by building “home-made” solutions which, in most cases, is an extremely complex Excel file. The hidden costs behind the development and maintenance of such a solution is very often an underestimated effort that can be reduced by implementing Optima
Analysis Request Entry & Task Assignment
Optima is able to collect the requests from virtually any external system i.e. LIMS, ELN, ERP, … and able to translate the test demands into actionable items that become the tasks building the project plan for the delivery of the expected results.
Optima engine then links the tasks to single operators or workgroups and to instruments too.
Dashboards allow easy visualisation of the current workload and help decisions making about who should perform the pending activities by using which instrument. From the end users , a very intuitive user interface allows them to see the task list which can be switched to a calendar view where all tasks are presented in a friendly view.
In case of unexpected events, moving tasks is as simple as a “drag-and-drop” action in the calendar itself. Same as we are used to do when moving meetings in our agenda.
Tests, Tasks, Duties and correlated Lab Activities
Most of the laboratory management systems are storing the information about the tests to be performed. Yet, they are not always taking into account the different tasks that are performed before and after the test per se is performed. This is a series of actions that is consuming a significant amount of time and not tracked very often. It is an important portion of the laboratory activities to be included in the overall evaluation of the laboratory performance. Within Optima, any task can be virtually stored, including the events like meetings, trainings, etc.
The Power of Reporting and Forecasting
After regular use of Optima, a complete picture of the laboratory performance can be easily drawn by using the built-in reports or simply exporting the information to any external tool for further analysis.
Team Communication
An additional underestimated time consuming activity is related to the continuous communication with the internal and external customers. Massive amounts of e-mail, phone calls, face-to-face meetings could be completely replaced by the use of Optima, allowing customers to have a controlled view of the information, presenting a simple Gantt chart or a pre-defined report, possibly e-mailed automatically by Optima engine every time is required.
WEB-based Solution
All of this is possible thanks to the extreme agile platform chosen to develop the product. A completely web based application that does not require any installation on the computers. Just by using any web browser, Optima is available by directing to a web address where the data and the application are residing.
Optima is offered as an on-premises solution reachable via web browser for those customers that prefer to control how applications and data are managed. For customers interested to reduce to zero the IT impact of the application, Optima is offered as SaaS (Software as a Service). In this case Optima application and the customer data are hosted in the cloud and the laboratory people are able to start their implementation right from the start with no additional costs.
Optima offers additional services for connecting any external system (LIMS, ELN, ERP, etc.) and also to load the initial configuration to allow the use of the system in a very short period of time and take the benefit of a unique single platform for laboratory resource management.
