Confience’s Sample Master® LIMS Improves Efficiency, Productivity, and Data Quality in the EggSolutions® Vanderpol's Quality Control Laboratory
The Laboratory is more organized and efficient, with time savings in task execution from sample login to analysis to reporting.
EggSolutions - Vanderpols Inc. has been a leader in the egg processing industry for more than 50 years with a laser focus on quality. Proud to be a family-owned company and the largest egg processor in Western Canada, they are committed to innovation. Their goal is to provide customers and industry partners with leading-edge functional egg solutions that meet food industry standards and address the growing consumer demand for nutritious products.
Their Challenge
EggSolutions - Vanderpol's initial goals for purchasing a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) were essentially to improve efficiency, productivity, and data quality in their Quality Control Laboratory. Initially, they were looking for a system replacement that would leverage functionality, ease of use, and reliability, eliminating the need for multiple data entries which plagued their historical system. They wanted to improve and streamline their workflow and process efficiency without customizing the software. They also searched for a LIMS vendor that would provide excellent technical support, offer free product upgrades, meet the dynamic regulatory requirements in their industry, and that offered training for their team.
As EggSolutions - Vanderpol's started their search for the right LIMS for their food testing/QA laboratory they had to consider the size, scope, and focus of their laboratory. With ISO 17025 accreditation, their laboratory has specific requirements that require better traceability of test results and operations. They follow (HACCP), Hazard Analysis of Critical Control Points and wanted a product that would allow the laboratory to concentrate on laboratory processes and data interpretation rather than laborious sample processing, data entry, result processing (manual calculations) and reporting. As an ISO certified laboratory, quality is extremely important in their internal operations, and they searched for a software partner that was also ISO certified (Confience has held this certification for more than 20 years) along with an excellent industry reputation. This certification showed their commitment to quality and that they passed external audits of their Quality Management System.
The EggSolutions - Vanderpol's Quality Control Laboratory has its own unique business needs as an in-house laboratory; integrating some of their laboratory processes into the company quality programs was critical. Their group wanted to minimize customization and leverage the system’s out-of-the-box configurability.
Juan Maya | Quality Control Manager
EggSolutions - Vanderpols Inc.
Our Solution
With that strategy in mind, Confience engineers worked with the laboratory to evaluate their workflows and assist with Sample Master system configuration to streamline their collection/testing/trace back operations. Confience made the laboratory more organized and efficient in terms of time savings in task execution from login (barcoded labels, login process improvements, Chain of Custody, Certificate of Analysis and summary reports) to analysis to final reporting.
A Barcode Starter Package was purchased and implemented. This included a Zebra label printer and two handheld scanners. The addition of barcoding and scanning has resulted in increased throughput, elimination of transcription errors, and improved efficiency of the sample login through final analysis processes. They also purchased Result Point®, the secure web portal that allows those throughout the organization to check on the status of preliminary and final results 24/7 without having to interrupt the laboratory team. Result Point enhances communication across the organization and displays the results of laboratory analysis, as available. It also can allow internal customers to print preliminary or final reports from PDFs that are automatically generated and linked to each sample batch. In addition, they can attach other types of files, such as Excel, documents, or images. The LIMS is an integral part of their laboratory - rapid sample login, sample tracking, data entry, QA/QC, sample scheduling, chemical inventory and resource management help the laboratory meet their HACCP and regulatory compliance goals. The software is user-friendly and Confience's live, skilled technical support engineers are very helpful. Most support issues are often closed the same day.
The laboratory performs approximately 4,200 tests/month, equaling more than 50,000 analyses per year, primarily related to quality control of finished food products. They dedicate about 80% of their resources to foodborne pathogen detection (i.e., Salmonella, Listeria) with a wide range of methods that span classical microbiology (general plating methods) to advanced molecular testing with PCR-based analysis. Because the analytical testing workload on instrumentation is still at a modest volume, it is currently not cost-effective to pursue instrument integration. However, the LIMS will support the interfaces when they are ready.
Confience also offered excellent training, which began with on-site training during installation (with complete user manuals and training guides), followed by remote training. The laboratory is confident in their Sample Master LIMS software implementation, which is backed by a very responsive support team that they know they can count on.
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