SAWLA, after a successful period in production, requested new features for Bika Interlab,  their ground breaking LIMS for inter-laboratory proficiency testing. SAWLA initiated the Interlab project mid 2006. Interlab 1.2 will be released on the GPL soon

To further stimulate participation, member labs' performances are now used to calculate scores per analysis round to determine and display a list of top 5 performers. Labs not making it into the top 5 see, in addition to the list, their own ranking and score

Workflow and performance have been enhanced, analyses can now be restricted to appropriate methods, and same date results are handled more correctly in historical performance graphs. The system now runs on Plone 2.5 and all Plone content management features remain available for building the system, at new address www.sawla.org, into a fully fledged communication portal for the association's geographically distributed members

Effective proficiency testing is one of the tools employed by SAWLA towards its goal to improve the quality of wine laboratories in SA, standardise methodology and provide a forum for communication and access to information 

The system's content management capabilities will now be exploited towards SAWLA's drive to have the system certified ISO compliant. It will serve as document repository for the association's quality control manual, year plan, complaints register, corrective and preventative action forms and register, internal audits, management reviews and skills development packages

Attention will then be directed at SAWLA's long term proficiency testing objectives, obtaining international participation and making the analysed wine available as certified reference material