Workflows are customised to the needs and requirements of the laboratory, optimising lab efficiency and features automated data-capturing and exports to financial software

Client/user management and authorisation profiles for analysts, data clerks, managers and clients enforce reliable security. Audit logging ensures integrity

Access to the system is via web browsers, resulting in a smooth integration with no disruptive desktop installation or network installation

The Bika web portal provides laboratories with a groupware tool to further enhance collaboration and document publishing

This manual describes Bika LIMS 2 use from the view of the lab personnel. A separate manual is made available to Lab clients

Client contacts have functionality restricted to information pertaining directly to their own companies, and do not see data for other clients or lab data, please see Logging on and general navigation

Users, groups and roles are discussed fully under Bika System Setup

Lingo · In the context of this manual:

• The plural for 1 analysis is many analyses. An analysis is a spesific test, say pH,  on a sample, or 'analysis service' offered by the lab
• A lab technician is the staff member doing the analyses, some labs call them analysts
• An Analysis Request is the collection tests/analyses requested by the client to be carried out on a Sample by the laboratory. See Samples = Analysis Requests
• Some labs call worksheets, jobcards
• Text in square brackets indicates push buttons, eg [Submit]
• Text between vertical lines indicates navigational tabs, eg | Home |
  

We appreciate your feedback
Please report all discrepancies
in this manual to the team at info@bikalabs.com
The manual will continually be upgraded with improvements

This is version 0.1 of the Bika LIMS 2 manual

Lemoene Smit · Anneline Sweetnam · Joris Goudriaan

For the Content Management manual, visit  Managing Content in Plone

Access to content may be authorised to specific groups or individuals. Marketing material such as promotions, news and price lists to the wider public and anonymous visitors, information on methods to clients, technical information and HR to lab staff and research data to specific project teams

No html knowledge is required as through-the-web word processor like editors are included

All standard web content types, pages, images, links, animations, sound, file download and folder structure apply. Events are indicated as shaded dates in the LIMS' calendar

Bika LIMS portals also hosts a Help centre that can be populated with site specific reference, manuals and e-training material

Explaining Bika LIMS workflow

The Contact works for an organisation that is a Client of the laboratory. He represents a Client Contact in the system and is registered as a user with password authentication

When he or she has a sample ready, the contact logs onto the system at the lab's web site on the world wide web. She completes an on-line Analysis Request form, checking all the analyses he wants done

Once submitted, the request is shown with status sample due, the system returns an ID and the contact writes this on the sample label. If he has a label printer, he may print a label from the system and stick that on. He ships the sample to the lab

By this time a sample due alert is shown to clerks at the lab

When the sample arrives at the lab, a lab clerk 'receives' it in the system. The Analysis Request's status changes to in the lab. If the client contact was watching, he'll know that his sample arrived safely and analysis is starting

New in Bika LIMS 2

Clients may now submit sample batches per spreadsheet produced manually
or by up stream systems. These are then imported by lab clerks on arrival
of the samples at the lab

Similarly, results can be published per emailed spreadsheet for 
importation in downstream systems

Workflow is set-up by lab staff with the help of worksheets, requested analyses for the same lab workstation, gets grouped together and assigned to analysts and lab technicians who capture results data onto the worksheets in the system. Manually or automated from interfaced lab instruments

Analysis requests on Worksheets are shown and listed with the status assigned

As soon as results become available, lab managers or appropriately authorised analysts, are alerted that results - with status to be verified - are ready for verification. Results out of range are highlighted and managers may decide to retract these results for retesting

Valid results are verified. All through this process the client contact may track his samples in the lab, but only when verified, does he get to see results itself

Finally the results get published to the contact using the publication preferences he set up for himself earlier, normally per email or fax

New in Bika 2

Client contacts may also receive results as emailed spreadsheets 
or signed certificates

They may nominate colleagues for cc'd results

At any given time, the client contact and lab staff may query analysis results from a query form. Never does the contact see any other data but his own organisation's

Apart from scientific analysis functionality, Bika also offers an
on-line Product ordering module for labs also selling laboratory products

Price lists can be generated and emailed off the database,
Invoices made up and Management reports and queries run
against orders and invoices too