The entire analysis request, and the individual analyses requested, pass through a number of sequential stages indicated by its status:

1.    Sample due - The sample has been shipped to the lab and the request for analysis has been registered on the system by the client

2.    In the lab - The sample has arrived in the lab, been received by the lab clerk, and a label has been printed and affixed to the sample

3.    Assigned to worksheet – Applies to individual test requests within the analysis request. Grouping related tests in a worksheet facilitates lab processes

4.    To be verified - The analysis has been completed and the result entered into the system. The result has yet to be verified by the lab manager. This status is applied to individual test requests on the analysis request, and to the analysis request as a whole once all the component tests are in this status

5.    Verified - The analysis result has been verified by the lab manager  and is ready to be published. This status is applied to individual test requests on the analysis request, and to the analysis request as a whole once all the underlying tests are verified

6.    Published - The verified result has been published to the client by the method specified for the client contact. This status is applied to individual test requests on the analysis request, and to the analysis request as a whole once all the underlying tests are published

The |analysis requests| tab provides the functionality associated with the submission and processing of the analysis requests submitted to the lab

Two |analysis requests| tabs are available, client specific in their folders, or globally to lab staff from the main tab bar

As an analysis request passes through the various statuses, it appears in the appropriate list selected by the radio button in the Analysis Request areas of the client and the global lab listings

Analysis Request list headings

Analysis Requests which are in To be verified or Verified status are also presented as alerts  to the right of the screen from where they may be accessed directly. These alerts are only presented to the lab manager. Lab clerks are shown alerts for Samples due

Manager alerts for Analysis Requests to be verified

A new analysis request is registered by the client, or by the lab clerk on behalf of the client. From the |clients| tab, click on the |analysis requests | subtab. A list of current analysis requests for the client is shown. Click on the [add new analysis request] button for the analysis request form

Request new analyses

Up to eight samples may be registered on the form. The contact person is selected from the drop-down list, and sample identification information is entered. The sample identification information identifies the sample to the client company and does not have any formatting restrictions

The required analyses are checked and total cost is calculated as the items are selected. The [submit] button will register the analysis request

The analysis request now appears in the sample due list. The analysis request may be modified or deleted by both the client and the lab staff while it is still in sample due status

Analysis Requests – Sample due

The analysis requests which are in sample due status are presented in an alert to members with labclerk role. From here the request id may be clicked on to view the analysis request

Analysis Requests – Sample due pop-up

On receiving the physical sample, the lab clerk checks the analysis request’s check box and clicks on the [receive sample] button. The analysis request’s status is changed to In the lab  and the sample sticker is shown for printing. More than one sample may be processed in this manner. The receive sample functionality is not available to the lab technician

Viewing an Analysis Request

The details of the analysis request may be viewed by clicking on the request id  in the list

Analysis Request details – Sample due

Titration volume and titration factor columns appear only for those analyses which have been specified as requiring these calculations. See Analysis Services under Site setup

For client contacts only the edit tab is shown

Client contacts are not able to manage results,
view the results not requested or view the log

The titration volume and titration factor columns do not appear in 
the client view. The state drop-down shown above appears as text 
for the client contact, and may not be changed

The drop-down at the top right of the form may be used to change the status of the analysis request to In the lab  and the sample sticker information is shown, ready to be printed

Sample sticker

The lab clerk sticks the sticker to the sample container and the sample is ready for processing by the lab technician. The analysis request, and each of its component test requests are all in In the lab status

The lab clerk may choose to group all these tests onto a single worksheet, so that all the tests may be run at the same time. A single workstation may perform a number of tests simultaneously, as is the case with the Foss WineScan

These would be grouped into a single worksheet for easy bulk validation and verification. All the worksheet results can then be reviewed and verified together by the lab manager and authorised reviewers. For ISO 17025 compliance

It is also possible to create worksheets per client

For manual data capturing, the lab technician prints the worksheet and uses it in the lab to record results. The completed worksheet is eventually returned to the lab clerk for capturing the  results into the system. Alternatively the lab technician types the data directly into the system

Results Data may also be uploaded from lab instruments such as the WineScan directly, see Analysis Request Result Capturing

The |worksheet|  tab provides the functionality associated with worksheet

List of current worksheets

The lab technician clicks on the [add new worksheet]  button to create a new worksheet. A unique worksheet number is generated with a blank worksheet, to which analysis requests are to be added, by clicking on the [add analysis]  button

Add analysis to new worksheet

The user selects the analysis type and/or client for which the worksheet is to be created

Select analysis requests for worksheet

The search result presents all the analysis requests in the lab which meet the specified criteria. The user then selects analysis requests for inclusion on the worksheet

Worksheet with analysis requests in columns

These three analysis requests have now been added to the worksheet. They now have the status assigned to worksheet

Analyses may be added to or deleted from the worksheet. Deleting an analysis removes it from the worksheet, it does not delete the request from the system. Once an analysis has been added to a worksheet, the worksheet is shown as a link in the analysis request

The lab member who performed the analysis is captured in the Analysed by selection box

For analysis services which require titration values, the additional input columns are shown and the result is calculated as titration volume x titration factor. These columns do not appear for analyses which do not require titration

To minimise keystrokes and possible human error, a Copy titration factors checkbox is provided to apply the same titration factor for all the analyses on the same row by entering a value in the first column only

Results may be added as they become available, either manually or uploaded directly from instrument exports

Worksheet with analysis requests in rows

The analysis requests appear in the appropriate status lists as explained in this chapter's introduction. Lab personnel see results data. Clients do not see unverified results

Analysis requests may only be deleted while still in sample due status, by either client or lab staff. Once samples have been received and their analysis requests are status in the lab, results may be captured for them

The lab manager and any lab personnel with the role of verifier are allowed to edit and verify results. Lab managers and authorised publishers may publish results

Client contacts may only view results which have been
verified. Although they can see the lists of analysis requests in the various
statuses, the results are not visible to them until verified or published

Manual analysis results capture

Per single Analysis Request. Most labs will prefer capturing results per worksheet, but this single sample case is used here to explain the concept

Once an analysis request is in in the lab  status, results may be entered. For those analyses for which titration is required, the titration volume and titration factor is captured, and the result is automatically calculated as the product of these. For all other analyses, the result is captured directly into the results column.

Click on the |manage results| subtab. The [submit results] button saves the results which have been entered

Analysis request manage results

Minimum and maximum values, and uncertainty values have been set up for each test in the bika setup -> Analysis Services area. See Analysis Services section

A result which falls outside of the acceptable range is highlighted in red

The result is used to find the uncertainty value for this analysis which is shown in the +/- column

Result out of range highlighted

Those analyses for which results have been entered are changed to To be verified status, while the analysis request as a whole becomes To be verified once results have been submitted for each of its component tests

Client contacts may not manage results nor see them until
they have been verified  

Foss Instrument interface results capturing

Analysis results obtained from the Foss WineScan can be imported into the standard Bika Wine system and the interface easily be customised for other instruments

The mean values as recorded by the WineScan are uploaded as comma delimited file,  .csv, files. The name of the analyses as identified by the WineScan must be set up in the Bika Analysis Services configuration. See the Analysis Services section

The lab tegnician clicks on the |import winescan| tab and is prompted to enter the name of the data file, or may browse the computer to locate the file. Click on the [import] button to load the results data into the system

Import WineScan data

The request numbers are matched to the analysis requests in the system, in in the lab and assigned status, and the results entered. Data not matched are reported in an import log displayed

WineScan import log, showing that unrequested results Steriel (Sterile), Reducing Sugar (rs) and Total Acidity (ta) were not requested by the client but uploaded

The Foss delivers a complete set of analyses for every sample, regardless of whether the client has requested it or not. The values which were not requested are written to the database, but flagged as ‘not requested’

Should a client require this data, it can easily be published off the database without having to re do the sample. Described next

Results not requested

Unrequested results are not visible to clients or to lab personnel other than the lab manager. The unrequested results are viewed by the lab manager at the |results not requested| subtab

Analysis Request – results not requested

The lab manager may release these results should the client request them, by clicking on the [verify] button, which moves that test, and its verified result into the requested results area

Verification of analysis requests

The To be verified  list reflects all analysis requests for which all the results have been submitted

To be verified list

The results may be verified by selecting the checkbox and clicking on the [verify] button. The analysis request is then moved into Verified status

The results may be retracted by selecting the checkbox and clicking on the [retract] button. The analysis request is then moved back into In the lab status, and the results must be resubmitted to process the request

The lab manager additionally sees these requests in a pop-up on the right of the screen

To be verified pop-up

An individual analysis request may be viewed by clicking on the request id link, from where the request may be verified or rejected via the state drop-down

State drop-down

Verification of individual test results

Due to the fact that some analysis methods take longer than others, it may be necessary to verify and publish results of some tests before all the tests on the request have been completed. This is done from the |manage results| tab on analysis requests

Check the individual analysis and click the button corresponding to the action required

Publishing an individual result, Balling, while other results on the same request are still in progress

Verification of results per worksheet

Once the results have been submitted on a worksheet, it is possible to change the status to to be verified by selecting submit for verification  from the drop-down on a worksheet

Worksheet – submit for verification

The worksheet is then in to be verified status, and appears in the lab manager’s pop-up of to be verified requests. The lab manager selects this worksheet, either from the pop-up or from list of worksheets, and verifies or retracts the results. The individual test results are recorded in the analysis request in the same status as the worksheet

Once an analysis request has been verified, it is ready for publication to the requesting client contact. All the verified requests are viewed by selecting the verified radio button in the analysis request area

Verified analysis requests

The results may be published by selecting the checkbox and clicking on the [publish] button. The results may also be retracted, which returns the analysis request and each of the component tests to in the lab status

Bulk publication is achieved by selecting the top checkbox in the list, which selects all the checkboxes, and clicking on the [publish] button. All the selected analysis requests are published

Publishing is a resource hungry process and it is advisable
not to publish batches very big batches

Also keep in mind that publishing more than 4 Analysis Requests
to fax will render the text very small

The analysis request may be viewed by clicking on the request number within the list. The lab manager also has the verified analysis requests presented in the verified pop-up, from which individual requests may be viewed and published

On viewing the details of the analysis request, the results may be published or retracted using the drop-down. On publication, the system sends the results to the client via the method selected by the client contact. This is by email, fax or letter

Analysis request result email

The published analysis requests may be viewed by selecting the published radio button in the analysis request area

Should the results be required by the client before they are verified, they may be given telephonically. A record of this is made in the Remarks text area linked to the analysis request while it is still in the lab. This field is visible only to lab personnel

Analysis request remarks column

Authorising lab clerks to verify and publish results

It is possible for a lab manager to assign verification and publication authorisation to  senior lab clerks and technicians. To do this the system administrator assigns the staff member to the verifier or publisher groups. Details under Users, Groups and Roles in the Setup section

The lab manager sets up desired target turnaround times up in the LIMS set-up. If the analysis is not published in the specified time, measured from time of sample reception, a red alert is displayed to lab staff

Late analyses portlet

Click on the analysis to navigate to it on its Analysis Request, or on the more... link to go to a page of all analyses currently late

The late analyses page. The column at right indicates how long the analysis is overdue

The time calculation in Bika 1.2 uses the total time elapsed since sample reception. In Bika 2, a true working time calendar will exclude non working hours and public holidays

It is possible for a lab manager to assign verification and publication capability to senior lab clerks or technicians. This may be necessary during periods of high sample load

To do this the system administrator assigns the staff member to the verifier or publisher groups. Details in the Users, Groups and Roles paragraph of the Setup section

Queries may be run against the Bika Wine database to find analysis requests, worksheets, orders and invoices defined by specified search criteria. All access to data is restricted to the authorisation profiles of the users' roles. Clients may view only their own data

The |queries| tab presents the various query options

Query options

Click on the Query Analysis Requests link to search for analysis requests. The search is specified through one or more search criteria fields as shown. Any or all of the search criteria may be used

Query analysis request search specification

Client contacts do not have the option of selecting the company.
The system restricts the query to data pertaining to the client

The results of the query are displayed, showing the results out of range in red, and a +/- link next to those results for which an uncertainty value exists. Position the cursor over the +/- to show the uncertainty value pop-up.

The results are shown with the option to email these results to a specified address, or to a client contact registered to the system

Query analysis request results

To email the results to a client, click on the [browse] button to select a client contact

Browse contact email addresses

Click on the select link of the appropriate client contact person to return to the query result page with the appropriate email address, or click on the view link to view the contact details

Analysis request summary reports are available to lab management, and described under the section Management Reports