Siemens Opcenter Laboratory

What is a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS)?

All over the world, laboratories are under enormous pressure to innovate and do an ever-increasing amount of work faster, with fewer employees and at lower costs. This situation is further complicated by the fact that laboratory regulations are continuously becoming more complex and stringent. A Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) is a software-based system that enables manufacturers to effectively manage laboratory and associated data in order to improve the efficiency of their lab and production processes. An effective LIMS enables you to automate workflows, integrate instruments, innovate, and manage and share laboratory data easily and reliably. LIMS also aim to make laboratory information easier to store, track and assess over time and across experiments, so that you can continuously evaluate and improve operational efficiency.

About Siemens Opcenter Laboratory (SIMATIC IT Unilab)

Siemens Opcenter Laboratory (formerly known as SIMATIC IT Unilab) is part of the Siemens Opcenter Research, Development and Laboratory (RD&L) offering covering LIMS, Specification Management and Formula Management. Opcenter Laboratory is a leading LIMS designed for the unique needs of process manufacturing sectors that rely on laboratories for the execution of different production, quality, compliance and product development processes. Opcenter Laboratory automates the fast and secure exchange of quality information all along a laboratory’s production workflow. Capable of covering multiple sites and involving many different departments, the system enables more reliable data management and makes efficiency at work easier for the various roles involved in your laboratory and production test environment processes. Opcenter Laboratory supports:

Efficiency in industrial quality control (QC) laboratories: Manufacturing quality control labs must ensure overall product conformity and quality. Opcenter Laboratory bridges the gap between quality management activities in the plant and those in the lab. The system supports the shift from at-line quality checks during production to off-line sample analysis in the lab, according to the customer's Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and with immediate feedback to the plant.
Efficiency in research and development (R&D) laboratories: R&D labs are the source of product innovation, aiming to bring new and better products to the market faster than the competition. Opcenter Laboratory supports complex brand-watching, research, development, competitor and stability studies. When integrated with the Opcenter RD&L modules for Specification Management and Formula Management, Opcenter Laboratory enables R&D scientists to optimize the use of their time in order to speed up new product development and introduction initiatives.
Efficiency in service laboratories: Service laboratories provide testing and analysis services for hospitals, investigative authorities and other end customers. Opcenter Laboratory supports direct and secure customer communication, immediate cost calculation for analysis requests and automated invoicing. As a result, Opcenter Laboratory reduces the number of entry errors, decreases administrative workload for the laboratory staff and increases customer satisfaction.

Opcenter Laboratory can be implemented as a standalone system or as part of the complete Opcenter RD&L platform. It is often integrated with other enterprise solutions including Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES), Quality Management and Automation & Control systems to drive true closed-loop manufacturing. Opcenter Laboratory is highly scalable and can support multiple languages, multiple time zones, multiple laboratories and multiple sites across your global enterprise.

Source: Siemens Opcenter Laboratory (SIMATIC IT Unilab)

Target Manufacturing Sectors

Opcenter Laboratory was designed to support the needs and requirements of all industrial quality control (QC) laboratories, research and development (R&D) laboratories and service laboratories, particularly in:

Pharmaceutical manufacturing
Life science manufacturing
Food and beverage manufacturing
Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) manufacturing
Chemical manufacturing
Cosmetics manufacturing

Features of Siemens Opcenter Laboratory (SIMATIC IT Unilab)

Manage and monitor the execution of analytical tests in the laboratory or at external laboratories against specifications
Run and manage off-line quality tests on production samples sent to the lab with immediate feedback to plant
Manage at-line quality tests executed by operators and collect results via dedicated system terminal on the production floor
Run and manage environmental factory tests (e.g. on water used in chemical plant, on waste, on floor samples, etc.)
Run and manage complex lab tests and experiments for product innovation, research and development (R&D)
Run and manage competition tests to compare your product with competitor's product based on relevant specifications (chemical, microbiological, sensorial, packaging, etc.)
Manage critical R&D knowledge across the organization, enabling advanced search and reusable information access via the main database
Run and manage ring analysis tests for service laboratories, sending blind samples to various labs to cross-check correct lab functioning
Centralize the collection, management and storage of all laboratory data and test results within one system across the enterprise
Define and manage execution of advanced sampling and sub-sampling plans
Exchange and enforce lab configuration and operational data securely across different servers, databases, departments, laboratories, plants and sites
Define, configure and enforce all laboratory Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) specifications, methods, procedures, etc.
Register, create and manage new requests, samples, batches and or projects in a structured and standardized way
Leverage the Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN) feature to automatically capture, structure and store all laboratory test and sample data based on out-of-the-box or configurable templates (project, subproject, experiment, trial, batch, sample, etc.)
Integrate analytical instruments with the system for automatic data import and exchange (unidirectional or bidirectional)
Support QR code, barcode and other digital labeling identification within system
Define lab instrument constraints and manage calibrations, interventions, maintenance and usage rules
Monitor and guide end users in laboratory test execution with step-by-step digital work instructions, enforcing SOPs and preventing errors or non-compliant processes
Enforce workflow and access control with versioning, reviewing and witnessing support, including electronic signature requirements
Support decision-making in the laboratory and enable users to take corrective actions based on pre-configured workflows (alarm, quarantine, scrap, rework, approve, release etc.)
Define and manage user profiles, competence rules and authorization processes
Provide user-specific support, access and data visualization (plant manager, lab manager, scientist, corporate manager, quality assurance (QA) manager, etc.)
Execute calculations, verification of samples or batches and validation of test results against specifications
Enable automatic sample or batch release and feedback to Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and/or Manufacturing Execution System (MES)
Ensure full product and process traceability and electronic audit trail, enabling management, review and release by exception
Enforce product and process quality compliance according to GLP, GAMP, ISO 9001:2000, ISO 17025, 21 CFR Part 11 and other industry standards
Monitor lab performance and activities via analytics, reporting, customizable dashboard and layout features
Generate configurable reports for different users based on real-time and/or historical data (Certificate of Analysis, corporate management, Key Performance Indicators (KPI), traceability of product quality over multiple production batches, etc.)
Ensure reliability of lab activities supported by Statistical Quality Control (SQC)/Statistical Process Control (SPC) charting to identify process variations
Evaluate laboratory and testing trends to drive better decision-making and improvements in process and/or product quality
Encourage and facilitate communication amongst different system end users with instant messaging feature
Modern, user-friendly system interface securely accessible from anywhere via web, smartphone, tablet, wearable devices, etc.
Integrate with other business and production systems (ERP, MES, Quality Management and Statistical Process Control (SPC), etc.)

Benefits of Siemens Opcenter Laboratory (SIMATIC IT Unilab)

Achieve the paperless laboratory
Increase laboratory efficiency
Reduce operational costs
Facilitate product innovation process
Ensure traceability and compliance
Reduce the risk of human error
Facilitate data accessibility and exchange
Improve quality and reduce recalls
Streamline workflows and processes
Ensure seamless integration between quality and production
Support continuous improvement leveraging analytics

Our Partnership with Siemens Digital Industries

Our team has been designing, implementing and integrating Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) for over a decade. The high reliability, scalability, flexibility and security of Opcenter Laboratory and the entire Siemens Opcenter RD&L software portfolio are just a few of the reasons why Engineering Industries eXcellence continues to deliver these tools to process manufacturing customers of all shapes and sizes around the world. Engineering Industries eXcellence has also achieved the Smart Expert Partner designation, which differentiates us as a Siemens and customer-validated industry expert in Siemens’ digital enterprise software suite, specifically in their Digital Manufacturing software. As a certified reseller, solution provider and system integrator with Siemens across several business units and solution offerings, Engineering Industries eXcellence is the only Siemens partner in the world that has the combined vision, industry experience, global resources and technical skillsets to deliver integrated solutions across all their different offerings.