Laboratory Productivity on the up

In today’s cost-conscious world, maximising efficiency is more important than ever for contract testing laboratories. In this article Dr Nicola Vosloo explains how to meet the challenge of reducing instrument downtime and considers the rising trends for environmental testing laboratories

FOR CONTRACT testing laboratories, high sample throughput is vital. With environmental testing increasingly being outsourced to third parties, contract laboratories must maximise efficiency to deliver results quickly and cost-effectively to remain competitive. Providing fast sample turnaround is important as delays could deter future business. Analytical instrumentation awaiting repair, scheduled preventative maintenance or qualification is a major cause of equipment downtime and threatens laboratory productivity. Many laboratories rely on original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to meet their service requirements although the demand for increased instrument uptime is leading some to investigate alternative solutions.

Severn Trent Laboratories (STL) is part of Severn Trent Services and offers water, land and waste analysis throughout the UK, providing scientific services in chemistry, microbiology and ecotoxicity. Understanding the importance for accurate results, delivered on time, STL would like to offer a range of turnaround times for analysis including a fast track option. With its instruments working at full capacity, the key to increasing sample throughput and laboratory productivity is to minimise instrument downtime. Historically, STL used OEMs to service over 300 pieces of equipment including liquid handlers, autosamplers, HPLC, GC and LC/GC-MS systems. Aiming to improve project turnaround times, STL identified instrument downtime as a critical factor affecting workflow and sought to reduce this.

The challenge of reducing instrument downtime was met by partnering with a consolidated multi-vendor service provider. Although initially sceptical about moving away from the OEM for servicing, by adopting this approach STL has met its instrument performance goals. In fact, response and repair rates of less than one day are now achieved, delivering more than a six-fold improvement in instrument uptime over the previous OEM service. This has been accomplished by having dedicated engineers that provide repair and preventative maintenance service for three STL sites, one in Runcorn and two in Coventry, UK. To facilitate fast engineer response, parts are stocked on-site for immediate access. Instrument downtime is no longer stressful for analysts as they know that engineers will be available to fix their instrument within hours of raising a service call and can be called out seven days a week. It was important to STL that the service solution adopted could be tailored to meet its evolving needs. This is achieved through on-site consultation and collaboration between engineers and laboratory personnel.

An additional benefit of having dedicated engineers is continuous improvement of

An additional benefit of having dedicated engineers is continuous improvement of service support

service support. Over time, engineers become increasingly familiar with instrumentation on-site, the nature of analytes being tested and the types of problems that regularly occur. By analysing instrument performance data it is possible to shift from problem resolution to problem avoidance, modifying preventive maintenance schedules and activities as necessary.

Using resources located on-site provides significantly improved service delivery and improved laboratory productivity. Furthermore, consolidating service activities with a single provider allows laboratories to reduce operating costs by leveraging economies of scale.

Although beyond the reach of external regulatory bodies such as the MHRA and FDA, a rising trend for environmental testing laboratories is voluntary accreditation to ISO standard 17025.

Initially issued by the International Organisation for Standardisation in 1999, ISO

"Although environmental testing laboratories may choose to voluntarily seek accreditation, the associated burden of maintaining compliance can be reduced by consolidating their service and qualification approaches"

17025 is the main standard for testing and calibration laboratories. The standard was revised in 2005 to bring it more closely in line with the generic management standard ISO 9001. Fulfilment of the requirements of ISO 17025 demonstrates that a laboratory meets the technical competence and management system requirements for it to consistently deliver accurate results. It is therefore apparent why there is a rising trend for voluntary accreditation by contract testing laboratories. By guaranteeing analytical results, a commercial testing facility can maintain its competitive edge. It also means that results generated can be used for reporting to regulatory bodies as required.

In addition to ISO 17025, there is also an increased interest towards ISO standard 14001. This standard provides a framework to assess and control the impact of laboratory activities on the environment. It would be pertinent for an environmental testing organisation to limit its own impact on the environment while delivering results in a timely and cost-effective manner.

Although environmental testing laboratories may choose to voluntarily seek accreditation, the associated burden of maintaining compliance can be reduced by consolidating their service and qualification approaches. Partnering with a single service provider that can also perform instrument qualification allows laboratories to harmonise their qualification processes to meet regulatory requirements.

Streamlining the qualification process using a single validation master plan allows documentation to be harmonised across multiple vendors and technologies. With standardised documentation centralised, it is easy to review and prepare for an audit. By using a software-based qualification solution, full traceability is guaranteed and the possibility of human transcription error is removed. In addition to equipment downtime, administration time and costs can also be reduced through the use of a single multi-vendor service provider

With an ever-changing economic and regulatory landscape, maximising efficiency through reduced instrument downtime as well as maintaining compliance can be daunting for any laboratory. The fragmentation of service and equipment qualification experienced by laboratories relying on OEMs can be resolved by partnering with a multi-vendor service provider. Adopting a consultative, harmonised approach with dedicated on-site support creates cost-efficiencies and ultimately maximises laboratory productivity.