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Manager's Guide to Lab Automation & Technology Management
Please note: this edition of the course has been successfully concluded. If you are interested in being notified of the next offering, please contact us via email at laeinfo@InstituteLabAuto.com
If you would be interested in having this course held at your facility, send us a note, we'd be happy to make those arrangements.
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Description
The successful use of automation and information technologies in laboratory applications depends as much upon the policies and goals defined by lab management as it does on the skills of those implementing projects. Whether you are responsible for one lab or a laboratory complex, setting the guidelines within which automation is implemented across lab organizations is fundamental to cost-effective, successful, and supportable systems.
The purpose of this short-course is to introduce management to lab automation: what it is, managements role in laboratory automation, the policies that need to be developed to help ensure successful projects, models of laboratory work that can be used to define automation needs and product requirements, and an overview of the technologies used. This course is of particular benefit to those considering LIMS, Electronic Lab Notebook, and systems integration projects; their success is high dependent on a clear understanding of your labs operations (see process modeling below - item 4 in the course description) and on management policies (item 3).
The benefits of the course include:
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- improving the effectiveness of automation systems, and their ability to be successfully implemented and supported
- creating a basis for innovation in lab operations
- improving the interaction between labs and company departments or customers that either need controlled access to reported data, or to submit information. Lab managers have to address both internal operational issues and the need to interact with customers and other corporate departments.
- reducing laboratory operating costs, and improving Return On Investment in automation/computing technology
- meeting the demands of regulatory agencies
- a basis for coordinating the work of IT groups, outside contractors &
equipment vendors
- protect / enhance the value of the labs intellectual property, and
- make the most effective use of people's talents
Since the participants are expected to bring with them a range of experiences and perspectives, we expect this course to be interactive. |
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Who should attend?
This course is intended for Laboratory Managers & Supervisors, Directors and above, and is also suitable for Information Technology management working in a scientific environment. It is intended for those interested in the successful application of automation and computing technologies to laboratory work (LIMS, lab notebooks, robotic, instrument data systems, etc.).
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What will the attendees get out of it?
When the course is over, the attendees should understand:
- Management ’s role in laboratory automation
- The policies that need to be put in place for lab automation projects to be successful
- The relationship between labs and IT groups
- Models for describing lab processes - how to describe the processes in your lab and use them to plan for, and evaluate automation opportunities
- How to use those models to specify and evaluate products and establish priorities, and
- How to manage the technologies used in laboratory work, how to plan for effective technology utilization and replacement/upgrades as new technologies are introduced to the marketplace.
- How to evaluate different approaches to acquiring, processing and storing laboratory instrument data. Are desktop systems or client-server models better? We'll look at what they are, what they offer and how to choose technologies that don't lock you into one methodology.
- Product and data life cycle management - understanding product life cycles and their impact on your labs operations, planning for product transitions when needed, and managing access to data over the long term.
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Why is this course important?
Laboratory automation is often viewed as a technology effort. Successful projects will depend on managements ability to set goals and policies to guide the development of systems that can be integrated, reduce operational costs, and meet their goals. Managers have an active role in lab automation projects, and should understand how those projects can be used to increase the lab ’s effectiveness, and the lab’s ability to work with other organizations.
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Course outline
| 1. Overview of Laboratory Automation |
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| 2. The Laboratory Automation Engineering Methodology |
- Setting goals
- Defining policies
- Process automation in the laboratory
- Regulatory issues
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4. Describing the process of laboratory work - modeling for automation and product requirements. This is a key section. It's purpose is to show you:
- how to look at laboratory work as a set of processes,
- how to describe them in terms of the development and movement of data and information, and then,
- how to use them as a basis for evaluating automation opportunities, and the development of product requirements.
It also looks at how processes within the lab connect to other groups to make data & information exchange more efficient and effective. |
- Independent researchers
- Testing and service laboratories
- Collaborative research
- Research based on common data sources
- Data transfers between departments and working groups
- Evaluating options for lab automation programs - how to determine the most effective approaches for applying automation to your lab's needs
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| 5. Open discussion - note: discussion is expected throughout the sessions |
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Instructor's Biographical Sketch:
Joe Liscouski is an experienced laboratory automation professional with over thirty years experience in the field including the design and development of automation systems, LIMS, robotics and data interchange standards. He has held symposia on validation, and presented technical material and short courses on laboratory automation and computing in the US, Europe, and Japan, and wrote an editorial defining the need for Laboratory Automation Engineering as a means of advancing the state-of-the-art. Publications include books and book chapters on computing and automation and over thirty technical papers. His most recent work has centered on the development of a new approach to technology planning and management for automation and computing. More detail...
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