Significant Enhancements to Thermo’s Flagship LIMS

Thermo Electron Corporation demonstrated at Analytica modernizations made to the user interface and architecture of its world-leading laboratory information management system, SampleManager LIMS™. Specifically, SampleManager is adopting the Microsoft® .NET framework and an “inductive” user interface.

“In line with our strategy to build solutions that meet open, industry standards, we have designed SampleManager 9.0 using the .NET platform while continuing to support existing customers’ established code written in proprietary VGL language,” says Dave Champagne, vice president and general manager of Thermo’s informatics business. “With 9.0, users can decide whether to enhance the solution with VGL or .NET. By exploiting newer technologies, we have the agility to respond to our customers’ changing business needs while reducing risk and total cost of ownership.”

SampleManager’s re-engineered inductive user interface (UI) prompts users to take specific, pre-defined steps, making training and day-to-day use of the LIMS much easier. For example, the “Task” view tells the user only what tasks can be carried out on a select data set – thus reducing errors. The UI is also built on the Microsoft format, offering a familiar look and feel with such features as menus and drag-and-drop for ease of use.

The enhancements enable SampleManager’s broad customer base and other prospects to more easily upgrade to take advantage of modern technologies, while preserving established code.

Thermo will also look to refine vertical configurations of SampleManager that have been developed over the past 20 years in working with its process and manufacturing customers. Purpose-built functionality and workflows will be offered as standard to increase efficiencies and productivity in industries long-served by SampleManager – petrochemical, chemical, and mining, among others. This commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) approach significantly reduces the risks and costs associated with customized implementations, maintenance and upgrades, and, for regulated industries, the cost of validating the system.

Thermo is a pioneer in the application of COTS to laboratory software, offering Watson LIMS™ - the industry-leading COTS LIMS for bioanalytical laboratories; Galileo LIMS™, designed specifically for high throughput in vitro ADME laboratories; Nautilus LIMS™ for discovery and R&D, particularly in biotech; and – also introduced at Pittcon 2006 – Darwin LIMS™, Thermo’s latest COTS solution designed specifically for pharmaceutical manufacturing R&D and QA/QC.