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Title: What are the key elements of a LIMS for construction and engineering?

Author for citation: Shawn E. Douglas

License for content: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International

Publication date: November 2023

Base LIMS requirements for construction and engineering labs

Like many other industries dealing with large amounts of scientific data and a wide variety of test methods, construction and engineering laboratories often turn to laboratory information management systems (LIMS) to not only better manage the data but also manage a wide variety of laboratory activities, while also attempting to meet regulatory and accreditation requirements. These laboratory informatics systems provide a wide range of features to meet most lab's needs. That said, the construction and engineering (i.e., geotechnical) lab has its own intricacies such that a generic LIMS may not meet all the lab's needs. For most of these labs, it will be imperative to find a solution that meets all or most of its workflow requirements. This more often than not requires a configurable solution that enables trained users to quickly make the changes they need, if those changes make sense within the overall data structure of the LIMS.

What follows is a list of system functionality important to most any construction and engineering laboratory, with a majority of that functionality found in many vendor software solutions.

Test, sample and result management

• Sample log-in and management, with support for unique IDs
• Sample batching
• Barcode and RFID support
• End-to-end sample and inventory tracking
• Pre-defined and configurable industry-specific test and method management, including for a wide variety of physical, mechanical, and chemical analyses
• Pre-defined and configurable industry-specific workflows
• Configurable screens and data fields
• Specification management
• Test, sampling, instrument, etc. scheduling and assignment
• Test requesting
• Data import, export, and archiving
• Robust query tools
• Analytical tools, including data visualization, statistical analysis, and data mining tools
• Document and image management
• Project management
• Facility and sampling site management
• Storage management and monitoring

Quality, security, and compliance

• Quality assurance / quality control mechanisms
• Mechanisms for compliance with ISO/IEC 17025, ISO 9000, AASHTO, ASTM, and state DOT requirements
• Result, method, protocol, batch, and material validation, review, and release
• Data validation
• Trend and control charting for statistical analysis and measurement of uncertainty
• User qualification, performance, and training management
• Audit trails and chain of custody support
• Configurable and granular role-based security
• Configurable system access and use (i.e., authentication requirements, account usage rules, account locking, etc.)
• Electronic signature support
• Data encryption and secure communication protocols
• Archiving and retention of data and information
• Configurable data backups
• Status updates and alerts
• Incident and non-conformance notification, tracking, and management

Operations management and reporting

• Configurable dashboards for monitoring, by material, process, facility, etc.
• Customizable rich-text reporting, with multiple supported output formats
• Custom and industry-specific reporting, including certificates of analysis (CoAs)
• Email integration
• Instrument interfacing and data management
• Third-party software interfacing (e.g., scientific data management system [SDMS], other databases)
• Data import, export, and archiving
• Instrument calibration and maintenance tracking
• Inventory and material management
• Supplier/vendor/customer management
• Customer portal

Specialty LIMS requirements

Some laboratory informatics software vendors are addressing construction and engineering laboratories' needs beyond the features of a basic all-purpose LIMS. A standard LIMS tailored for the construction materials testing and geotechnical testing industries may already contribute to some of these wider organizational functions, as well as more advanced laboratory workflow requirements, but many may not, or may vary in what additional functionality they provide. In that regard, a construction and engineering LIMS vendor may also include specialized functionality that assists these labs. This includes the provision of:

• A pre-defined library of materials specifications: Given the wide variety of materials tested by these labs, a built-in materials library that can be referenced throughout the LIMS will have some utility. The reality may be that this feature is more useful for those labs conducting research and development (R&D} on new construction materials. However, some analytical and quality testing labs may also find access to such a library useful, particularly if any built-in or customizable test methods can also be linked to specific materials in the library.
• Tools for recipe, mix, and blend design and management: Some construction materials such as asphalt, aggregate, and concrete can be created and modified in numerous ways dependent on the specific application. Some LIMS vendors recognize this, adding tools that allow these materials to be designed, optimized, and tested directly within the informatics system.
• Pre-built and configurable lab test forms (i.e., worksheets) and reporting templates: Conformance to regulations and accrediting bodies is a significant concern for these types of laboratories. From state departments of transportation (DoTs) to ASTM, AASHTO, and other industry governing organizations, specific formats are often required for lab test methods and their associated reports. A thorough LIMS vendor catering to construction and engineering labs will include pre-built, customizable templates for properly recording and reporting all analytical results for stakeholders. This includes forms for industry-specific activities, such as break sheets for daily completed break tests of concrete cylinders.
• Granularity in sample types: Simply referring to materials as "soil" or "asphalt" within the LIMS may not provide sufficient flexibility for a construction and engineering laboratory. For example, it may not be enough to indicate that a sample material is "soil," with the lab needing further granularity in the system to indicate whether the soil sample was from disturbed or undisturbed substrate. The LIMS should provide enough flexibility to document more granular sample types within the system.

• mobile-supported for field data collection; " Mobile data collection automatically synchronizes across your operations and labs to deliver results anytime, anywhere. Use any mobile device to upload data onsite in real time, making it instantly accessible to everyone who needs it, including readings, calibration of field test equipment, and photos." "upload data onsite in real time, making it instantly accessible to everyone who needs it, including readings, calibration of field test equipment, and photos"
• supporting field documentation
• "Review pending field work alongside availability of qualified technicians."
• "supports a broad range of geotechnical engineering services including site investigations, conventional drilling/sampling, soil testing, and in-situ testing."
• data consolidation across multiple offices "can store data of Laboratory, Site Investigation, In Situ Testing and Instrumentation in one database"
• support for construction formulations for concretes, cements, glues, coatings, etc.
• support for "SENVOL, MMPDS, JAHM, and many other databases containing commercial grades or standardized materials"
• "AGS compatibility that not only allows you to support projects using AGS 3.1 and AGS 4"
• dispatch scheduling for field testing
• 3D modeling and analysis of subsurface data
• sample disposal management https://icon-computers.in/i-lims/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/05/I-lims-Broucher.pdf