Reagents have their proper place, all important inventory information is visible with a click, and an activity log for the use of a chemical is automatically created. Students in the Biomedical Analytics program at the University of Applied Sciences (FH) Salzburg have achieved all this and more by implementing a chemical management system in their training laboratory. The team reports on the exact course of the project below.
This text was first published in the print an online edition of LABO.de May 2024 and translated to English; original article (LABO.de German), link for PDF download (German)
PROJECT WEBSITE:
AUTHORS:
Amra Julardzija, Sandra Maiburger, Simona Khokhlov, Raya Zhivkova Tacheva, Melanie Dallinger, Maria Schöffegger Project Team Dipl.-Ing. Caroline Roth, BSc, Roland Joachimbauer, MSc Project Coaches (University of Applied Sciences Salzburg)
As the “Lean LAB” group, we, six students, took on the challenge of storage and reagent management as part of the “Project Management and Research” course of the Biomedical Analytics program at the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences. The main goal was to digitize the storage of chemicals. This included all chemicals, including reagents and toxins stored under safety standards. The secondary goal was to digitize the consumables – a wide range of products. The project successfully completed the inventory, including expiration dates, and restructuring of the warehouse.
Project Objective
The goal of the project was to digitize the entire inventory of chemicals and consumables and thereby introduce an efficiency-enhancing system for the FH Salzburg. In the future, this system should allow all users to easily access information such as storage location, storage conditions, remaining quantities of chemicals (including in open containers), or expiration dates with a single click. The new system should provide an overview of the inventory and allow for convenient and efficient ordering of reagents and consumables. Ideally, it should be possible to check inventory levels from the office, and the necessary SAP numbers should be available directly from the program, thereby improving usability. In addition to providing easy access to product inventory, this should also result in resource savings.
Project Implementation
The first steps of the project included a rough schedule and task distribution within the team. To ensure an informed decision on the appropriate software, the team, with the help of our coaches, created a list of required features that the final inventory system should include. Essentially, the quantity of reagents, their expiration dates, manufacturer or supplier, and storage location are critical data points that we believe a digital system must display. In addition to this information, the system needed to account for fill volume, chemical safety data sheets, and purchase order numbers. It was also important to clearly identify whether each stored substance was an acid, a base, or a poison. All of these aspects needed to be addressed in a digital system to better track the inventory in the future, thereby avoiding excessive stockpiling of chemicals and preventing unmonitored use.
Each member of our group searched for inventory system vendors, delved into their offerings, and presented a brief pitch on the pros and cons of each system. After evaluating the options, five systems were shortlisted as suitable for our purposes. We then contacted the vendors and set up online meetings. These meetings not only expanded our knowledge of inventory system capabilities, but also improved our soft skills in negotiation discussions. In particular, we noticed how different people communicated, interacted, presented their programs, and responded to questions. After two intensive days and constructive discussions with our coaches, we decided on a system from Fluics and ordered the Fluics Connect system including a printer and 1000 labels. We were impressed by a comprehensive and detailed product presentation that answered all of our questions and demonstrated all of the features using the program. The system also had several advantageous features, such as an unlimited number of users and items in the program, the ability to attach photos of reagents, labels that can be used in freezers (down to -80°C), as well as easy updating of storage locations and automatic protocol creation for each registered item.
After the system, including the printer, arrived, we first installed the printer and created workspaces for the storage rooms at the FH Salzburg within the program. The project manager took on the role of administrator in the program and added all team members to the workspace. Next, we took inventory of all the chemicals and supplies.
Divided into two teams, our goal was not only to record the quantity and important item information, but also to implement a new storage organization for chemicals and consumables.
While the update and inventory of the consumables inventory was completed within a few hours, the inventory of the chemicals inventory took considerably longer due to the need for more information such as storage conditions and MSDS review. A long list of different products was created and entered into the system. The challenge was to digitize the individual products. Since each chemical and consumable is associated with different important information, it was not possible to perform a one-time, uniform transfer of the Excel sheet into the software. As a result, all products had to be manually entered into the system. In order to ensure consistent digitization, it was important for the group to agree on and define the characteristics to be recorded in the system. In the end, 197 items were entered for chemicals and 119 for consumables.
One of the final steps of the project was to label the registered products. Again, the team split into two groups and returned to the storerooms. One person was responsible for printing the labels so that the labels for the different storage rooms would not be mixed up. As each item in storage was labeled, photos of the reagents and consumables, along with their final storage locations, were added to the Fluics program. A chaotic storage system was used for the reagents, which meant that each container had to be labeled individually. The choice of storage location in the chemical store was based on specific product characteristics, such as placing acids, bases, and poisons in the safety cabinet. To facilitate orientation in the chemical storage room, the cabinets were color-coded, and photos of the containers or reagent vessels were added to the Fluics application for quick and easy identification. In the consumables store, a fixed location system was used because there is a smaller range of products with a large but frequently changing number of items. This means that the locations of the materials on the shelves were labeled, rather than the individual containers. It was important to ensure that stock levels in the consumables warehouse were updated locally to ensure accurate inventory tracking.
Project Completion
With the successful implementation of the digital chemical management system from Fluics, the goal of “digitizing the inventory” has been achieved. Students and employees of the FH Salzburg campus will be able to find reagents, other chemicals and consumables in the storage rooms more easily and quickly thanks to the assigned storage locations, including photo documentation. The organization of the storage rooms is thus ensured. The recorded information and characteristics, such as fill volume, quantity and stored SAP or order numbers, facilitate and enable remote and centralized inventory checks and orders on all digital devices, including mobile phones, tablets and PCs. In the future, Fluics plans to implement automatic reorder notifications when minimum stock levels are reached. Overall, this digitization solution increases efficiency and results in significant time savings.
In addition, we hope that the “Remaining Volume” feature will lead to better management of partially used reagents/chemicals and result in chemical savings. This supports our commitment to good laboratory practice and is a step towards sustainability. Another benefit is that the inclusion of pictures of stored chemicals will help new students become familiar with the various chemicals. We hope that this will lead to better and more conscientious handling of chemicals by future students and all those involved in the program.
In addition, a standard operating procedure (SOP) for using the system and a project manual summarizing key details such as project start, goals, and costs were created. The progress and goals of the project were also presented on a dedicated project website.
Challenges and Project Lessons Learned
During the project we had to overcome several hurdles and challenges, one of which was selecting the appropriate inventory systems available on the market and weighing different criteria such as the project budget and the (desired) requirements for the system. We also underestimated the workload involved in the inventory process and labeling. Despite the tight timeline, the project was completed on time. Through these situations, we learned more about professional interactions with various vendors and contacts, solution-oriented work, effective time management, and last but not least, inventory management and proper handling of chemicals and hazardous substances. This project greatly benefited our teamwork, and we realized the importance of decision-making skills for important future projects.
