LIMS Markets

Biorepositories

Laboratory Information: Food and Beverage

Laboratory Information: Introduction

Nowhere is the balance between the need to control costs and the need to maintain quality and safety standards more evident than in the Food and Beverage industry. A number of recent stories concerning possible or actual food contamination around the world have significantly raised the profile of Quality Management within the industry. Given the global supply chain sourcing products and ingredients from suppliers around the world, and the threat of Bio-terrorism, there is an increased  demand for rigorous testing. For example, the US FDA Title III of the Public Health Security and Bio-terrorism Preparedness and Response Act of 2002 is expected to have dramatic impact on the industry. Of course, in addition to these pressures, companies must still meet state and national standards. All of this in an industry where the pressure to reduce costs and increase efficiency are constant.

LIMS is a critical component of any food and beverage manufacturer's quality management system. LIMS must support traceability throughout the manufacturing process, which in turn will help ensure compliance with relevant regulations and standards and best practice such as HACCP, GLP, GMP, CODEX 21CFR Part 11.

The aim of any food and beverage quality  system must include improvement of the tracking and traceability (forward and backwards) of the products, measures to monitor and improve production processes, facilities to ensure easy availability of  testing and safety data and information both current and historical, and the ability to meet  applicable standards and regulations. At the same time, the quality system must not increase associated manufacturing costs; rather, it should be part of the overall cost management and control system. Increasing globalization of the food and beverage industry also means that the information systems that support the quality management system must be easily deployable throughout the global organization.

Laboratory Information: Solutions

STARLIMS Food and Beverage solutions are designed to facilitate control and monitoring of manufacturing processes, ensuring traceability and safety while at the same helping to control and manage costs.  Designed to fully support the daily functions of a manufacturing organization, STARLIMS also offers comprehensive reporting, surveillance and networking capabilities compatible with national and international standards.

STARLIMS addresses the needs of Food & Beverage laboratories by providing functionalities such as:

	Ability to model Food and Beverage manufacturing workflow requirements
	Integration of analytical instruments and equipment to speed up data entry and reduce transcription errors
	Full traceability of all data and information generated within the system including full audit trail functionality
	Definition and management of Product Specifications Support for required regulations and accreditation
	Ability to record and manage analyst certification Full equipment management and maintenance functionality
	Flexible reporting functions that meet the complex requirements of a wide variety of internal and external customer, including production of Certificates of Analysis
	Ability to store, manage and control all documents associated with the workflow
	Resource planning and scheduling functionality
	Integration of analytical instruments and equipment to speed up data entry and reduce transcription errors
	Integration with other best of breed automation and enterprise systems including ERP/MRP,  and OIMS systems,  including a certified link to SAP, achieved through the use of a Web Services approach

In addition, the inherent flexibility of the system means that changes to business needs and working practices can be readily supported and implemented without losing existing functionality or data.  STARLIMS is fully web-based and uses familiar user interfaces, which simplifies both user training and implementation in new sites or new parts of the organization. Global and multi-site deployment is also facilitated thanks to web-based technology.

To Learn More about STARLIMS LIMS Solutions, see also:

	Scalable LIMS
	LIMS Future Proofing