RNB Cosméticos, located in Valencia – Spain, is a cosmetics company focused on the research, development and manufacture of face and body cosmetics, sun protection products and fragrances. The company has an active portfolio of more than 300 products, and employs 500 personnel. Turnover in 2018 was €91 million.

RNB Cosméticos complies with ISO 9001:2015 standard for quality management systems, demonstrating the implementation of defined protocols and documentation for processes and products. The firm has in addition achieved ISO 22716 accreditation, demonstrating good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance for cosmetics production. As well as external audits by the Vancian Community Health Department, RNB Cosméticos also undertakes an annual program of internal quality and safety audits, to ensure compliance with regulatory standards, and to evaluate opportunities for improvements in operating efficiency.

The company runs its own, dedicated microbiology, analytical, stability, rheology, and packaging laboratories, where about 45 staff carry out analytical assays on raw materials, intermediates and final products. Finished, packaged products are tested to ensure high, consistent quality and functionality for customers.

RNB Cosméticos operates multiple software platforms, including, including Coptis, a dedicated R&D platform for the cosmetics sector, Navision enterprise resource planning (ERP), and Mapex manufacturing execution system (MES). The firm also relies on Sharepoint as corporate management system, and built-in .NET applications. With no central LIMS system infrastructure, data from the different laboratories, project management or executive departments was easily lost within these different software systems, or stored in spreadsheets and other flat files, which made it hard to find and view in context. STARLIMS was installed early on 2015 to act as a centralized system for data management that could underpin all of RNB’s diverse R&D and laboratory processes.

STARLIMS has been interfaced and integrated with all of RNB’s existing software, and has been configured to manage functions such as water and environmental sampling, and coordinate testing carried out at about 20 third-party labs, which the company had traditionally managed through manual workflows.

A key feature of the installed STARLIMS platform is versatility. The platform configuration can be adjusted to meet virtually any changes in regulatory requirements, or internal R&D, testing protocols and manufacturing processes. Critically, STARLIMS allows RNB scientists and business executives to access test results and accompanying metadata in real time, in parallel with historical data. Being able to review, compare and interrogate data, whatever its origin, ultimately speeds batch release. STARLIMS also highlights out of specification results or outliers, setting in motion the correct steps to investigate, retest, halt batch release if relevant, and instigate remedial action.

The most significant benefits of STARLIMS for RNB’s day-to-day operation include:

• Flexibility to connect with all other in house informatics platforms
• The ability to manage environmental samples, surface and water tests, and schedule and control sampling points
• A user-friendly sample management module that provides oversight of outsourced testing by third party laboratories
• Full traceability of all data, as well as equipment use, methods and workflows, and electronic signatures, allowing the company to fully audit all of its laboratory processes
• Easy import of data on materials, methods, tests and test plans
• Automated creation and dispatch of reports, including certificates of analysis, within the software platform
• The ability to manage all data generated through the laboratories’ day-to-day functions
• Intuitive data management for technicians, laboratory managers and executives
• The ability to carry out trend analysis and querying, for statistical calculations and predictions.

“We wanted a tool to support all the activities in the lab, and not just to record the test results. STARLIMS platform versatility allows us to adjust it to meet any changes in regulatory requirements, or internal R&D, testing protocols and manufacturing processes.”

Anabel Sanchis Sanz, Quality Director