Lab Consumables & Instruments (LIMS)

In the day to day process of a laboratory, analysts will use various solutions and machines to analyze samples. Traceability of these items is necessary to ensure the results that arise from this testing are accurate and timely. Vault LIMS tracks the use of these as Consumables and Instruments.

About Lab Consumables

Lab Consumables are the trackable items used in performing an analysis method, which are grouped into three types: Reagents, Standards and Equipment. Analysts or other users must record and track the use of any specific consumable during an analysis of a set of samples.

Reagents and Standards consumables are chemical reagents that when used in the process become part of the solutions tested. They are purchased from a vendor or prepared in-house. It is often important to note the concentration of these consumables.

Equipment consumables are items that when used in the process do not become part of the solutions tested, such as pipette tips. Concentration is not recorded for Equipment consumables.

In Vault LIMS, the Consumable Family object represents item groupings indicated by a Lab Method, for example, 0.5 N Sulfuric Acid. The Consumable object represents an individually tracked unit of that reagent with a Lot Number, for example, 0.5 N Sulfuric Acid-12345. An individual Lab Consumable can be further broken down into Lab Consumable Components if the Lab Consumable is created from other Lab Consumables. For example, Concentrated Sulfuric Acid-4321 with an Amount value of 27 mL, and Water-321 with an Amount value of 973 mL.

About Instruments

Instruments are machines that analyze solutions to qualify the presence or quantify the amount of a specific analyte within those solutions. Analysts or other users must record and track the use of any specific instrument during an analysis of a set of samples.

In Vault LIMS, the Asset Family object of the Instrument object type represents a type of machine, indicated by a Lab Method, while the Asset object of the Instrument object type represents the unique physical machine.

Working with Lab Consumables

Before adding consumables to Lab Tests, you must create Lab Consumable Families in your Vault to reflect your reagents, standards, and consumable equipment.

Creating Lab Consumable Families

To create a Lab Consumable Family:

  1. Navigate to a Lab Consumable Families custom tab.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Select the a type from the drop-down: Reagent, Standard, or Equipment.
  4. Enter a Name.
  5. Click Save.

The Lab Consumable Family is now available for selection when creating individual Lab Consumable records.

Creating Lab Consumables

To create a Lab Consumable:

  1. Navigate to a Lab Consumables custom tab.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Select the a type from the drop-down: Reagent, Standard, or Equipment.
  4. Enter a Name.
  5. Select the appropriate Consumable Family.
  6. Select a Preparation Type. If you select Created, ensure that you define any necessary Lab Consumable Components after saving your record.
  7. Enter a Lot Number.
  8. Fill in any additional field information required by your organization’s processes.
  9. If your organization tracks the amount remaining for consumables, fill in the Amount Units, Initial Amount, and Remaining Amount fields.
  10. Click Save.

The consumable is now available to add to a Lab Test, or for use as a Lab Consumable Component.

Defining Lab Consumable Components

To define the Lab Consumable Components of another Lab Consumable:

  1. On a Lab Consumable object record of the Created preparation type, navigate to the Lab Consumable Components section and click Create.
  2. Select a Component. The record you select is a Lab Consumable record.
  3. Fill in any additional field information required for this type of consumable.
  4. Click Save.

Repeat these steps for each component of the created consumable.

Tracking Use of Consumable Components

To view a list of all the Lab Consumables that use a particular Lab Consumable as a component, you can navigate to the Lab Consumables using this Component section.

Working with Instruments

Before adding instruments to Lab Tests, you must create Instrument (Asset) Families in your Vault to reflect your instrumentation types.

Creating Instrument Families

To create an Asset Family of the Instrument type:

  1. Navigate to an Asset Families custom tab.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Select the Instrument type from the drop-down.
  4. Enter a Name.
  5. Click Save.

The Instrument Family is now available for selection when creating individual Instrument records.

Creating Instruments

To create an Asset of the Instrument type:

  1. Navigate to an Assets custom tab.
  2. Click Create.
  3. Select the Instrument type from the drop-down.
  4. Enter a Name.
  5. Select the appropriate Asset Family.
  6. Fill in any additional field information required by your organization’s processes.
  7. Click Save.

The Instrument is now available to add to a Lab Test.

Adding Consumables & Instruments to Lab Tests

Vault LIMS automatically populates Lab Consumable Family and Asset Family data as part of Lab Test creation. To track the individual Lab Consumables and Instruments used during test execution:

  1. Navigate to any Lab Test record within the relevant Lab Test Set.
  2. In the Lab Test Inputs section, click into an existing placeholder input.
  3. Click Edit.
  4. In the Asset or Consumable field, select the individual input record used during the test.
  5. Click Save.

The Asset or Consumable value is applied to all Lab Tests within the associated Lab Test Set. If you add a sample to the Lab Test Set after making these changes, the new Lab Test record will not automatically be associated with the Asset or Consumable you chose in the above steps, and you will need to select it again for the new Lab Test.

To manage consumables and instruments, a user must have a security profile or role which grants them View, Create, and Edit permissions for the following objects:

  • Lab Consumable
  • Lab Consumable Family
  • Lab Instrument
  • Lab Instrument Family
  • Lab Method Input