The Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food is charged with tracking animals for food consumption from birth on the farm through to supermarket distribution.The laboratories that support the Department are geographically spread throughout the country and, as such, require timely and accurate flow of information and research results across locations. The Department selected Thermo Scientific™ LIMS for its laboratory services to improve the quality of information generated, to improve efficiency in laboratory operations and to generate and store epidemiology and disease surveillance information.
The LIMS solution provided the Department’s Central Veterinary Laboratory Services with a full laboratory data recording, management, retrieval and reporting system. At sample intake, the LIMS has improved the efficiency and security of data entry and has greatly assisted sample identification and tracking by printed and automated label generation. As all laboratory data are now recorded on a single electronic database, the LIMS has provided the Laboratory Services with a means to retrieve, analyze and report data in a way that would never have been possible with the previous paper-based system, including sending results electronically to third parties and regulatory agencies. The LIMS also provides a database for national animal disease surveillance, reduces information transcription and enables information sharing across labs while providing traceability of samples. In addition, the LIMS has been integrated with the Department of Agriculture’s existing ERP system, SAP, removing a large burden from the laboratory and administration staff in generating monthly invoices.

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