Chemical Engineering February 2022 - 26

tion that would be easier and less
costly to support and maintain.
Wahl explains, " The significant experience
of Thermo Fisher's team
with interfaces to SAP's Enterprise
Resource Planning and other thirdparty
systems helped us integrate
SampleManager LIMS tightly into
the existing Covestro infrastructure,
easing the transformation process
and ensuring that existing best practice
was maintained. We were able
to incorporate the specific requirements
of individual laboratories with
relatively low effort. "
During the initial phase of implementation,
there were some hurdles
and, according to Wahl, " It took
time for this 'activation energy' to
be overcome. " However, as staff
learned about the new system, they
could see how it positively impacted
their roles and confidence grew. For
example, the
removal of manual
data input and transfer reduced
their administrative workload, allowing
more time for scientific tasks.
Any concerns disappeared within a
few months, and they began sharing
and discussing suggestions for
optimizations. Later, the broader
benefits to the company, including
increased productivity, were also
clearly recognized and their contribution
to this reinforced the team's
positive experience.
By the end of the implementation
process, Wahl noted, " You have a
great product placed in the laboratory
and our scientists now rely on
it. " At Covestro, there is now full
confidence in the system and staff
consider SampleManager LIMS to
be integral to their work.
Benefits of LIMS for Covestro
After the implementation, Covestro
realized a number of benefits, including
time and cost savings. As a
direct result of integrating the LIMS
with instrumentation, skilled laboratory
staff no longer spend time inputting
and sharing data (Figure 2).
Instead, data collation is automated
in a central database that is readily
accessible to all who need it. And
when decision-making is required,
this is better informed by all the
available data.
When data are needed for a project
or to develop an idea or process,
this may already exist and be stored
26
in the system
so time
and effort is
not spent
on duplication.
As
researchers
can see all
available
data, they
can focus
on areas
where there
are gaps,
meaning
r esearch
efforts are
better foCovestro
FIGURE
2. After integrating the LIMS with instrumentation, skilled laboratory staff no
longer spend time inputting and sharing data
cused. The availability of high-quality
" big data " alongside advanced analytics
allows trends to be studied -
for example, the effect of weather on
processes. The synergy between different
parts of the business, such as
R&D and production, is maximized.
The benefits of the SampleManager
LIMS introduction have
been felt throughout the company.
Wahl comments, " Thermo Fisher's
configuration-over-customization
approach has allowed us to standardize
and harmonize our LIMS
landscape, as
SampleManager
LIMS is introduced into more laboratories. "
And those without SampleManager
software are now requesting
it, with implementation in
more sites scheduled to begin in
2022-2023.
Concluding remarks
The implementation of an integrated
LIMS is pivotal to any digital-transformation
strategy. With vendor
support and stakeholder involvement,
the best configuration of the
LIMS can be built to standardize
and streamline processes, reduce
manual interactions and connect
instruments to provide a complete
flow of information from research
through to production.
This automated digital data management
saves time and improves
accuracy, which benefits laboratory
staff and drives process optimization
while increasing productivity. What's
more, due to the standardized format
of the data, maximum value
benefits can be obtained through its
analysis, across the company. Scientists
can now use existing data in
new projects rather than collecting
it again, avoiding redundancy. Further
study using advanced analytics
can help generate new ideas or
uncover potential product development
routes that before might have
stayed " hidden " in existing data. The
introduction of LIMS software has
led to long-term gains for Covestro
and demonstrates how LIMS can
be implemented to bring companywide
benefits.
n
Edited by Gerald Ondrey
Authors
Frank Wahl started
his
career
working as a laboratory technician
for almost 17 years at Bayer AG,
which later transformed into
Covestro AG (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Allee
60, Leverkusen,
51373; Email:
Germany,
frank.wahl@
covestro.com). Following his interests,
Wahl moved into a position
as R&D IT project manager, taking
over as project lead of several local and global IT projects.
One of these projects was the first Thermo Scientific
SampleManager LIMS implementation for Bayer in
2008, which then developed into a companywide implementation
program, including the implementation of
more than 20 instances of SampleManager LIMS globally.
In his current role as R&D Solutions Manager, Frank
continues to manage the LIMS as well as other digitalization
projects within Covestro.
Christian Mueller joined Thermo
Fisher Scientific
Inc. (168 Third
Avenue, Waltham, MA 02451;
Email: christian.mueller@thermofisher.com)
in 1998 and has since
held various responsibilities within
the Digital Science business unit
as a project manager and a services
manager for the Germany
region. In 2020, Mueller was promoted
to the director, Service and Support, for the
EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) region. Prior
to joining Thermo Fisher Scientific, Mueller worked as a
laboratory lead for an environmental laboratory. Mueller
is a chemist with a doctorate from the University of
Essen, Germany.
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