Global Settings. System Defaults

LIMS Setup

Navigate to the LIMS setup from the gear icon at the top right of the screen

Only users authorised as labmanagers have access

For the global settings navigate to Setup

Sampling

Does your lab need to record this?

If you requires Sampling workflow, select that option on the Sampling and COC tab

More often, Sampling data such as Sampler, DateTime Sampled and Field Analyses results can be captured at Sample Reception

Keeping Sampling on, allows the lab to print Sample stickers, before their Samplers go out on field trips. Only once samples have been Sampled in the LIMS, can they be Received

Samples without Analyses

requesting Analyses when registering Samples is compulsory, but when labs are active in receiving samples and only later decide how to analyse them, uncheck that restriction in the setup

Register Samples as Received

If all the lab's Samples are registered at lab reception when they arrive, the initial Due state for Samples registered by Clients remotely, is redundant and Bika can be configured to start the Samples off as Received, which will save time

Clients may still register Samples remotely, and they will be Due until checked in at the lab as Received

The configuration takes place on the Sampling tab of global Bika Setup pages

Immediate Results Entry

On the Analysis tab, an Immediate Results Entry is available that, when enabled, allows users to capture a Sample's results immediately after registration, say the sample arrives with a number of field results

Sticker Printing

Decide when Sample labels should be printed, when their Analysis Requests are Created, or when the Samples are Received.

And which sticker templates to use and how many copies per print.

Worksheet management

In busy labs, one wants to keep irrelevant data, infotoxin, out of the way of analysts. This can in some part be achieved by batching samples, and more granularly by hiding worksheets not of interest and give them access only to their own

On the other hand restrict that privilege to lab managers only

Unique sequential IDs

IDs are flexible, making use of abbreviations for LIMS objects. They are configured on the Bika Setup ID Server tab

For Samples and their Samples, as well as Batches, Worksheets, Reference samples, Invoices etc.

All IDs are unique and sequential

In standard configuration, Sample and Analysis Request IDs are prefixed with the abbreviation for their Sample Types and year, e.g. Ore19-001 for the first Ore sample of 2019

Other options to deal with early

Branding. Logos and favicon

• Include and display pricing information - On if applicable. Commercial labs use this
• Sample Preservation - Off unless you need it

• Allow self-verification of results

By default, for ISO 17025 compliance, the same user is not allowed to capture and verify results

Small labs, and skeleton staff on night shift, work around this by enabling self-verification, if not temporarily. Full audit trail remains

• Number of verifications

Before a given result is Verified. Some labs require more than one verification. This setting can be configured further per individual Analysis Service

• Sample rejection - Off, unless required

• Default number of analysis requests to add on the AR create form

Secondary Sample

Often seen in Geochemistry where ore and drill core samples are expensive but nonperishable, and in health care, where specimen are stored frozen, Samples can be retested, say for different analytes

To maintain a one-to-many relationship between Samples and and secondary analysis requests, the latter simply gets a sequential postfix their parent Sample IDs

Often set to R1, R2. e.g Ore19-001-R1 for the first Sample, and Ore19-001-R2 for a secondary, Ore19-001-R3 etc.