SMART Technology for Smart Laboratories

Technological innovation is steadily entering modern testing laboratories to execute the day-to-day tasks more efficiently. I discussed in a previous blog post how a lab can benefit from raising the level of automation for sample preparation workflows, replacing routine and error-prone manual operations and freeing chemists for more valuable tasks in the lab.

Maintaining the instruments to perform at their best every day is an integral part of any laboratory’s success, and it is another laboratory activity that can be done much more efficiently thanks to modern technology now available.

Preventive maintenance mainly involves the regular replacement of consumables, possibly before they start causing poor analytical results or instrument contamination that might generate unexpected time-consuming and costly downtime. High-throughput laboratories, handling many different sample types, often have different operators rotating on the same instrument. Managing consumables replacement and usage tracking in this working environment can be troublesome, still involving time-consuming manual notes, with a high risk of mistakes or possible missed tasks.

Is there a better way to operate? The answer is yes.

Thermo Scientific™ TriPlus™ RSH SMART GC autosampler.

The new Thermo Scientific™ TriPlus™ RSH SMART GC autosampler is capable of communicating with its SMART syringes and SPME/SPME Arrow fibers through a chip that univocally identifies the consumable and stores all relevant information on its usage (counters, operative conditions, sample type, solvent type, method, etc.).

Before starting a new method, have you ever had doubts on how old a syringe is, or what samples it’s been used for? These doubts are resolved with the SMART technology. All the information is stored in the syringe, facilitating a dedicated usage or a safer sharing of the consumables. Unique assignment to a specific sample or method is much easier, preventing cross-contamination.

With full awareness about how a syringe or a SPME fiber has been used or misused, a laboratory can improve data quality and reliability.

The information stored in the chip is transferred in real time to the Thermo Scientific™ Chromeleon™ CDS, providing usage traceability in the log file, greatly supporting GLP compliance. The consumable usage is also visualized through the Chromeleon Integrated Dashboard Status, providing consumables health notifications for forecast-based maintenance and optimized consumables consumption.

To learn more, don’t miss our live webinar on Monday, September 27^th at 5 p.m. CEST. Register here