Design and Development of Laboratory Inventory Management System (LIMS)

Quality standards are an essential component of higher education, and laboratories in every educational institution perform inventories to function effectively. The main objective of this study is to design and develop an inventory management system for university laboratories. This study used the agile methodology, which is a way to manage a project by breaking it up into several phases. It involves constant collaboration with stakeholders and continuous improvement at every stage. LIMS has three main capabilities: Sample management, Instrument Documentation Access, and Effective Data Management. LIMS sample management provides accurate records of each sample from the instant it is received in the laboratory and throughout its lifecycle. Instrument Documentation Access is a functionality where each instrument/sample has access to its manual, files, or documentation. LIMS Data management enables data export and import, which improves the process of data archiving and data facilitation. The system has six (6) major features: Audit Management, Barcode Handling, Document Management, Inventory and Equipment Management, Manual and Automated Data Entry, and Stock Quality Assurance. Laboratory staff can use audit trails to follow the audit path from beginning to end, explicitly stating the collaborator and the precise time of specific actions or to automate the audit process. Barcodes can completely replace handwritten labels. Barcode provides diverse benefits to laboratory technicians handling samples, including reducing the possibility of unreadable labels and reducing the chance of human error. Uploading and indexing documents of any file type and size, performing text searches, converting and exporting to appropriate formats like PDF, and adding documents as attachments to the system are all features of the document management system. LIMS can manage laboratory equipment/samples/items and measure, record, and control stocks. LIMS provides fast and dependable interfaces that allow manual and automated item entry for seamless implementation of data. LIMS performs thorough quality checks on samples and products. The system also keeps track of the status of each item or unit.