Instrumentation and equipment are among the core assets of a laboratory and a vital guarantee for the accuracy and validity of experimental data. For laboratories possessing numerous instruments, equipment management has become a significant routine task. Scientific and effective management of laboratory equipment is key to improving laboratory management efficiency and ensuring the quality of experimental data. However, without comprehensive centralized management, issues such as unreasonable allocation of instrument resources, missed calibration deadlines, and unclear equipment status can easily arise.
The equipment management module of the laboratory information management system (SW-LIMS), independently developed by Beijing Sunway World Technology Co., Ltd., is specifically designed to address these challenges in laboratory instrument management. Its purpose is to achieve full lifecycle management of laboratory instruments and equipment, improve instrument utilization, enhance the accuracy and reliability of experimental data, optimize laboratory resource allocation, increase laboratory work efficiency, and thereby assist laboratory managers in better managing instruments and equipment, enabling the effective management and utilization of scientific experimental data.

1. Equipment File Establishment and Management
Traditional technical files for instruments and equipment primarily rely on manually organized paper records, which involve heavy workloads and are prone to delays or errors/omissions. Using the system allows for online file creation and management of equipment information.
On one hand, it establishes links between instrument/equipment information and the testing task process, supporting automatic system verification of the validity of equipment used for testing tasks and assessment of equipment occupancy and usage.
On the other hand, tasks such as equipment usage can be automatically generated as electronic records and archived into the instrument/equipment files, reducing the workload of manual recording and organization. Integration with systems like the laboratory's fixed asset management system and procurement management system can also facilitate file creation by automatically importing equipment purchase information, reducing manual effort, and ensuring consistency with information from fixed asset management, etc.

2.Collection and Management of Electronic Verification/Certificate Information for Equipment
This plays a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy and reliability of test results. All laboratory equipment falling within the scope of mandatory verification must be verified/calibrated by designated verification/calibration departments before use. Verification/calibration certificates are a strong support for guaranteeing the validity of laboratory instruments. Most laboratory instruments require periodic verification/calibration, and some testing laboratories also need to consider instrument measurement deviation correction or measurement uncertainty. Therefore, implementing and managing verification/calibration certificates is essential.
Managing equipment verification certificates through manual registration and upload is overly labor-intensive. Beijing Sunway World can provide equipment verification/calibration electronic certificate information collection services, enabling the recognition of key information from these certificates, including: instrument/equipment name, instrument/equipment number, verification date, verification cycle, verification conclusion, verification content, etc. This allows for automatic extraction and filling of this key information into corresponding fields within the system, forming part of the instrument's technical file and reducing the workload of manual registration.

3.Control of Key Equipment Management Events
To ensure the long-term effective operation of laboratory instruments, most laboratories periodically implement and manage tasks such as equipment verification/calibration, interim checks, and maintenance.
As different instruments have varying verification/calibration/interim check cycles, timings, and requirements, planning for these activities needs to be done in advance to avoid sending instruments out for verification impacting the completion timelines of testing tasks. Traditional manual planning methods are prone to delays or oversights.
The equipment management functionality of a LIMS system can be used to manage key equipment events such as verification/calibration, interim checks, repairs, and maintenance. It can automatically calculate verification cycles, provide early warnings, facilitate appropriate scheduling, and manage the implementation status of these activities. This not only reduces the workload and difficulty for equipment administrators but also enhances the real-time awareness of laboratory users regarding critical instrument events.

4.Optimization of Instrument/Equipment Resource Allocation
Laboratory instruments and equipment are often highly valuable. How to rationally configure laboratory resources to improve equipment utilization and reduce testing costs is one of the important ways for laboratories to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Intelligent Scheduling/Planning Function: For time-consuming tasks or those requiring specific equipment, automatic scheduling algorithm models can be established. These models automatically match current pending task requirements with currently available laboratory instruments, enabling intelligent scheduling/planning. This helps laboratory users better arrange instrument usage time, avoid conflicts and waste, thereby improving laboratory instrument utilization.
Equipment Status Monitoring: Gain real-time awareness of the status of key laboratory instruments—whether in use, idle, under repair, etc.—helping laboratory users better arrange instrument resources.
Equipment Utilization Analysis: Through tracking and statistical analysis of laboratory instrument usage, help laboratory users better understand which instruments are frequently idle and which have high demand, potentially warranting further expansion or upgrades. This provides scientific support for tasks such as formulating equipment procurement plans.

5.Automatic Instrument Data Acquisition and Experiment Interaction
Through automatic instrument data acquisition, the system achieves automatic retrieval of instrument data/result files and automatically populates them onto original records. This enables interaction between experimental tasks and instrument information, strengthens traceability management of experimental data, supports automatic generation of original records, reduces the workload of manual compilation, and improves the accuracy and reliability of experimental data.

6.Optimization of Daily Instrument Management Tasks
Traditionally, laboratory managers spend significant time and effort managing instruments and equipment. The equipment management functionality of a LIMS system enables full-process online management of instruments, thereby reducing management workload and improving laboratory efficiency. Instruments in the laboratory may encounter various faults. Through the fault management function of the LIMS system, fault information can be recorded, and relevant personnel can be promptly notified for troubleshooting and resolution to prevent faults from impacting experiments.