Introduction

This section describes how to use the LabHQ Equipment Maintenance Module effectively to track inventory and maintenance of laboratory equipment.

Setup

Equipment Types

Equipment Types are used to group Equipment Items. Equipment Types can be accessed from Equipment > Set-up > Equipment Types. On selecting the page, a list of Equipment Types configured in the system will display in the left hand pane, and the Details tab will be displayed in the content area (See Figure 1 below).

 

How to add a new Equipment Type
Select the ‘+’ button next to the search bar in the left-hand pane. A pop-up will appear for the user to enter an Equipment Type name. The name must be unique, and therefore an error message will appear if the user tries to create a new Equipment Type with the same name as an existing Equipment Type.

Equipment Type Details
The Details tab displays three fields: name, description and approved.

Approved – This is a tick box only available to users with ‘Approve Equipment Types’ permission. When the user ticks this box and selects save, the Equipment Type becomes available for use within the module.

The ‘+’ button creates Additional Fields for the Equipment Type. View for information on Additional Fields.

View for information on Notes.

Equipment Items

Equipment Items are used in the module to track the status of equipment. Equipment Items are also used in main LIMS to associate with a test method so that a user can record equipment against a test result. Equipment Items can be accessed from Equipment > Set-up > Equipment Items. On selecting the page, a list of Equipment Items configured in the system will display in the left-hand pane, and the Details tab will be displayed in the content area (See Figure 2 below). There are four tabs at the top of the page: All, In Use, Out of Use, and Retired. Selecting these tabs filters the list of Equipment Items in the left-hand pane respectively.

 

How to add a new Equipment Item
Select the ‘+’ button next to the search bar in the left-hand pane. A pop-up will appear for the user to enter an Equipment Item name. The name must be unique, and therefore an error message will appear if the user tries to create a new Equipment Item with the same name as an existing Equipment Item.

Equipment Item Details
The Details tab allows the user to set the name and description of the Equipment Item. A brief explanation for all other fields is described below:

Approved – This is a tick box only available to users with ‘Approve Equipment Items’ permission. When the user ticks this box and selects save, the Equipment Item becomes available for use within the module.

Supplier – A list of available suppliers is populated from Supplier set-up. Only one supplier can be selected for an Equipment Item.

Location – This dropdown is populated with the default Equipment Locations phrase list. If your system is configured with the Environmental Monitoring (EM) Module, then the locations will be populated from the Locations configured within the EM module.

Equipment Type – A list of Equipment Types is populated from Equipment Type set-up. Only one Equipment Type can be selected for an Equipment Item.

Component Type – The user can select either Parent, Component or Single. If Parent is selected, the Parts tab displays. If Component is selected, the parent and parent dependent fields are displayed. If the user selects Single, the Equipment Item has no relation to any other Equipment Item configured.

Parent – A list of parents is populated from Equipment Items configured with a component type of ‘Parent’. The user can select only one Parent for the Equipment Item.

Parent Dependent – When the user ticks this box, this means the Equipment Item will inherit the status of the parent. Likewise, the parent will also inherit the status of the children.

Serial # – A numeric field for the user to enter the serial number.

Movement – The user can select fixed or portable.

Status – The status can be set on creation. After the first save, the status of an Equipment Item must be changed from the Change Status page.

Reason – The user can select a reason when the status is ‘Out of Use’. The list contains the following values:

• Service
• Calibration
• Fault
• Being Commissioned
• Deviation
• Relocation
• Scrapped
• Retired

Asset # – A numeric field for the user to enter the asset number.

Equipment Item Servicing
An example of the Equipment Item Servicing pop-up is shown in Figure 3 below.

 

Equipment ID – A unique number for every item.

Equipment Name – The unique name of the selected item.

Equipment Type – The type of the equipment item. Can be used to sort the entire module into certain sections.

Component Type – The type of component. Can be Parent, Single or Component.

Location – Allows users to attach a specific location to the item. This can be down to a room or more large scale.

Supplier – Shows the name of the person/company that supplied the item.

Status – Slider lets the user pick if the product is ‘In Use’ or ‘Out of Use’.

The item’s status is also indicated by the green/red dot on the left-hand side of the screen.

Reason – If slider gets set to ‘Out of Use’, the user will see the reason dropdown. The item cannot be saved until a reason is selected. The list of reasons is:

  • Fault
  • Being commissioned
  • Deviation
  • Relocation
  • Scrapped

Edit Notes –  The edit notes button lets the user add notes to the item.

Upload Files The upload files button opens up the edit files popup. In this popup, a user can view currently uploaded files, their name, description, size and file type as well as being given the ability to download, preview or remove the files they wish to. Service documents are not currently permission controlled, however, the only way to access service documents is via Service Schedule. Service Schedule is permission-controlled. Removing the permission ‘View Service Schedule’ from a user means they will not be able to access service documents whatsoever.

Figure 4: Equipment Service Documents File Pop-up

Figure 4: Equipment Service Documents File Pop-up

Every type of file can be uploaded to a service event, however, only certain file types can be previewed. These are:

  • .doc, .docx and .docm (Microsoft Word)
  • .xls, .xlsx and .xlsm (Microsoft Excel)
  • .pdf
  • .txt (Text Files)
  • .csv

Previewing a file will generate a PDF copy, allowing users to obtain a file for reference without changing the original version.

The button next to the status indicators opens the ‘Edit Status’ panel.

View for more information on Additional Fields.

Equipment Change Status

The Change Status page in the Equipment Maintenance module allows the user to log activity for a particular Equipment Item, keeping a full audit trail of the equipment history. On entering the Change Status page, a list of Equipment Types is populated in the left hand pane (See Figure 4 below). The user can then enter the following data to log an activity:

Figure 5: Equipment Change Status

Figure 5: Equipment Change Status

 

Equipment Item – A list of Equipment Items that are assigned to the selected Equipment Type in the left-hand pane will populate the drop-down list.

Current Equipment Item Status – This displays the current status of the Equipment Item for information only and this is not editable.

Equipment Item Status – This allows the user to change the status to ‘In Use’ or ‘Out of Use’.

Reason – Where an Equipment Item status of ‘Out of Use’ is selected, this field is displayed. The user may select one of the following reasons:

• Service
• Calibration
• Fault
• Being Commissioned
• Deviation
• Relocation
• Scrapped
• Retired

Service Event Name – This field appears where a reason of ‘Service’ or ‘Calibration’ is selected. The Service Event Name drop-down populates from the Services configured on the Equipment Item.

Service Event Status – The user can select one of the following statuses for the Service Event:

• Scheduled
• In Progress
• Completed
• Closed

Notes – This is a free text field for the user to enter notes about the activity.

Taking Equipment Out of Use

A user has the option to change the status of an item and has to select a reason for doing so, upon saving the details the user can print an Equipment Item Status Label. This label can be used to place on the physical equipment to warn analysts in the laboratory that the Equipment is ‘Out of Use’. The LabHQ default label contains the Equipment Item details, current status, reason, and service schedule.
The user can also print the Out of Service Form. The LabHQ default form displays the Equipment Item details, Service Event Name and an area for handwritten service details for recording.
Where the user has taken an Equipment Item ‘Out of Use’ for a reason other than a ‘Service’ or ‘Calibration’ then the user will not be asked to print an ‘Out of Service Form’.

 

Bringing Equipment Back ‘In Use’

When the user selects an Equipment Item Status of ‘In Use’, the user’s electronic signature is requested. The user is then asked to print an Equipment Item Status Label. The LabHQ default form displays the Equipment Item details and states that the item is now back in use.