Tracking Workflows — Workflow Management Systems

A critical requirement for a large laboratory is software to control laboratory workflow while managing the data produced in the laboratory. This software covers manual as well as automated laboratory activities, including experiment scheduling and setup, robot control, raw-data capture and archiving, multiple stages of preliminary analysis and quality control, and release of final results. Additionally, it should allow the coordination of these activities both intellectually manageable and operationally efficient. 

At the state of the art, workflow management is typically distributed among individual application programs, each of which is responsible for a small part of the workflow. An individual program contributes to the overall flow of work implicitly through its interactions with users and laboratory databases. This solution is suitable for simple protocols that do not change. 

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Additionally, where an organization may find itself managing a sigiuficant amount of artwork changes and approvals, a workflow tracking system may be used to determine the status of a particular piece of artwork at any point in time. 

It is under the responsibility of all employees to pass on all necessary information which could affect safety in any respect to their managers and to the safety department. Additionally information is controlled via the web tool ERRSYS, a company-wide error-tracking tool for all kinds of errors and incidents with an incorporated workflow for the management of these errors. This tool is mandatory to be used beginning at the latest with system integration. 

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