When I began this job a few months ago I found myself hearing the words pharmaceutical and biotech quite often. I myself am not a science person by any means, so these words didn’t mean too much to me.  I knew that they referred to companies that deal with drugs, but that was the extent of it, I really, barely knew anything more about them.  I decided today that I was going to find out what those companies are doing and the difference, if any, between the two.

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The pH is a quantitative unit of measurement that describes the acidity and alkalinity of a substance. The pH value states the relative quantity of hydrogen ions contained in a solution. The greater the concentration of hydrogen creates an acidic solution, and the lower the pH creates an alkaline solution. In practice, it is the hydrogen ion activity which is measured rather than the concentration.

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Collaborative Robots

Manufacturing automation has been public since the 1970s. Advances in technology, including robotics, big data, machine learning, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things have improved manufacturing process since then.

Collaborative robots (also called cobots) are far-reaching across the industry. Rather than take over for humans completely, cobots can work alongside them to improve efficiency and reduce hazards.

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Cloud Computing

Across “health care, Laboratory Information management systems (LIMS), hospitals, pharmaceuticals, drug discovery research & development”, automated platforms and applications cloud computing (computing on demand via the Internet) has become inescapable.

Its initial appeal has often been the huge capacity of outside data storage through file-sharing services that now include Dropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Amazon Web Services or Apple iCloud. But software as a service (SaaS) that no longer has to be locally installed is swiftly becoming an even more important part of cloud computing.

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Automation and security

Many medical device/hospitals/ pharmaceutical companies believe the cloud is less secure than traditional server-based systems. That’s not necessarily the case – but it all depends on the cloud services you choose. For best practice, cloud-based software needs to have appropriate security protocols and the exact APIs to facilitate integration and automation.

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What is a LIMS System?
A laboratory information management system (LIMS), is a software-based solution with features that support a modern laboratory’s operations. Key features include sample management, stability studies, workflow management, sample tracking, and data quality support. The features and uses of a LIMS have evolved over the years from simple sample tracking to an enterprise resource planning tool that manages multiple aspects of laboratory informatics.
Historically the term “LIMS” has tended to refer to informatics systems targeted for environmental, research, or commercial analysis such as pharmaceutical or petrochemical work. “LIS” has tended to refer to laboratory informatics systems in the forensics and clinical markets, which often required special case management tools.

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In order to complete pharmaceutical, medical, industrial or similar testing efficiently, recently companies are implementing more automated solutions to their most common testing challenges.

The pipetting robot is one of the best solutions offered to help drive productivity within testing procedures. Within this latest post, our AB Controls team details more on the pipetting robot and its many benefits. Let’s review the concept together:

 
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You as a supervisor/ manager or a person in charge (design, development, maintenance, financial, …) may want to ask the following questions from your team or yourself before implementing a laboratory automation/ laboratory testing automation/ test automation project. Answering these questions may help you and your team to make more informed decision to start your automation process.

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Automated test equipment companies are now helping improve the validity of testing results for a broad range of organizations throughout the globe. But one of the challenges within the marketplace is that few business leaders have a comprehensive understanding of the role of automated test equipment companies and the equipment these firms offer for the working environment. To help guide business owners, we’re highlighting the full range of benefits supported by partnering with automated test equipment companies, in this latest post. (more…)

Laboratory teams are continually looking for ways to better improve their productivity and maximize the long-term value of their testing work.  Many companies are now choosing laboratory automation solutions to boost their work and maximize the efficiency of their testing processes.  Our team at AB Controls has many years of experience building and integrating the latest laboratory automation solutions, and in this post (which is more up-to-date and revised version of an older popular post), we’ll explore more on their benefits and practical applications on : (more…)