The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera), a UK-based government organization, has implemented a Thermo Scientific Nautilus laboratory information management system (LIMS) for use in its laboratory near York, UK.

Fera was set up to promote a healthy natural environment and protect the food chain. It provides analysis and advice to governments, international organizations and the private sector and handles more than 600 research project and more than 50 000 samples a year.

In a statement from Thermo Fisher Scientific, Paul Burrell, LIMS manager at Fera, said that the system "provides the ideal informatics solution because its flexibility allows us to expand and develop the services provided by the laboratory. We use the LIMS strategically on projects, eliminating paper reports, working electronically and involving customers in the project by giving them access to their results in real time."

Using the system, parts of the laboratory are now reported to be 95% paperless and lab time reduced by 25–30% because there is no manual recording of data. This also eliminates transcription errors. According to the company, prior to the implementation of the LIMS, plate-well values had to be recorded manually, which took more than an hour. It is now claimed that the step can be completed within 10 minutes.

Dave Champagne, vice president and general manager for Thermo Fisher’s Informatics business, commented in the statement, "We have been building our capabilities for the food safety industry over many years. We are very excited to be working with Fera, which has responsibility across a nation for the safety of the food supply and environment."

For more information on Fera visit www.fera.defra.gov.uk and for more information on Thermo Fisher Scientific visit www.thermo.com