What happens when you need work done?
When production or other personnel need the test lab to perform certain work, all they need to do is simply log onto the Testream®/CS Project Entry & Management program. There, they will be prompted to enter their specific User ID and password which will allow them full or, if desired, restricted access to privileges within this program.
In this program, you are able to see a list of all of the projects sent to the various labs within your facility along with the current status of each project – submitted, scheduled, in progress, etc.- will also be displayed. A wide variety of information can be captured in each project. For example two open-ended text fields are available for the entry of research hypotheses, goals/objectives of the project, detailed notes and instructions to the lab on how the work should be performed, etc. Ten user-defined data entry fields are also available to capture project information such as source of the samples, formulations, cost centers to be charged, customer initiating the project, etc. Labels can be applied to samples to indicate the tests performed and the number of measurements to take per sample.
Viewing and Tracking As projects are sent to one or multiple labs, new information will automatically update in the Submitted Projects List. This Project List includes all the necessary information including current project status, tester, date submitted, etc. Each lab has their own list and this information can be easily shared with an appropriate User ID and Password. Lab management can also edit this information in order to translate the submitter’s sample ID’s into the ID scheme used by the lab. They can also any testing notes or other information to the project list.
What About Testing? Once a project is defined and ready to begin, all of the information in the project can be saved as a Cover Page. This page can be printed out and carried to the lab in order to guide and direct the test technician. This will ensure that the correct number of tests are performed under the right parameters.
Project Complete! When all of the tests are performed and a project is complete, the Project Entry & Management Program will update all of the Project Lists with a “Status Complete”. An email notification can also be sent out to the lab manager. Once a project is complete, a variety of actions may now take place:
- Unreleased data review & report creation. If the lab has set up their Testream®/CS database to store all new test data as ‘unreleased’, only password-authorized lab management can QA the ‘unreleased’ data. If it passes management inspection, it can be changed to ‘released’ and made available to all others for report production. The final report may be sent to the submitter.
- Unreleased data review. As above, password authorized lab management only can review the project’s data and subsequently ‘release’ it. Once released, the Project Entry & Management program can be set up to automatically send an email to the submitter advising them of the availability of their data in the Testream®/CS database. The submitter may then retrieve the data and produce whatever type of report/analysis he/she requires.
- Released data. If the lab has set up their Testream®/CS database to store all new test data as ‘released’, the Project Entry & Management program can automatically send an email to the lab manager and/or the submitter when a project is complete. Either party can then do report production.