Continuous Focus on Sample Management. Improving Productivity via LIMS

The Food and Environment Research Agency (Fera) is an executive agency of the UK government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It supplies goods and services to public and private sector
customers. Fera was founded by bringing together the Central Science Laboratory (CSL), the UK Government Decontamination Service (GDS), the Plant Health and Seeds Inspectorate (PHSI), Plant Variety Rights Office and Seeds Division (PVS) and Plant Health Division (PHD). Fera adopted a laboratory information management system (LIMS) as part of its continuous focus on sample management across its entire site. To improve efficiencies,
productivity and sample integrity Fera needed to invest in a data management solution that would enable to organisation to integrate laboratory processes and data.

PROFILE
Fera provides robust evidence, rigorous analysis and professional advice, underpinned by world class research, to help Defra, other government departments and many other customers support and develop a sustainable and secure food chain, a healthy natural environment and protect the global community from deliberate chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) or major accidental Hazardous Material (HazMat) incidents. With almost 900 employees across four main sites, Fera provides operational policy and oversees regulation in support of these activities, particularly in respect of plant and bee health, crop varieties and seeds. In addition, it undertakes and delivers high quality support and input into other regulatory issues relevant to its expertise to other public and private sector organisations on a commercial basis. Fera has responsibility to support government in responding to and recovering from emergency situations, by providing capacity, scientific evidence and advice. Fera has over 40,000 customers and 1,000 collaboration partners spread over some 100 countries. This stakeholder base is made up from Government, academia, industry and commerce and, while a significant proportion of Fera’s work is UK-based, it has global reach across Europe, and five of the other six continents, the exception being Antarctica. Fera manages over 600 research projects, analysing over 50,000 plant and food samples a year and is the National Reference Laboratory for chemicals in food,
pesticides, veterinary drugs, dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in feed. CSL, as it was, before becoming part of Fera on 1st April 2009, invested in a data management solution to improve efficiency and key parts of sample management across the laboratory.