Spectra QEST specialises in delivering software solutions for the construction materials testing industry, and has been doing so for almost 25 years.

Its customers are companies that test construction materials (including concrete, aggregates, asphalt, soils etc.) who are looking to improve the efficiency, productivity and quality of their laboratory operations. This is achieved using QESTLab, a Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) specifically designed and developed for the construction materials testing industry, which brings together all aspects of the laboratory's operation, from sample registration, test results calculation and test report production to equipment calibration and billing.

Spectra QEST specialises in implementing QESTLab in medium to large operations (often, but not always, with multiple laboratories) who are looking to introduce standardised work practices across their operations. This includes centralisation of data and integration of the LIMS with the company's financial and other corporate systems.

These companies see enormous benefits from implementing QESTLab, both at a day to day laboratory operation level, and at a corporate level.

At the laboratory level, QESTLab enables organisations to:

• Quickly and easily track work progress and plan upcoming work in the laboratory;
• Quickly and easily track billing progress, including work done but not billed yet, or work not done and not billed;
• Remove duplicate data entry through the use of one system to meet the laboratory's information needs — sample tracking, data collection, results calculation, report generation and distribution, equipment calibration and billing;
• Quickly and reliably calculate test results for over 300 construction materials test methods;
• Ensure consistent reporting formats between individual tests and between different testing disciplines;
• Support the testing from various disciplines in a single centralised system — including concrete, aggregates, asphalt, soils, etc.;
• Easily enforce structured (and on line) data approval on three levels: System supports data 'entered by', 'checked by' and 'approved by' record keeping;
• Reduce report turn around times due to rapid data entry, on-line checking and on-line approval followed by automatically generated test reports distributed electronically;
• Have full auditability/traceability with no overhead cost: the comprehensive audit trail is maintained automatically; and
• Automate the billing process to increase efficiency and reduce missed billing.

At the corporate level QESTLab can assist greatly in:

• Standardising processes and practices across multiple laboratories, with greater centralised control and document management;
• Ensuring consistent report formats are produced across the organisation;
• Providing a seamless work environment for employees that shift to a different location;
• Providing centrally available data, which in turn makes it very efficient to manage from an infrastructure/IT point of view;
• Enabling benchmarking and corporate level monitoring of efficiencies at laboratory level;
• Allowing firms to bid for more lucrative, higher-end testing projects due to the very high traceability in the system, the confidence that best practice is enforced, and the image of market leader that using QESTLab implies; and
• Making possible the easy and accurate compilation of historical testing data, that can be invaluable in certain projects and for certain clients like quarry or concrete material producers that use such information for production quality control.

The above is not a comprehensive features list of QESTLab. They are only some of the most common benefits that customers have reported after they have implemented the system. For more information on QESTLab, please click here, or contact Spectra QEST sales.