A U.S.-Based Cannabis Testing Laboratory Transforms its Lab Operations with CloudLIMS

The client is one of the leading providers of cannabis testing services. Their laboratory is located in New York, United States. They test a variety of samples, such as capsules, tablets, lozenges, oral sprays, oils, powders or tinctures, soft-gel chews, topical lotions, suppositories, vaporization cartridges, metered ground flower, and multi-dose inhalers. The company tests medical marijuana for the Medical Marijuana Program in New York State. 

They perform a number of tests, such as tests for cannabinoids, mycotoxins, plant growth regulators, pesticides, natural pyrethrins, metals, and metalloids. They conduct microbiological tests, including microbial presumptive presence/ absence assays, aerobic plate count, mold plate count, and Bile-Tolerant Gram-Negative (BTGN) detection assays, in addition to identification tests for determining the presence of Clostridium botulinum, E.coli, molds, Pseudomonas, Salmonella, Enterococcus, and Thermophilic Actinomycetes. 

They also perform stability testing to establish the stability profile of cannabis products. They conduct stability testing for different durations, say, 6 and 12 months. 

The laboratory had been looking for an informatics solution to overcome their day-to-day operational challenges and drive automation to boost efficiency and speed up the reporting of results. Some of the challenges faced by the laboratory are as follows:

• Ensuring complete traceability through the sample life cycle, right from accessioning to disposal.
• Integrating with all analytical instruments for automatic transfer of test results to a common database.
• Generating custom CoAs as per the state guidelines and customer requirements.
• Securely sharing CoAs with clients in real-time to reduce the turnaround time. 
• Enabling their clients to place test requests and track the status of their requests.
• Following regulatory guidelines such as ISO 17025:2017, GLPs, and state and local regulations.

To overcome the sample management, reporting, and regulatory challenges, the laboratory decided to deploy a cloud-based Cannabis Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), CloudLIMS.

The Laboratory Director of the company contacted the CloudLIMS team and specified their cannabis testing challenges. The CloudLIMS team pre-configured the product in line with their workflows and demonstrated how CloudLIMS can support their operations.  

Soon after the product demonstration, they decided to evaluate the product. After extensive evaluation by their team, they decided to deploy CloudLIMS. The CloudLIMS team integrated 16 analytical instruments with the product at no additional cost to facilitate the automatic transfer of test results to CloudLIMS as soon as they are available. Some of the instruments integrated with CloudLIMS were Thermo Fisher Scientific’s ICP-MS, GC-MS, LC-MS, and HPLC-PDA. The CloudLIMS team developed functionality to set their preferred data import template as default for each instrument. The laboratory leveraged this functionality to map the default templates to instruments as a one-time activity, eliminating the need to manually initiate the data transfer process, thereby saving time. 

Furthermore, the CloudLIMS team configured custom CoA templates as per their reporting requirements. These templates helped them generate CoAs in the required format by providing minimal inputs.

 The laboratory experienced the following benefits after successfully deploying CloudLIMS:

• They are now able to accession incoming samples by simply scanning sample labels, saving time and preventing chances of manual errors.
• They can manage tests and multi-analyte test results with ease.
• They are now able to automate workflows, manage staff training and instrument maintenance records, store SOPs and documents digitally and securely, and monitor data in real-time.
• They can now assure the quality and reliability of test results using CloudLIMS’s built-in quality management system.
• They can now easily manage and track the client details for each sample.
• Their clients can now directly place test orders in a more streamlined way using CloudLIMS’s self-serve client portal and download CoAs as soon as they are released by the laboratory.
• They are now able to easily design label templates containing barcodes and print custom labels.
• They can now manage sample storage units, such as refrigerators, and track stored samples whenever required for stability testing.
• They can now easily comply with ISO 17025 and follow stringent documentation and quality requirements. 
• They can now configure multiple approvers to validate their test results.

CloudLIMS’ implementation helped the laboratory improve their operations, ranging from sample and test management, shorter turnaround times, automated workflow management, custom CoA generation, and CoA delivery to clients in real-time. The laboratory has now joined the league of hundreds of cannabis testing laboratories that have realized the benefits of CloudLIMS.