Cannabis Case Study: Lexachrom Analytical Laboratory LLC Implements CloudLIMS’ Cannabis LIMS

Background

Lexachrom Analytical Laboratory LLC is located in Freeport, New York, United States, and provides 3rd-party cannabis testing services. 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, 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.

Sample Management & Regulatory Challenges

Lexachrom had been looking for an informatics solution to overcome the day-to-day operational challenges and drive automation to boost efficiency and speed up reporting of results. Some of the challenges faced by the company 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, state, and local regulations.

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

Quick Overview

Lexachrom Analytical Laboratory LLC is a 3rd-party cannabis testing laboratory located in Freeport, New York, United States. The company tests medical marijuana for the Medical Marijuana Program in New York State.

Headquarters

New York, United States

Business Challenges

To seamlessly store, manage, and track samples at its new cannabis testing facility, achieve automation and meet ISO 17025:2017 requirements with ease.

Solution

CloudLIMS

Benefits

Comply with ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and other regulatory requirements. Seamless sample and storage management, workflow automation, reduced turnaround time, custom CoA generation, easy validation of test results, and instrument integration. CloudLIMS enabled Lexachrom to meet their business objectives and dramatically improve their operational efficiency by providing a cost-efficient, scalable, configurable cannabis LIMS.

How CloudLIMS Became the Right Partner?

Alex Woodmass, CEO, Lead Technical Director at Lexachrom Analytical Laboratory LLC, 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. Lexachrom 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.

Testimonial

“We received great support from the CloudLIMS team for instrument integration and for CoA formatting. The CoAs are designed exactly the way we wanted them. While building the workflow, whenever we hit a roadblock, the team quickly resolved it and got us up and running. We are very happy with the team’s product and services.”
-Lexachrom Analytical Laboratory LLC

Benefits Gained by Lexachrom

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