ARL Operations - Draft

Management System Support Software

In the frame of the certification process, in order to improve the quality of the provided services, the Automation and Robotics Section has developed and set-up a Management System Support Software.
This Software is currently used by the Laboratory customers and continuously improved and maintained by the personnel in charge.

The management system support software allows, via a Web and user friendly interface, both customers and ARL management to have a clear picture of the activities in progress, the status of the equipment, the requests of maintenance or procurement and much more. The databases collecting this information allow the ARL management to elaborate statistics and numeric performance indicators to be showed during periodical reviews at higher management level.

Laboratory operations

The operations of the Laboratories are regulated by well defined procedures and are supported by the management system support software composed by:

• A Logbook system able to record all history of operations performed on the equipments and in projects in order to make visible and to share know-how and experience. The Logbook can be used both by ARL Customers and supervisor to record several types of events, like performed activities, reporting problems, requesting support or purchases, recording disposal / loan of equipment;
• A Ticketing system able to record actions and tasks assigned to the ARL personnel and customer feedback in order to evaluate performance indicators such as work load, average expected or effective time to perform a given task and customer satisfaction level;
• A Project database, collecting information relevant to the activities currently going on in the ARL including foreseen duration, the list of users allow to access the Lab, the list of Facilities the users are authorised to use;
• A Configured Item List, a database of inventoried items: each item has an identifier associated to it. A label and a barcode is applied to the item itself. The database specifies for each items, the location in the ARL. The database provides information relevant to when the item has been inventoried, its description, its status (it can be Available, Hosted, Loaned or Disposed). The database is structured in a hierarchical way so that an item can be defined as “Facility” or “Container”: in this way it is possible to access information on items directly related to it;
• A Small Items Purchase Order Database, collecting information on suppliers, their reliability and data relevant to the performed orders: who has requested the order, why (support to specific project, maintenance), request date, delivery date.