Integrating LIMS and ERP Systems

Several Full System licensees are using LIMS’ customization framework to integrate LIMS data with their corporate enterprise resource planning (ERP) system in real time. Manufacturing companies are keenly aware that isolated databases or “islands of information” are a problem. Today’s information systems must be capable of sharing their data with other systems. Lab results are often part of the bigger picture and that data must be readily available to employees throughout the company. LIMS fits well in these environments.

Using the customization infrastructure in LIMS Messaging, we have implemented LIMS and ERP integration solutions in just a few hours. Here’s how it works. The ERP vendor supplied the layout of a data file they can import into their system. Their system has the ability to watch a folder and when a new file is found, the file’s data is imported into the ERP. We updated LIMS Messaging to look for a designated email address. The email address is fictitious and is only used to trigger the data export. When Messaging encounters the email address, it removes the address from the list of message recipients then it creates the ERP-specific data file in the assigned folder.

In LIMS, configuration is simple. First, if it was not already set, we enabled sample completion messaging on the Messaging tab of the System Configuration screen. Next, we defined the ERP email address and data folder using new site-specific items on the Options tab of the System Configuration screen (see screen below).

The LIMS administrator then enabled sample completion messaging for all LIMS projects whose sample results must be sent to the ERP. In these cases, no actual email messages are being sent because only the ERP is included in the recipients field (see below). While a message style must be selected, no message is actually dispatched.

With this simple solution, the LIMS administrator can conveniently control which sample results are sent to the ERP using project or customer messaging. When a project or customer sample completes, Messaging automatically sends the sample’s results to the ERP by writing a data file in the ERP’s watched folder. With only a few hours of customization, completed sample results are now immediately available company-wide in the ERP. This simple solution integrates LIMS data with other information systems automatically in real time without any user intervention.