Koppert Biological Systems live after pilot

In the transition from data management with Excel to a professional Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS), Koppert Biological Systems was able to test the suitability of AlisQI first.

After proven success, the contract was signed and the implementation completed. The system was up and running within half a year.

Head of QA/QC André Bloem discusses the whole project. Key takeaway? Koppert trialed AlisQI in a free pilot. This enabled them to evaluate, assess and define the business case.

After watching a demonstration and perhaps experiencing a reference visit, purchasing laboratory software may feel like jumping on a moving train. Whether the system works for you and delivers what it promises is more a matter of fingers crossed and waiting.

At Koppert Biological Systems in Berkel and Rodenrijs, a worldwide market leader in biological crop protection and natural pollination, things went differently.

In close collaboration with AlisQI, the platform was configured step-by-step in a pilot. AlisQI soon proved to be perfectly configurable for analyses of fermentation products in the microbiological QA / QC laboratory and communication with the production department.

Halfway through the implementation process, the system proved itself well enough that Koppert decided to continue using it and the contract was signed immediately.

Koppert Biological Systems supplies sustainable solutions for professional growers. Natural enemies and micro organisms are used for tackling and preventing plagues and diseases.

The company also supplies bumblebees for natural pollination when cultivating vegetables, fruit and seeds.

André Bloem works at the ‘Microbials’ department, which consists of a research and a production department.

Through a process of up-scaling, the required substances are cultivated from a 75 ml vial to vast 20,000-liter charges. The entire process is supported and controlled by the QA/QC lab.

“The analyses provide the certainty that you create the right little creatures. It’s known as ‘pure cultivation’. By the end of the project, you need to measure and calculate them with the appropriate viability and in the right concentrations.”

When André Bloem’s colleagues came upon AlisQI at a laboratory trade fair, an introductory first meeting was quickly arranged.

AlisQI visited Koppert and André Bloem, who was now part of the team, was tasked to develop the initial ideas further. Bloem provided a project plan with objectives for the implementation of a lab recording system.

André immediately got along well with the new system. First he mapped out all relevant processes for the laboratory system, both at laboratory and at production level. Then it was a simple task to convert the Excel files with the macros to AlisQI.

“I first created a flowchart with a laboratory block, an upstream block for the upscaling and a downstream block for processing the end products.”

“The system’s functionality works intuitively. You enter names and can create additional fields for your processes and sub-processes. This enables you to import the base in one go. You can read the Excel tables one for one as an import; absolutely ideal, no double work there!”

The implementation process held an attractive challenge for AlisQI. “With microbiology you use exceptionally large numbers, quickly moving into the billions. This requires the kind of scientific notation which was still to be implemented in AlisQI, but is now available as standard to all users.”

The second challenge was to link up the AlisQI data with the Smart Board; a projection screen displaying all current production data.

AlisQI worked with a Technology Development department colleague to program the Smart Board to ensure the data is now immediately available on the live screen.

“Our production manager can now tailor his planning using the latest laboratory results. An excellent example of development, with ICT professionals cooperating on both sides,” observes André Bloem.

The operators needed little time to get used to the introduction of AlisQI. “It demands a little bit of extra admin, we feed in more data, but you get a lot in return.”