The Need for Process Simulation in Lab Informatics Initiatives
Live Q&A session will immediately follow

Effective and precise mapping of workflows and definition of business requirements have long been recognized as absolute requirements for successful implementation of informatics systems like LIMS in labs. With the advent of increased emphasis on new informatics tools, like ELN, that need to be integrated at a level much more intimate with the lab processes, traditional process mapping approaches are no longer adequate. In addition, many organizations have recently raised their expectations of informatics project teams and are requiring demonstrable and verifiable process improvement metrics before approving budgets for these programs. In order to meet these new expectations, a tool like dynamic process modeling and simulation is required to adequately model the complex interactions between process and new technology and to provide budget approvers with the hard metrics they need to make confident business decisions on where they should spend informatics program funds. This presentation will provide some background on what is involved in using a tool like process modeling and simulation for labs, as well as some of its distinct advantages over conventional static modeling approaches, and will present a lab informatics case study to show how modeling and simulation can provide meaningful benefits to lab informatics programs.

Speaker:
Stuart M. Miller, M.Sc.
Practice Director, LIMS & Lab Informatics
Taratec Development Corp

Stuart Miller has more than 13 years of experience in providing technical, compliance, strategic and project management lab informatics services for companies in the life science industries. He joined Taratec in 1997 bringing his experience in selecting, implementing and managing a LIMS for a high technology government laboratory in Sudbury, Ontario. Since joining Taratec as a LIMS implementation consultant, Stu has served in positions of increasing responsibility in LIMS and CDS implementation, project management and compliance services, ultimately assuming his present role as Director of Taratec's LIMS and Lab Informatics Consulting Practice. As Taratec's technical and thought leader on LIMS and laboratory informatics, Stu has responsibility for development and delivery of LIMS and lab informatics consulting services to the life science industries. He is also recognized in the LIMS community as the creator of the LIMS Mailing List, a vendor-independent forum for the discussion of LIMS. He is a frequent participant and speaker at LIMS conferences and courses throughout the U.S., and serves on the editorial board of Scientific Computing magazine.