The new cobas Inventory Management System (cIMS) from Roche, installed at the Royal Preston Hospital in October 2007, has resulted in significant time savings and increased efficiency in the management of analyser reagents at the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
Since cIMS was installed in the laboratory at the Royal Preston Hospital, the number of man hours spent on inventory duties has been reduced from five to six hours to less that one hour per week, allowing staff to make better use of their time. A satellite laboratory at Chorley and South Ribble Hospital is also being connected to cIMS, and this will enable inventory to be tracked at both sites on a single database and will simplify stock transfer between sites.
"cIMS has significantly improved our reagent stock control," commented chief
biomedical scientist Tim McIlwaine. "It allows us to be more focused in our ordering. As a result, we have been able to minimise our stock levels, and in particular we no longer overstock low shelf-life items, so there is less wastage."
Each cIMS installation comes complete with the provision and maintenance of
handheld scanners, full installation training, hotline technical support, system updates and data storage.
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