Laboratory Data Deliverables

Laboratory Data Deliverables

" 

Civilization advances by extending the number of important operations which we can perform without thinking of them." 

-Alfred North Whitehead

I may be dating myself, but when I started working in the environmental industry, the fax machine was just becoming standard office equipment. They were slow, used thermal paper that came on a roll, and you had to cut the paper into the right size yourself. The paper was difficult to work with as it wanted to roll back up on itself. When we needed results from a laboratory in a hurry, we would ask them to "fax it over." Otherwise, laboratory 

reports were always printed on paper and mailed via US Postal service. Once the paper or fax reports were received, we would take the data and "maybe" put it into a table. We would have to re-type the data ourselves into whatever format we wanted it in. We didn't always do tables because I'm talking about a time before Microsoft Excel. Tables I worked on back then were mostly rudimentary tables constructed in a software called "WordPerfect". We would, however, always discuss the data, trends, exceedances, etc. in the text of the report. Full lab reports were always included as an appendix to the report and reports were always printed out and delivered on paper.

I spent hours and hours re-typing data from paper to a computer only to print it back out on paper again. It was a good thing both I and my employer were getting paid by the hour.

It was around the time that e-mail became mainstream in the late 1990s to early 2000s that the laboratories started giving you the option of having your data delivered via fax machine or e-mail, but it was still just on paper. It wasn't until the early to mid-2000s that most labs started giving you the option of having your data delivered as an Excel file.

Thus went the getting paid to re-type data. Think of the hundreds of millions of dollars saved collectively across the country over the years by end-user environmental clients simply by not having to re-type data because the file could be delivered electronically. Seems like a small thing now that we are all used to using the technology, but it was a huge savings overall. Laboratories that embraced the e-mail delivery early on gave themselves a competitive advantage over late adopters of the email delivery method. Although not having to re-type data cut into the billable hours of the engineering consulting firms previously re-typing the data, it ultimately made them more price competitive in the eyes of their end-user clients.

The disheartening thing is that it's been nearly 14 years since the first delivery of data via e-mail in an Excel file, and that's where the technology largely stands today. Some laboratories will send you an Excel file customized to your exact specifications, but it's still just a fraction of what the end user, the entity ultimately paying the bills, actually needs.

The end user (the regulated oil companies, manufacturing firms, developers, etc.) need full reports with all the full color data, graphs, and maps completed well beyond just simple Excel tables. The future I see is a scenario where the laboratory is providing the mechanism for the client to get all

those required full color reports as an electronic deliverables. It's the next logical technological progression in data deliverables. I've had conversations with numerous laboratories about taking the next step, as SampleServe's software has been developed for just this purpose. The resistance to date by many of the laboratories to the concept is somewhat baffling to me. The response I hear most often is "The consulting engineering firms will perceive that we are competing with them and might not use us anymore." At first glance I can understand this initial reaction, but it doesn't stand up to the history of technological advancements. If a technology delivers a comparable product, saves time, and saves money, it will ultimately win in the market place. The situation is similar to the days when Excel files were first delivered. I personally remember making the decision not to use a particular lab because they couldn't deliver data as an Excel file. Most labs wouldn't even think of not delivering data via Excel these days. No one would use them. There will be a day in the not too distant future when delivering data means delivering the data in as many formats and fashions as the client can think of. Not doing so will mean not getting the business.

If you would like to talk to SampleServe.com about your data deliverables potential, please contact me.

As always, your comments and questions about anything I've written are appreciated.

- Russell Schindler