19 September 2024

Manual Input – One Step Closer to the Paperless Lab

In cases where instruments cannot be integrated directly into q-doc® data management software, the 'Manual Input' process driver provides a straightforward solution for entering measurement data manually into the system.

Manual input of test data can help to streamline overall data management. Even if the data is not directly transferred to q-doc® from a device, aggregating all relevant data in a single source has several advantages and enables users to work in a fully digital manner, regardless of the instrument used:
 

• Validated calculations (eg. statistics, limit violations)
• Avoid further manual transcriptions for evaluation and consolidated batch reporting
• Compliance (eg. audit trail, access control)
• Guiding instructions and built-in checks to improve trustworthiness of data
• Search / view / analyze data in a centralized repository

Instead of having to deal with differently formatted reports, the manually entered data is presented in the q-doc® standard reporting format – including meta data and statistical calculations.
 

• Meta data (e.g., time, date, operator, ...)
• Device name & Serial number
• Indication that measurement data was entered manually
• Product info (e.g., product name, product ID, ...)
• Method requirements (e.g., number of samples, nominal values, limits, ...)
• Mesurements
• Statistics (e.g., average, min/max, range, RSD, number of limit violations, ...)

It is worth noting that the same statistical calculations are performed regardless of how the data has been recorded, i.e. irrespectively whether the data has been sent to q-doc directly from a device or whether it has been entered manually.

Learn more about 'Manual Input' in the recently published application note.