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Engineering Course
Published Articles
White Papers
Future Article Topics
Engineering Course
Power Protection of Mission Critical Medical and Laboratory Equipment (developed for University of California, Irvine)
Published Articles
Real-time Markets – Is Your
Laboratory Prepared? (PDF)
Published
in: Lab Manager Magazine
August/September 2006
Click
here to download a PDF version of the article.
Synopsis:
Lab Manager Magazine published (August/September 2006) a
laboratory diagnostics column authored by Raymond L. Hecker of
Franek Technologies. The article, “Real-time Markets – Is
Your Laboratory Prepared?,” discusses what laboratories must
do to insure that consistent and quality power delivery is
available for sensitive instrumentation. Without understanding
the challenges and true costs of unconditioned electrical power,
laboratories running sensitive (and expensive) instrumentation
are at risk. To be protected against the hazards posed by the
real-time electrical power market, laboratories need to
proactively prepare for inconsistent power delivery, as it is
often the root cause of instrumentation downtime, damage, and
unreliable test results.
Power Plays: How One Lab Dealt with
Electrical Issues
Published
in: Clinical Lab Products
April 2006
http://www.clpmag.com/article.php?s=CLP/2006/04&p=3
Synopsis:
Clinical Lab Products selected Franek Technologies' work with
the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as its
featured Lab Profile for April 2006. The article, "Power
Plays: How One Lab Dealt with Electrical Issues,"
summarizes the challenges faced by Dr. Kevin Rosenblatt,
Assistant Professor of Pathology, Associate Director of the
Translational Pathology Division, and Director of the Clinical
Proteomics Program at the UT SW Medical Center. Dr. Rosenblatt
determined that one of the root causes of the lab’s
instrumentation performance problems was inconsistent power
delivery, including power fluctuations, harmonics, and
transients. These power-related problems caused his key
instrumentation to be inoperable 50% of the time. Franek
Technologies worked diligently to solve the laboratory’s
inconsistent power delivery problems and since installation,
the medical center has not experienced a single power outage
or blip, resulting in an annual cost savings in upwards of
$500,000.
What
Does a Blackout Have to Do with Being 21 CFR Part 11
Compliant?
Published in: Applied Clinical Trials
January 2004
http://www.actmagazine.com/appliedclinicaltrials/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=8285
Synopsis:
Applied Clinical Trials’ Editor Jeff Ryan conducted a
Q&A with Raymond L. Hecker, VP of Franek Technologies,
focused on the inherent risks laboratories face by depending
on electrical power for instrumentation performance and
laboratory result reliability. Power interruptions and
perturbations cause losses of over $5 billion per year
industry-wide to key medical equipment, information systems,
and laboratory automation systems that rely directly on
utility power. Laboratories need to understand the threat
posed by an aging power generation system, insufficient power
distribution, digital equipment running on a power
distribution system that was designed for analog devices,
(which induces large current swings in the power system), old
building wiring that becomes overloaded with
energy-inefficient devices, and more. Franek Technologies
estimates that with a typical instrumentation system, the
annual cost for not using appropriately corrected power of
instrumentation grade quality approaches $25,000 per year for
each instrument system that is subjected to electrical power
quality issues. Read this informative Q&A to learn more
about the risks of relying on utility power, as well as how
this all relates to being 21CFR Part 11 compliant.
Critical
Utility Protection of Laboratory Performance: A System for
Ensuring the Integrity of Electrical Power
Published in: American
Biology Laboratory
November 2003
Click
here to download a PDF version of the article.
Synopsis:
American Biology Laboratory published a feature article by
Raymond L. Hecker, VP of Franek Technologies, in its November
2003 issue. The article, entitled “Critical Utility
Protection of Laboratory Performance: A System for Ensuring
the Integrity of Electrical Power,” discusses how electrical
power is often overlooked as a critical utility in efforts to
produce consistently accurate and reliable laboratory results.
Unknown electrical power fluctuations, even as short as 30
mili-seconds, can critically affect laboratory performance and
profitability. The article shows how the installation of a
category III-3 Laboratory Protection System (LPS) can prevent
such fluctuations and the resultant damage to instrumentation
and unreliability of results and directly improve
laboratory profitability at essentially no net cost to the
laboratory.
Power Play:
Safeguards That Can Protect Your Instrumentation and Improve
Your Bottom Line
Published in: Advance for Administrators of the Laboratory
June 2002 • Volume 11, No. 6
The White Paper version of this article is reproduced here
with their permission.
www.advanceforal.com
Click here
to download the White Paper version of this article (PDF)
Laboratory
Management Contingency Planning: Environmental Assessment
(PDF)
Published in: Journal for the Association of Laboratory Automation
(JALA)
February/March 2002 • Vol 7, No. 1
This article is reproduced here with their
permission.
www.labautomation.org/journal.htm
Laboratory
Management Contingency Planning: The New Paradigm (PDF)
Published in: MedPro Month
December 2001
Copyright ©2001 IHS Health Group™.
All rights reserved. This article is reproduced here with
their permission.
www.ihshealthgroup.com
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White Papers
Safeguards that Improve
Your Bottom Line
Maximizing Your Laboratory’s
ROI
Safeguards
that Improve Your Bottom Line
In 2001, we were presented with many challenges
causing analytical researchers to reassess their emergency
preparedness plans to ensure that our laboratories are functional
at all times. Electrical power preparedness has become a fundamental
requirement and should become an even greater part of a lab's
contingency planning. In fact, the Electric Power Research
Institute (EPRI) recommended in its recent address to the
US Congress that power interface devices be installed in critical
applications to bring the power quality to the necessary minimum
levels specified by the instrumentation and equipment manufacturers.
Additionally both the US Health and Human Services CMS' (HCFA)
42 CFR Part 493 (CLIA) and the FDA's 21 CFR Part 11 regulations
require laboratories to provide specified and qualified power
to their instrumentation systems to assure compliance.
In this article, Hecker provides a summary
of the power problem laboratories are facing today. He explores
many common industry terms for power and offers tactical recommendations
for laboratory professionals wishing to protect their instrumentation
to ensure that their mission critical labs produce reliable
results, 100% of the time.
Hecker explains that the impact to the lab's
operating bottom line for poor power quality or power interrupts
is lost profit margins, increased operating costs, lost reporting
time, and possible damage to the instrumentation, as well
as possible regulatory action. Investing in a certified Laboratory
Protection System (LPS) protects the lab's key investment
in instrumentation and staff, corrects power inefficiencies,
and effectively eliminates harmonic distortion (< 2% THD).
Realizing a ROI in less than two or three months, investing
in a LPS is truly a wise decision for smart lab management.
To view
the entire White Paper click here.
For
a high resolution PDF download of this White Paper click here.
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Maximizing
Your Laboratory’s ROI
For the Laboratory Director (LD) or Principal
Investigator (PI) operating a laboratory in the clinical,
life sciences research, analytical or environmental testing
market is a difficult business at best these days. Assuring
the availability, reliability of results and economic survivability
of the laboratory is management’s goal. Realizing a cost
savings improvement of $25,000 per year or more for each key
instrumentation system in service is highly desirable. The
operating savings from increased efficiency, reduced instrumentation
system down time and unplanned service calls drops right to
the laboratory’s bottom line. Capital improvements to
the laboratory’s operation that yield Benefit to Cost
ratios approaching 10:1 with an attractive ROI (Return on
Investment), are the attributes of very smart laboratory management.
The true benefit to the laboratory operation comes when the
expected ROI and Benefit to Cost ratios for the improvement
are achieved. Managing the operational details and critical
utilities are the key elements in a smooth running laboratory
operation.
To view the
entire White Paper click here.
For
a high resolution PDF download of this White Paper click here.
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Future Article Topics
“Critical
Utilities” – Sine Qua Non for Laboratory Efficacy
Selecting the Right
Automation System Protection for your Laboratory
“Critical
Utilities” – Sine Qua Non for Laboratory Efficacy
Abstract:
Critical Utilities are the essential element
in meeting the effectiveness of laboratory operation. Additionally,
Critical Utilities require qualification in cGxP processing
and manufacturing applications, as well as in clinical and
laboratory practices. Traditionally water supplies (reagent
and process), laboratory and production gases, heating, cooling/refrigeration,
filtration and ventilation systems have been the main target
for Critical Utility qualification by the pharmaceutical,
biotechnology and medical device laboratories. Information
and telecommunication systems are also considered by various
consultants and trusted third party agencies as a Critical
Utility. Surprisingly, electric power and distribution are
not considered a mission critical utility!
With the current threat by bioterrorism
and terrorist actions in general, the electric utility and
associated distribution system are prime candidates for addition
to the Critical Utility list. Not since Y2K has the focus
been on the status and vulnerability of instrumentation systems
to their primary source of energy and power, that allows these
laboratory and production workhorses to operate at all. Additionally,
the FDA is specifically interested in assuring that all environmental
influences affecting automation and instrumentation systems,
associated electronic reporting and electronic signatures
of 21 CFR Part 11 are addressed to meet compliance. Failure
to provide adequate assurance that the systems are running
properly is the focus of this article. The author additionally
provides insight in dealing with the inconsistencies the electric
utilities have in power delivery and distribution. The article
provides a recommendation on providing the necessary instrumentation
and system interface devices to assist in assuring 21 CFR
Part 11 compliance, as well as avoiding unnecessary instrumentation
down time and loss of laboratory productivity.
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Selecting the Right
Automation System Protection for your Laboratory
Abstract:
For clinical laboratories, the most cost
effective research utilizes and continues to integrate automation
and robotics into their routine processing. Not only does
automation lead to an increased level of efficiency, but also
the robots provide a critical safeguard function against laboratory
pathogens and other biohazards that affect the clinicians.
These robotic and automation systems allow a laboratory on
a constrained or capitated budget to operate efficiently,
in a cost effective manner. Laboratories that include automation
in their sample processing and handling have the ultimate
goal of returning to a profit center status, instead of operating
as a typical cost center. Operating with a positive ROI and
as a cash flow generator is generally a phenomenon that has
not been seen in the clinical laboratory since the mid 1980s
and the introduction of the DRG and prospective payment system.
However, more laboratory automation comes
with the realization that these new electro-mechanical cyber
assistants do need to be provided with an appropriate and
adequate source of energy and power. The advantages of adding
automation can be quickly lost if appropriate operating safeguards
and management of electrical power as a critical utility is
not part of the preparation of the lab when a high degree
of automation is added. The author provides insight into the
correct selection of Category III-3 Instrumentation-grade
Laboratory Protection Systems (LPS) to protect mission critical
laboratory robotics and instrumentation systems.
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