Breakdown and Computation of lab time

Hi,

I know this may not be the best place, but I figured I ask for advice, since I am not sure how to capture this in Exell, maybe someone else has run into this problem and can guide me


My lab runs 24/7 - 3 people working 8 hr shift…..If they are running 2 different test

1) Total testing time – 60 minutes (Labor time – 20 minutes, Machine time – 40 minutes) Machine calibration time – 10 minutes
2) Total Testing time – 20 minutes (Labor time – 10 minutes, Machine time – 10 minutes) Machine calibration time is 2 minutes

How many test can the lab techs run in a day?
How busy are the machines? (How many test can a machine process)
How efficient are the techs on any given shift (7a-3p, 3p-11p, 11p-7a)?


Thx
Omer

Originally Posted by BlindAlley

Can you clarify: "3 people working 8 hr shift…..If they are running 2 different tests" How many hours do they work if they DO NOT run 2 different tests ?

In the 8hrs do they have Breaks & Lunch ?

Clarify: You say total testing time = 60 or 20 minutes but your sub totals add up to 70 mins and 22 mins respectively !

So Lunch Break is 1/2 hr. Yes, they run this these 2 test all day long, (Samples are always there, they don't stop :-)). ..... OK you are right in the sense that I didn't count calibration time as part of testing time because calibration is a necessity and if you like you can add it to machine time.

Thx for the suggestion

If I had to guess I would go with machine calibration not being a necessity on each test, therefore not included in the total time.

If this is the case then we would need to know how often calibration is required in order to allow for that in the relevant calculations.

In addition, are all 3 techs required to run each test?

Are the test run on 2 different machines, or alternating on the same machine?

Can machines be left working unattended? If not how many techs must remain with the machine to observe?

We seem to have an overwhelming absence of relevant data.

Originally Posted by jason.b75

If I had to guess I would go with machine calibration not being a necessity on each test, therefore not included in the total time.

If this is the case then we would need to know how often calibration is required in order to allow for that in the relevant calculations........Machine calibration is required every 4 hrs, Testing cant proceed until machine is calibrated.

In addition, are all 3 techs required to run each test?..........Yes all 3 techs run these 2 test over and over again, Samples are always there, they don't stop. :-)

Are the test run on 2 different machines, or alternating on the same machine?We have 2 machines and either machine can run the test. ( 2 machines and 3 Techs)

Can machines be left working unattended? If not how many techs must remain with the machine to observe?Machine can be left unattended, while testing is in progress, Tech either completes paperwork in that time or prepares the next sample for the machine.

We seem to have an overwhelming absence of relevant data.

I have tried to give as much info Please feel free to ask, as I develop this spreadsheet with Formaulas


THX for your help

Originally Posted by ChemistB

This depends on so much. Do the machines have auto-samplers and automated data collection like an HPLC or GC or are they semi automatic maybe like a Karl Fisher assay or are they completely manual like a pH test?These are GC, so once sample is loaded the tech can walk away and prepare next sample or complete paperwork.

Also don't forget to include documentation time in all of this. How thorough are your lab notebooks? Let's say that the instrument time is 4 minutes (per sample) and it takes 2.5 minutes to prep the next sample. Would you expect them to leave the instrument and try to do something else for the 1.5 minutes time difference?Reasonably thorough, yes you are right, 1.5 min can be used for other things like housekeeping, documentation, ordering supplies, etc

If it's not clear yet, I hate lab metrics. While they could be used to make a lab better, more often they end up just being manipulated (either by management or the analysts).Mgmt mostly, but I gotta have some metrics.

In any case, I would divide it up like this
Sample Prep: Hand on time (including writing stuff down), total time
Instrument prep: hands on time (how long to set up the instrument)
Assay time: hands on time, total time
Calculations/documentation: hands on time

Hope that helps.

Can you throw a quick spreadsheet to show calcs? THX in ADVANCE

Thanks for a good start ChemistB