What GeotechOS Lab does
GeotechOS Lab is laboratory management software (LIMS) for geotechnical and materials testing. Learn the words the app uses and how its three layouts work.
Applies toWindows and macOSWeb browserPhone and tablet
GeotechOS Lab is the app for a geotechnical and construction materials testing laboratory. You use it to book in samples, do the tests, check the results and issue signed reports. It is a laboratory information management system (LIMS).
One app, three layouts
Lab changes its layout to suit the device.
- The desktop workspace. Use it on a computer with Windows or macOS, or in a wide web browser window. It has a ribbon, an explorer and tabs, like other office software. Use it to book in work, plan the week, review results and issue reports.
- The iPad layout. Use it at the bench. A rail of icons is at the left, and the list and the open item show side by side. The fields are large and easy to touch.
- The phone layout. Use it on site and for quick tasks. It has five tabs: Today, Site, Scan, Approvals and Me.
All three layouts use the same data. A result that you enter on an iPad shows on the desktop after the next sync.
How your work is organised
| Word | What it is |
|---|---|
| Laboratory | Your testing laboratory, for example Example Geotechnical Laboratory. It has a name, a short code, a time zone and an accreditation number. |
| Client | The organisation that the work is for, for example Example City Council, with the people who work there. See Start a project and keep its clients. |
| Project | The client's job at one site, for example Example Road Upgrade. It has a site address and a place on the map. Projects are shared with the rest of GeotechOS. |
| Job | The work that a client asks for at one time, usually with one docket. Lab gives each job a number that counts up, for example 1001. The app also calls a job a request. |
| Sample | The material that came in, for example a bag of soil from borehole BH01. Each sample takes the job number and a letter, for example S-1001A. |
| Test | One test on one sample, for example the moisture content of S-1001A. Each test has a number, for example 1001-T01. |
| Method | The standard that a test follows, for example AS 1289.2.1.1. Your laboratory chooses the methods it runs. |
| Worksheet | The page where you enter the readings of a test. Lab calculates the result as you type. |
| Result | The value that a test gives, for example a moisture content of 18.4 %. |
| Report | The signed document that you send to the client. It holds the results of one or more tests. |
From sample to report
- Book in. The office records the docket, the samples and the tests in one step.
- Test. A technician opens the test on the bench and enters the readings.
- Review. A second person checks the result.
- Approve. A third person, the approved signatory, approves the result.
- Report. The office makes a report from the approved results, then issues and emails it.
Note: The person who did a test cannot review or approve it. A small laboratory can let the reviewer also approve. Then two people are enough.
Work without signal
Lab keeps your open tests on your device. You can enter readings with no internet connection, at the bench or on site. When the device is online again, Lab sends your work to the server and gets the changes that other people made. This is a sync.
The office tasks on the desktop, for example Book in and Review, work online. They need an internet connection.
What you get
- Worksheets that calculate as you type, with the same calculation that the server uses.
- Equipment, calibration and training records. A test can only use equipment that is in date, by a person who is authorised.
- Site work: field density with a nuclear gauge, concrete sampling, asphalt and other lots.
- Reports in your laboratory's letterhead, signed with your certificate, and emailed to the client.
- Dashboards and Excel exports, including the TfNSW LIMS data format.