Performance testing
Performance testing and evaluations: an excellent tool for continuous improvement
Performance tests are guidelines put in place by the regulatory authority or required by certain customers to ensure that certified laboratories or your laboratory are able to obtain reliable results at all times and also when they receive samples that they know very little about.
These tools are used to ensure that your lab is always ready, no matter what happens.
Industrial laboratories which have to report official results to the regulatory authority or to customers are subjected to these tests according to the type of analysis they perform and at a determined frequency.
Industrial laboratories that do not have to report official results to the regulatory authority or to customers can participate, if they wish, on a voluntary basis in order to verify the reliability of their analysis and to use the results of these tests to increase the credibility of the analytical data that they exchange with the regulatory authority, audit firms or clients.
It is also an important bench marking that can be used to improve yourself, especially if you do it on a voluntary basis. Indeed, even if the results obtained show that you have passed the test; you may be at either end of the allowable standard deviation or "z" dimension. While this can be seen as an acceptable variability , there is a definite opportunity for continuous improvement that you can seize in order to become more precise and efficient.
Internal performance evaluation tests
You've probably heard in your facility that production staff occasionally question in- house industrial lab results when it affects yields or affects operations in some way.
This is the perfect opportunity to set up a performance evaluation system, especially if your laboratory is already well organized and complies with Good Laboratory Practices.
The easiest way is to:
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Train staff production on:
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sampling and sampling plans in force in your establishment
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prepare samples of the " analysis blank " type in the same matrix but not containing the analyte to be measured and submit them to the laboratory blindly
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to prepare samples diluted in the same matrix
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To ask production staff to take samples themselves for certain analyzes at a given frequency
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Have production staff prepare modified samples without telling the lab
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Aske the production staff to meet with you monthly or at a fixed frequency to evaluate the results obtained during the submission of samples prepared blindly
It will then be necessary to take the necessary measures to correct the situation if necessary to take advantage of it to improve the efficiency and reliability of the analysis or the collection of samples if this proves necessary.
Why evaluate the performance of your laboratory?
If you have taken the trouble to set up an analysis laboratory for your company, it is because:
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You will use some of the results to build your technical data sheets or product specifications
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You will provide results to the regulatory authority, audit firms or clients
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You want to use the results obtained by the laboratory to validate certain production steps
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You want to assess compliance or the achievement of a limit to be respected that allows you to proceed with subsequent operations
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You use analysis results to release products that have been put on hold
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Etc.
You therefore need to obtain precise, reliable and reproducible results. It is about obtaining and validating your yields as well as complying to regulatory or normative compliance requirements .
You also need to demonstrate it or be ready to do it if necessary. This is why performance assessment tests are important.
We are able to help you develop and structure your performance evaluations so that you can rely on your own facility industrial laboratory analysis, demonstrate their reliability and use them without hesitation to validate your yields and operate smoothly and optimally. This will avoid hesitation, improve the work climate and make it easier to obtain data to demonstrate compliance with regulatory and normative compliance requirements and those of your customers (including those stipulated in the GFSI standards).