Inter-laboratory studies
Be up to date, in control and recognized
Carrying out laboratory analysis, transmitting results or preparing a report or certificate of analysis requires time, thoroughness and resources. When doing analysis on a regular basis, you become more and more comfortable and have less tendency to question yourself about your methods, the quality and robustness of the results. It is in these situations that subtle and incremental changes can occur that cause routine analysis to no longer give quite the same results or that rework is requested because the results are in doubt, etc.
Voluntary participation in inter-laboratory studies helps minimize this phenomenon and ensure that you remain vigilant enough to avoid these abuses.
Being part of inter-laboratory studies allows you to compare yourself to other laboratories that do the same analysis as you do, in the same matrixes with equivalent methods.
This has the following advantages :
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Take advantage of updates that are published about methods or sampling by being automatically informed and up to date
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You can immediately see how your lab compares to a group of labs in achieving expected values
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You can react and adjust you in the event or the results would not be living up to your expectations
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To keep complying with compliance requirements and/or the requirements of certain customers
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To reassure your customers
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To give credibility to your laboratory and the analysis carried out in it
When and how to participate in one or more inter-laboratory studies
There is a whole range of inter-laboratory studies in which you can participate. The vast majority of reference laboratories who offer to participate in such studies are online and it is easy to create an account and register.
It is a question of determining for which parameter and how often you want to participate. The ideal is to participate more than once a year to make sure you stay the course, avoid drifts , make sure you are up to date and maintain your credibility.
If you carry out many different analysis , it is to your advantage to participate in inter-laboratory studies which are structured to evaluate families of products. You will have to participate in fewer studies for less expenses and the intended goal will still be achieved.
Why participate in inter-laboratory studies
Apart from the advantages already mentioned above; participation in inter-laboratory studies is an effective way to demonstrate your competence and to officially and rigorously document the analysis related to the quality of your products.
Here are a few examples :
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If you produce dietary supplements and make claims on them, you benefit from being able to guarantee the content of the active ingredients that support those claims, both for your customers and for the regulatory authority or audit firms
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If you produce animal feed, you need to produce a variety of test results to guarantee the content of nutrients of all kinds, the absence of contaminants, etc., both for your customers and for your company, the regulatory authority or audit firms
We are able to help and advise you regarding participation in inter-laboratory studies so that you remain up to date and up-to-speed, that you are in control and that the results you produce are recognized by the regulatory authority, audit firms and clients. This will prevent you from drifts and / or hard to explain deviations that may arise over time in your results . This will reassure your clients while allowing you to continue to meet regulatory and normative compliance requirements and those of your clients (including those stipulated in the GFSI standards).