Successfully managing items and assets throughout your laboratory requires a robust data management strategy and digital visibility into your supply chain. Gathering multiple data sources and connections into one centralized location can support that need. However, it can also open the door to an overwhelming data overload.
By implementing our Digital Traceability Platform, powered by atma.io, connected product cloud by Avery Dennison, you can utilize Callouts to help cut through the noise and allow you to manage your laboratory proactively.
What are callouts?
Within the Digital Traceability Platform, Callouts refer to alerts for events that require your attention. Callouts indicate that something has happened that needs to be addressed by a lab manager or technician.
These callouts could include invalid item states, expired certificates, stock outages, etcetera. Callouts help manage your digital supply chain by calling your attention to immediate action items.
Connecting so much data in one space is great, but knowing what to do with it can also be challenging. Callouts help prioritize your efforts. Due to the level of configuration and development needed, we work with our customers to define the necessary callouts within the scope of work for every digital traceability solution. So, when considering DTP, it is critical to consider what information you need to run your laboratory and make decisions. Let’s take a closer look at some examples of Callouts and how they can provide visibility to your items.
Monitor item-level supply chain anomalies
Indeed, your digital supply chain infrastructure can help detect and call out anomalies. Supply chain anomalies could include order quantity anomalies and delivery or pricing anomalies, for example. Let’s say you’ve set minimum and maximum on-hand quantities for a particular SKU, focusing on order quantity anomalies.
Suppose your minimum on-hand quantity is 50 items and your maximum on-hand quantity is 100. In that case, your digital traceability platform will call out any event where your inventory dips below 50 or exceeds 100. Then, you can re-order as needed or address a potential surplus issue. Maintaining transparency and awareness of your inventory is critical to prevent delays and to maintain a lean supply chain.
Ensure controlled storage temperatures for samples
Maintaining proper storage conditions for your samples, compounds, and key medical assets is vital. Most of these assets have a safe temperature at which they must be stored and can only be removed from that storage temperature for a limited amount of time for testing or analysis.
For example, a blood bank refrigerator must maintain a temperature between 2-6 degrees Celsius to store certain blood products. These blood products cannot be outside that controlled temperature for longer than 30 minutes. A blood bank using digital traceability could receive a Callout if a technician checked out a blood product for longer than 30 minutes. They could then address the error to maintain safety and ethical regulations.
Standardize laboratory workflows with machine learning
Another practical application for digital traceability is its ability to help execute standardized workflow steps and procedures.
To identify irregularities, atma.io analyzes supply chain data on various levels. That includes combining data for processing times, transfer times between sites, and item status transitions. atma.io then applies an ensemble of different heuristics and machine learning algorithms to that data to identify patterns and predict potential outcomes. If an event (associated with an item) is marked as an “anomaly,” a callout in the Hub is created, alerting you to inspect the anomaly and take action.
Suppose a particular process includes events A, B, and C that need to happen in that order. If event C triggers before event B, you could receive a Callout to address the misstep and get back on track. This can help ensure that all technicians follow the same procedures even if they are at different locations, as well as maintain regulatory compliance.
So, how can you get started with callouts in your lab?
Callouts are a feature of our Digital Traceability Platform, powered by atma.io connected product cloud. This platform is a cloud-based solution for managing your laboratory’s digital supply chain. Regarding Callouts, it is essential to remember that we define these within the initial project scope for your solution. So, the first step is considering what information you need in your lab to support data-driven decisions. Our digital supply chain experts can help facilitate those conversations as you evaluate your needs.
