Company Background

The Research Institute of a major electrical equipment group is a key state-owned enterprise directly supervised by the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) of the State Council. It was established to address issues of fragmented resources and redundant investments in China’s power transmission and distribution equipment sector, with the goal of building a globally competitive, full-industry-chain leader that supports national energy security and the “Dual Carbon” strategy (carbon peak and carbon neutrality). Leveraging its full-industry-chain advantages and indigenous technological capabilities, the institute has become a core pillar of China’s national energy strategy. Its development journey reflects the transformation of China’s power equipment industry—from technology importation to global leadership—and it will continue to drive the energy revolution and green transition in the future.

Following the successful implementation of the SIPM/PLM system, the institute initiated the construction of an integrated experimental verification management system.

Project Objectives

Through the implementation of the SIPM/LIMS project, the following goals were achieved:

•  Enhance the management level of the testing center and drive organizational transformation by standardizing testing operations, automating information management, and digitizing resource management.  

•  Fully comply with ISO/IEC 17025 requirements, providing modern digital tools to meet these standards. Drawing on international best practices while addressing local operational needs, the project elevates the testing center’s management to global standards and ensures continued ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.  

•  Improve responsiveness to customer testing requests and external service quality by leveraging the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) to deliver accurate, reliable test data and results more efficiently.  

•  Significantly reduce manual workloads through template-driven workflows, automated calculations, auto-generated test reports, intelligent reminders, and barcode scanning.  

•  Replace error-prone manual transcription with digital processes to eliminate mistakes caused by human copying errors, thereby improving the quality and accuracy of test reports.

Business Landscape Overview

Business Landscape Overview

Project Management

A new project management module was added, distinguishing between large and small projects. For large projects, a dedicated project team concept was introduced—only assigned team members are authorized to conduct experiments for that project, supporting scenarios such as custom teams formed for specific clients.

 Project Management

Test Request Submission

Clients and internal lab staff can directly log into the LIMS to submit test requests. The request form captures: requester details, sample information, test items (including client-specific aliases), testing standards, attachments, and other relevant data. Upon completion, the request is routed to a technical reviewer for approval.

Test Request Submission

Test Item Aliases

A “test item alias” field has been added to test requests and all related task interfaces. Since different clients may use different names for the same test, but reports must reflect the client’s preferred terminology, this alias feature resolves naming inconsistencies while maintaining standardized internal records.

Test Item Aliases

Testing Fees:

A testing fee has been added to each test item to track resource utilization by departments outside the laboratory and to evaluate the performance of lab technicians.

Batch Reassignment of Assigned Tasks:

 For already assigned tasks, the system now supports multi-select and bulk reassignment to different technicians, significantly improving the efficiency of personnel adjustments by task coordinators.

Technician Reassignment

Report Generation by Test Item:

When a single test request contains multiple test items, the system supports generating a separate report for each individual test item. Reports may be reissued as needed, while ensuring that every report retains a unique identifier.

Report Generation by Test Item

Attachment-Based Report Upload

To accommodate diverse reporting formats (where format variations are permitted by administrators), the system now allows technicians to upload finalized reports as attachments. These reports—prepared offline—are submitted into the system and routed through an online approval workflow, enabling full digital management of reporting.

Attachment Upload

Manual Entry of Equipment Codes

Technicians can manually input equipment codes, ensuring uniqueness even in environments where legacy equipment lacks standardized coding—addressing the current disordered state of equipment identification.

Manual Entry of Equipment Codes

Skip-Date Scheduling

A “skip-date” feature was introduced for weekends and holidays. Automated task generation for inspections, maintenance, and calibrations now respects these skip-date rules, preventing tasks from being scheduled during non-working periods—making the system more user-friendly and practical.

Personnel Management

The system displays all personnel across lab departments, allowing users to query an individual’s department and organizational hierarchy.

Training Plan Requests

Supports creation of staff training plans to enhance technical competencies.

 Internal Audit Planning

Enables formulation of internal laboratory audit schedules.

Sample Records

Provides a comprehensive view of sample status history, including receipt time, and supports exporting all sample data.

Sample Records

Mobile “My Test Tasks”

Technicians can access all assigned test tasks via mobile devices. Supported actions include: sample pickup, test initiation, real-time upload of test data and images, and test completion—all conducted online.

My Test Tasks

Summary

•  User-Centric Design: While fully complying with ISO/IEC 17025, the system simplifies operations through centralized data aggregation and intelligent task allocation—reducing complexity, minimizing time spent on system interactions, and boosting technician productivity.  

•  Seamless System Integration: Achieves smooth, accurate, and efficient data exchange across platforms through deep integration.  

•  Platform-Based Data Management: All experimental results are centrally collected and managed in real time during testing, enabling comprehensive data analysis and informed decision-making.