Improved productivity of a radiotracer detergency method by increased automation

Abstract

Productivity of a radiotracer detergency test method which generates several thousand samples per year has been substantially improved by automating record-keeping, data capture, data analysis storage and report generation. A group of programs has been written to acquire large amounts of data from liquid scintillation counters, a gamma counter and pH meters. The programs also maintain detailed records of each sample (swatch of fabric), provide current status of all swatches entered into the system, and make all calculations necessary to generate final test results. A Burcon microcomputer operating in a time-sharing mode allows multiple users to perform laboratory operations simultaneously. The programs (written in PL/I) are all interactive and the terminal screen displays provide a list of possible responses (menu) at each step. These menus, combined with careful design of the screen displays, minimize the amount of operator training necessary to complete processing successfully. The amount of operator time required to complete data processing has been reduced by ca. 35% and the automating of record-keeping and other tasks has further improved productivity and reduced turnaround time. A brief description of the component programs is included.