The first full release of LabwareMatch is now online. LabwareMatch is the first web based multi-vendor e-Catalog and collaborative product specification management system for lab ware products used in laboratory automation. LabwareMatch contains SiLA compliant labware product data from different manufacturers and offers full search and compare functionality.

LabwareMatch allows labware manufacturers and authorized users to edit product data and add parameters according to the SiLA Labware Specification Standard, which are missing in most product specifications provided by labware manufacturers. All submitted new parameters and parameter changes are reviewed and approved by our approval board.

Registered users also have the option to download selected product data in SiLA Standard XML format and to provide parameters for instrument setup.

We are constantly adding more products to the catalog. All labware manufacturers are invited to join LabwareMatch and provide additional data, for the benefit of instrument manufacturers and lab managers.

LabwareMatch is a free service, financed through sponsoring and advertisement. Please help us to make this project a success !

The final draft of the SiLA Labware Specification Standard Parameter List (V0.4) is now available for download. The review starts on Sept 1, 2011 and ends on Sept 30, 2011. Your review comments are most welcome, please enter them as as comments to this blog post or send them to us by email.

The XSD for the Labware Specification XML structure will be made available for download before end of September 2011.

Lab Services’ PlateButler scheduling and process management software now supports the SiLA Device Control and Data Interface Standard.

Here’s an extract of the announcement in Lab Services’ newsletter:

When purchasing laboratory automated systems customers usually need to buy several software interfaces. As every device has a different communication protocol, “speaks a different language”, those interfaces are necessary for the communication between the scheduling software and the equipment on the system. For the common used equipment every integrator has interfaces available but for more specific, less used equipment it can be time consuming and cost effective to write new interfaces.
SiLA created a standard for the communication between the scheduler and the devices, this means every incubator communicates via the incubator protocol and every dispenser communicates via the dispenser protocol.

The benefits for both integrators and customers are:
- Rapid system delivery & cost effective since no new interfaces need to be written
- Easy replacing a device of one supplier by a device of another supplier

To make our PlateButler software compatible to the SiLA standard, Lab Services sent one of it’s engineers over to SiLA to become “SiLA Certified Engineer”. From now on we are fully trained and certified to use the SiLA standards.

Xeronics and PASS, founding partners of SiLA, are currently developing LabwareMatch, a web-based E-Catalog for Labware Product Specifications, containing data provided by leading labware manufacturers. LabwareMatch will allow users to search for labware products by combinations of labware properties and will list compatible device models supporting the specific labware product. LabwareMatch will provide labware specification parameter sets in SiLA standard format which can be downloaded for direct processing by the device software.

LabwareMatch will go live in July 2011. All manufacturers and appliers are invited to join the project.

SiLA started the initiation phase for the development of a standard file format for imaging devices. This standard shall enable performant data transmission, processing, visualization, analysis and retrieval.

Leading device and software suppliers, academia institutions and biopharma companies are invited to join SiLA’s technical working group to contribute in the requirements engineering and scope definition phase.

If you are interested to participate, please contact us via email.

Proposals for a standard file format for micro plate reader results and meta data, developed by the SiLA working group “Data Capture” have been submitted to the SiLA membership for evaluation. Two alternative proposals have been presented: a proprietary XML based format and an AniML based format.

If you are interested to participate in this evaluation, please contact us via email.

The review process for the first draft of the SiLA Labware Specification Parameter List has been started by March 1st, 2011. If you are interested to join this review, please contact us via email.