Stepwise Success : productivity

Space for Work

Scott Warner — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 10:12:00 GMT

Two years ago, we renovated our small lab. Our workstations were around a central “clean” area for paperwork that had become a junk collector; different departments couldn’t see each other; inaccessible counters were used for storage. We removed filing...(read more)

Paperless Order Entry

Scott Warner — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 10:01:00 GMT

Recently I blogged about paperless procedures. They key to "paperless" is to completely replace a paper process with a virtual one. The advantages are practically infinite, redundant, cheap storage and the ability of multiple users to access data from...(read more)

Lean Dreams

Scott Warner — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:26:00 GMT

By now, few of us in the industry haven't heard of " Lean ," Toyota's production system. To maximize productivity, we have to eliminate "waste," including extra steps, overproduction, product defects, and so on. It's an idea with great appeal, especially...(read more)

Ask, Don't Tell

Scott Warner — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:15:00 GMT

As a kid I heard Talk is cheap , meaning that talking about doing something is the easy part. Boy, was that the truth! My homework and chores didn't get themselves done, no matter how much I talked about doing them or (often enough) why I hadn't. And...(read more)

Clutter

Scott Warner — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:04:00 GMT

Every so often a book changes your life. Way Down Cellar made reading fun, turning rainy days into great adventures. The Wonderful Flight to the Mushroom Planet inspired me to write stories, and I've been writing ever since. Time Wars made me consider...(read more)

Fast Bar Codes

Scott Warner — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:20:00 GMT

Let's suppose your information system test database prints at least one barcode specimen label for each test. This label contains the patient name, account number, test order number, a description of the test, and the barcode itself. Now suppose a new...(read more)

Work Smarter

Scott Warner — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 10:24:00 GMT

As economic pressures increase you may hear a buzz about "productivity." Your manager or senior administrator may use benchmarking to compare your laboratory to others. And if you aren't working hard enough by the numbers, you'll hear that, too. Not working...(read more)

Intangibles

Scott Warner — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:38:00 GMT

Consider two chemistry analyzers. The first requires a lot of hands-on time to run and maintain, and the reagent cost is per aliquot. You're paying for reagent used for calibration, quality control, troubleshooting and waste. The second analyzer is a...(read more)