QLIMS Case Study: Baiada Poultry

In this blog article, we will explore how QLIMS helped the laboratory in the food industry and overcame the challenges. Baiada is the force behind familiar names like Lilydale Free Range Chicken and Steggles. Baiada has been around for more than a century, and its dedication to providing reliable poultry products has remained constant throughout the years.

In order to deliver safe and consistent products, the company has stringent flock monitoring standards that rely on accurate serological and bacterial analysis on cooked and raw products, along with feed testing. With over 250,000 samples tested every year, speed, accuracy, and traceability are key for Baiada’s state-of-the-art quality assurance lab.

The challenge

Managing increased record keeping, especially when it involves large volumes of data, can be a daunting task for laboratories. As testing requirements become more complex, laboratories need to find new ways to handle the growing amount of data generated from testing activities. This can include everything from ensuring data accuracy to maintaining data privacy and security.

Baiada’s lab had traditionally managed its testing records using a Microsoft Access database developed internally. While this was sufficient for basic record keeping, the type and volume of flock monitoring analysis the team needed to conduct was becoming more complex and more resource intensive.

The solution

After looking at the various solutions on offer the team quickly determined that the QLIMS solution would be able to provide what Baiada needed in terms of custom build but for a reasonable price.

Rather than trying to integrate QLIMS into their existing database, the decision was made to start fresh with a brand-new system in order to give the team a solution that would be able to scale.

The process

Expecting a long and involved implementation process, the team was pleased with how rapidly they were able to get up and running.

“The move to QLIMS was pretty quick. We had 2 weeks to play around with it, then we went live – that was it. We felt very confident in the system, and the team we had to support us. They are honestly good people, and they also know their stuff.”

The results

The biggest benefit, according to Anne-Marie Curle, Food Technologist and QS management at Baiada,

“Definitely saving time! In the old world, we received hundreds of handwritten QA testing submissions every week, which needed to be manually entered into our database. Now our processing plants are able to book their submissions directly into the QLIMS system. That’s freed up a staff member to be more hands-on on the bench, rather than tied up with paperwork.”

“We process anywhere from 500 samples a week – QLIMS has effectively freed up one and a half full-time staff members who we can now reallocate to more important jobs around the lab.”

To learn more about data migration, click here. To learn how QLIMS can benefit your laboratory, contact us.