Association of

Laboratory Managers

Report on the 4th EuroALMA Conference

The Fourth EuroALMA Conference was held May 12-14 at the Calipolis Hotel in Sitges, Spain with the theme “How to Cut Costs in the Analytical Laboratory.”

The relaxed Spanish tradition of long, leisurely lunches and dinner at 10:00 PM was a refreshing change from the high stress, fast food life that most of us follow.

We found commonality in the issues that we face as lab managers and found the same congenial atmosphere as at our US conferences—both the participants and the locals were extremely friendly and hospitable.

Participants

Participants at 4th EuroALMA Conference

Over fifty participants representing 14 countries came together in this Mediterranean resort to learn new management techniques, share experiences, network, and enjoy the Spanish culture and hospitality. For most of the Americans attending (5), the mixture of cultures and languages provided a unique experience unlike any we had experienced before.

Program—Thursday

On Thursday, the conference was opened by EuroALMA President Jordi Martin-Alonso who welcomed the participants and told about the history and culture of the region. The program was then introduced by Karina Langseth-Manrique and the session was opened by Miren Lopez de Alda Villaizan (who did a magnificent job in making arrangements and handling the inevitable crises that arise in planning a conference).

Thursday presenters and their topics included:

Simon Wood (Labformatics, Ltd., UK)

Described an approach to improving laboratory performance using tools such as the Balanced Scorecard. He presented case studies and showed how this tool fits in with other popular quality initiatives.

Julian Hughes (GE Healthcare, UK)

Followed with a methodology for managing projects and risk to speed development. A key point is the early termination of failures rather than continuing to invest to try to change the outcome.

Wayne Collins (BP Solvay Polyethylene, USA)

Discussed the dollar value of safety in the laboratory and some of the leadership criteria to achieve a safe operation.

Jordi Martin Alonso (Aigues de Barcelona, Spain)

Complemented this general presentation with specific examples of safety related savings initiatives.

Carl Alexander (E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., USA)

Gave the last presentation before lunch on his experiences in benchmarking. His entertaining talk covered the various mistakes that he made in taking on a project in which he had no training and no experience and offered advice for those who might be interested in a similar endeavor.

Dirk Witte (N.V. Organon, The Netherlands)

Opened the afternoon session with a presentation on cost efficient cycle time reduction in an analytical control laboratory. Using examples from his company, he provided a very complete description and rationale for cycle time reduction covering effects on various aspects such as efficiency, inventory levels, on-time delivery, staff motivation, etc.

Round Table Discussions

The rest of Thursday afternoon was devoted to networking and round table discussions on:

Human Resources

Moderated by Dr. Karina Langseth-Manrique

Facilities and Equipment

Moderated by Jordi Martín-Alonso

Process and Tools

Moderated by Alexander Debets

Quality

Moderated by Dr. Jan Damm

Participants debated these issues and the summaries were presented for general discussion in the plenary session.

Program—Friday

Jesus Laso (Gabinete de Servicios para la Calidad, Spain)

Opened the conference with the need for quality systems in the laboratory.

John Sadowski (Air Products and Chemicals, USA)

Followed with a presentation on the application of lean and six sigma using illustrations from his lab.

Willem de Beer (Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa)

Examined the pros and cons of various financing options for instrumentation with examples of net present value calculations.

Javier Tejero (Cultek S.L., Spain)

Gave the final presentation on laboratory informatics with discussion on the integration of the various computerized systems.

Social Events

EuroALMA conferences traditionally include cultural events to showcase the host country and this one was no exception.

On the Wednesday evening preceding the conference, participants attended a mixer which featured a wide assortment of unfamiliar but delicious food and drink from the Catalonia region of Spain.

Prior to lunch on Thursday (a bit late for Americans at about 3:00 PM) the group took the short walk down the seawall to Maricel Palacio Modernista, a large home built by the founder of the John Deere company.

At the close of the first day of the conference, the group boarded a bus which took us to the Bodegas Torres winery for a tour of the facility and banquet in their private restaurant. The tour opened with a short video on the history of the winery and a preview of the processes that we would see. An interesting aspect of this introduction was the “smell room” where the group was exposed to the simulated smells associated with seasons in the vineyards—there was much speculation among the chemists as to the types of compounds that produced these odors. A tram ride allowed the group to view the vineyards, the processing plant, the bottling area, the aging cellars, and finally the tasting room for a sampling of assorted wines produced by Torres. At the banquet, the organizing committee surprised each person with a gift of a bottle of good wine from the Bodega.

Closing Remarks

Jordi Martin Alonso thanked the Organizing Committee for the excellent job, the speakers for the quality of their presentations, as well as the moderators, chairs and workshop leaders for their contributions. He also acknowledged the support of the Exhibitor, Scientific Software International B.V. (The Netherlands).

John Sadowski, President of ALMA, closed the Conference by commenting that, as in the previous EuroALMA Conferences, the topics discussed were of primary interest for the laboratory manager, and the participation of the delegates was a vital part of the success of the Conference.

A farewell toast ended the Conference.

Next EuroALMA

The fifth EuroALMA Conference will be held in Prague, The Czech Republic, in 2006—watch for details and make your plans early for a memorable experience.