Is your instrument intelligent enough?

The extra sophistication of new analytical instruments has not only brought higher throughput for laboratories, but also bigger problems when they go wrong. Agilent think that the answer to instrument down time is a system that can fix its self - welcome to the age of System Intelligence

System Intelligence is a term that describes a growing trend in which operational data drawn from the analytical instrument can be employed to minimise maintenance downtime and operating costs. Generally it incorporates a nested set of programs, the foundation of which is a built-in performance monitoring and reporting capability. The initial performance downturn of a system and any of its components may be too subtle for an operator to detect. However, a monitoring tool within the instrument system can be designed to register and compare such changes or patterns of change against certain targets and flag the operator accordingly. Similarly, instruments can monitor component usage against certain functional lifetime or renewal specifications and indicate when changeout is required.

One of the most difficult issues to unravel in the maintenance of complex instrumentation is determining the source of operational problems. Since many different problems produce similar or even identical symptoms, it is vitally important that when a system malfunctions the source of the problem be quickly and easily identified and the appropriate remedy be implemented in a straightforward and timely way. Here too, a system’s self-monitoring capability can make all the difference.

Generally what is required is a means by which the operator can interrogate the system to quickly locate the source of the malfunction. If the interactive exercise produces a solution, it will typically take the form of a necessary instrument adjustment or part replacement-actions that can often be carried out in minimal time by the instrument operator. On the other hand, if the diagnostic procedure is incapable of solving the problem, then this result serves to categorise the situation as one requiring expert attention. In this way, maintenance tasks are efficiently desegregated and outside expertise is deployed only for those tasks beyond the competence of the user.

Over a large installed base, equipping analytical instruments with system intelligence can significantly lower the cost of instrument ownership while raising the level of productivity by cutting instrument downtime for both repair and servicing. It also reduces the unnecessary allocation of expert service personnel or the stocking of excess repair parts.
 
Intelligent services
Agilent Technologies has implemented system intelligence in their new 1200 series LC instruments. The overall objective is accelerated problem diagnosis and resolution.

Applications Independent Diagnostics (AID)
AID allows users who choose to operate Agilent instruments under their own control regimes to access the system’s diagnostic routines and monitoring programs. In earlier versions of Agilent instrument systems, the diagnostic software was resident in the Agilent controller (ChemStation). Beginning with Agilent’s 1200 series, diagnostic and related monitoring software have been decoupled from the controller, also making these routines accessible to users who choose to run third-party applications.
 
Usage monitoring: Early Maintenance Feedback (EMF)
It is generally recognised that certain instrument components will have a predictable usage-dependent lifetime. Timely replacement of such components at the end of their useful service life, but before they fail, can eliminate the cause of many system disruptions and ancillary problems arising from component failure. To avoid such interruptions, Agilent’s new 1200 series is designed to proactively monitor key components and automatically alert the user, according to preset usage specifications, when servicing is indicated. Certain components, such as the UV lamp and detector flow cell, are equipped with RFID tracking technology that saves all relevant data, such as lamp burn time on/off switching and flow cell usage. For the column, there is a separate identification module that records parameters such as the number of injections, stationary phase particle size, and maximum pressure.

EMF represents a departure from the traditional approach to usage based maintenance. EMF monitoring makes it possible to apply just-in-time practices depending on instrument usage to instrument maintenance. As a result, operating costs become more predictable and additional savings are possible through optimal timing of maintenance windows, avoidance of unanticipated system interruptions, and reduction in long-term inventory of parts. The larger the installed instrument base, the more effective this approach in reducing operating costs. With EMF, the usage and parts replacement log becomes part of the status report generated along with a request for expert servicing. Such information can help the service engineer determine if the reported malfunction is one that the user can be directed to correct, thereby saving both the customer and the service provider the cost and time required for a site visit as well as the additional instrument downtime.

The guided diagnostic
At a minimum, statistics show that the user can be directed to solve 50-70% of the difficulties encountered with instrument performance; that is, once the nature of the problem is properly characterised. Such characterisation yields two significant benefits: simple problems are quickly remedied and service expertise is appropriately focused on complex problems outside the competence of the user.

Agilent has created a trouble-shooting routine for diagnosing and solving problems linked to the most common symptoms of degraded performance observed with an LC system. A self-guiding interactive script leads the user through a set of clearly stated questions, supported with illustrations, that require simple Yes/No or Good/Bad answers at each decision point. No more than 6 steps are required to bring a user from start to a proposed resolution. Once the troubleshooting exercise is complete, a status report is generated incorporating the results of the diagnostic screening.

After the problem source is identified, the user must then be able to take corrective action and such action must not require a high level of maintenance expertise.

If the problem is not amenable to a user-guided diagnostic solution, it can be referred to Agilent’s customer call center.

Status report
A user who contacts the call center after completing the diagnostic, is, in fact, speeding resolution of the problem by relieving the service engineer of the need to carry out the initial troubleshooting exercise. Instead, a system status report is generated, which can be faxed or emailed directly to the call center. It contains the instrument configuration with product and serial numbers, firmware revisions, error logfiles, EMF values, diagnostic test results and instrument settings. With this information in hand, the service engineer can skip much of the preliminary queries required to assess the condition of the instrument and jump ahead to a more advanced level of diagnosis.

Once the Call Center has completed its assessment of the malfunction, it will be determined if a site visit by a support expert is required.

Internet-based intelligent connections
In the latest version of its Intelligent Services concept, Agilent is providing users a capability for remote instrument monitoring and support by means of an internet-based link between customer instruments and the call center intranet.

Push for help
With the appropriate hardware and software in place, users experiencing a system problem can request support simply by pressing a special help button. This function causes an instrument status report along with an alert to be generated and sent directly to the call center. A service engineer will then contact the user to discuss the problem. If an intelligent connection has been installed (see below), it will be possible for the service engineer to remotely run additional tests, download files, etc. The resulting information together with the instrument status report and dialog with the user will facilitate a rapid assessment of the source of the problem and a proposal for its remedy.

Intelligent connections – secure connection
This capability represents a way to provide expert service and resolve problems, sometimes even before the user becomes aware of them. It provides for online, real-time collaboration in which experts, in accordance with customer guidelines and security procedures, are able to remotely diagnose and solve problems.
Data and system security issues for the link are addressed through multiple layers of protection including internet firewalls, end-to-end data encryption and compliance with network security. Instrument access may be password protected, authenticated against corporate security and ranked according to a system of privileges. Moreover, a detailed audit log of all user activity is maintained. When the linked instruments are operating within a regulated pharmaceutical environment, the intelligent connection can incorporate compliance services such as operational qualification/re-qualification and performance verification to ensure that all systems meet ongoing quality and regulatory requirements.

System intelligence, once thought of as features resident within the instrument, has expanded to include the network of user, instrument and service support interactively engaged in managing the asset over its lifetime. The result is increased productivity, asset longevity and lower operating costs. We can expect this proactive web of supportive communications to become more robust and pervasive as each new generation of instrumentation, monitoring software and the Internet itself evolve in functional diversity, messaging bandwidth and wireless connectivity.

By Marc Fuehrer, product manager Agilent Technologies, Waldbronn, Germany