In late August of 2005 Hurricane Katrina began a path of unparalleled destruction throughout the Gulf States, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless, and without hope of shelter, food, water, electricity or even basic medical care. Little did anyone know that within a day’s journey two massive military convoys laid waiting at the Naval Expeditionary Medical Support Command (NEMSCOM), a military medical warehouse facility located at Cheatham Annex, Virginia, ready to make way and render aid.

The convoys, outfitted with fresh water tanker trucks, generators, telescoping light stations, air conditioners, medical supplies, diesel fuel, food blankets, toiletries, shelters, portable bathroom facilities, mobile communication centers, ambulances, fire engines, cranes, and bull dozers laid waiting to respond. The call never came, despite the most valiant efforts of NEMSCOM’s Commanding Officer, CAPT Larry Arcement.

Disaster relief materials, like any material inventory assets, are only good if you know what you have, how many you have and where they are located. That is where automated asset tracking, utilizing automated identification technology (AIT), comes into play. Automated identification technology can come in a variety of forms ranging from highly sophisticated active and passive radio frequency identification (RFID) systems used by the vast majority of manufacturers today to its lesser known counterparts, consisting of Contact Memory Buttons, Iridium Tracking and Info Dot recognition systems. Regardless of the technology used they all share a common trait, the rapid identification and location of assets available.

In a highly dynamic medical environment, the identification and tracking of medical assets has become increasingly difficult. Perhaps no other military command has realized that more than NEMSCOM, which constructs and deploys fleet hospitals and numerous expeditionary medical facilities worldwide in response to military conflicts and humanitarian disasters. With more than $340 million dollars in medical assets located worldwide, optimum operational efficiency must be realized.

In 2004, in conjunction with the Navy AIT Project Office, NEMSCOM embarked on a series of initiatives to develop automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) technology to help manage medical material and provide total asset visibility. These projects reviewed the possible integration of AIDC into medical logistics business processes. NEMSCOM’s goal was to facilitate the collection of initial source data, and collect and pass the AIDC data to reduce processing times, improve inventory accuracy, increase production efficiency and enhance “total” asset visibility.

The first key initiative came in the form of surgical instrument identification. At the conclusion of a medical mission, expeditionary hospitals, consisting of tens of thousands of components, equipment, and supplies, are rapidly packed and returned to NEMSCOM for cleaning, repackaging and introduction into the next expeditionary medical platform build. Thousands of surgical instruments, which have no manufacturer markings or means of identification, are returned in boxes, barrels and footlockers. With more than 14,000 different types of medical instruments, made by a myriad of manufacturers, the process of trying to identify these instruments can be daunting.

The identification process required the skills of numerous senior medical technicians and countless hours of research, with each instrument requiring 15 to 30 minutes for identification. Even with these efforts, identification accuracy was limited to approximately 60%. Many of the surgical instruments cost several thousand dollars, have limited availability and require significant lead times to obtain, which makes the correct identification of current assets vital.

In an effort to dramatically increase medical asset identification, NEMSCOM embarked on a pilot program to develop effortless recognition of all medical assets. The marking system needed to be highly accurate, durable, inexpensive, easy to operate and needed to increase production efficiency. The end result of this effort was the implementation of info dots in conjunction with a newly developed asset tracking software program called MAAT (Material Automated Asset Tracking).

The info dot is a two dimensional data matrix mark, available as a 3 mil and 10 mil barcode, which is less than a tenth of the size of most common barcodes. This DataMatrix barcode is a small, flexible and unobtrusive label that is virtually indestructible. More than 60% of the label can be torn away and still allow for a 100% percent read rate. It is easily attached to any surface using a pressure-sensitive acrylic adhesive. The info dot has a high degree of redundancy, making it highly reliable, and its symbology can be read with charged couple device scanners. The info dot can withstand temperatures of nearly 500°F short-term and nearly 400°F over a long-term period. It resists solvents, caustics, and acids as well as oils, grease, fuels and salts.

The proliferation of health information has created a rich field of resources that many lay people can use to make informed health care decisions. For a large segment of the population, these resources will go unseen and unused because they are written at a level that exceeds their reading recognition and comprehension skills. The study discussed in this article assessed the readability of information on six adult and two juvenile diseases in ten medical textbooks. Students in two library and information science (LIS) schools read the same information and indicated the words they did not understand. Results showed that the medical material is written well above the average person’s reading ability. Words the students could not understand included anatomical and disease-related terms and drug names. More research needs to be done on lay people’s comprehension of medical information.

On their Web site the National Center for the Study of Adult Learning and Literacy (n.d.) states that “more than 40 percent of working-age adults in the United States lack the skills and education needed to succeed in family, work, and community life today.” This figure indicates that almost half of the population may not be able to find, read, or understand health information and thus cannot make informed health care decisions.

A considerable amount of research exists on the need to improve access to health information by making it more readable for average readers. Lowering the readability level alone may not adequately address the issue of illiteracy because other factors may affect a person’s ability to read and comprehend written material. For example, Parikh, Parker, Nurss, Baker, and Williams noted that “the shame and embarrassment felt by some low literate patients may pose an important psychological barrier to asking for help or requesting low literate materials, even when they are available” (1996, p. 34). They found that some patients “did not seek care because of embarrassment about their illiteracy” (p. 34). Estey, Musseau, and Keehan included “anxiety, physical discomfort, and unfamiliarity with the hospital environment” (1994, p. 74) as further impediments to understanding health instruction. Weaver (2003), one of the presenters in the Medical Library Association’s teleconference, Reading Between the Lines, noted that unfamiliarity with an environment is often an overlooked factor in health literacy. Labeling this concept “contextual literacy,” she explained that a person might be “health literate” in one’s own country, but she/he may not be in another country (Weaver, 2003, p. 4). Furthermore, while some people may be “comfortable and know what to expect in … hospitals and clinics,” other people “don’t and their anxiety at being in a totally alien setting impairs their coping abilities even more” (Weaver, 2003, p. 4). Thus, a variety of factors may affect people’s ability to read and understand printed health information, written instructions, consent forms, or other healthrelated materials.

DEFINITIONS OF HEALTH LITERACY

What is health literacy? Several definitions were found in the literature. Healthy People 2010, the ongoing national promotion and prevention initiative aimed at improving the health status of individuals in the United States, defines health literacy as “the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions” (Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, 2001, p. 15). The Medical Library Association’s (MLA Net, 2003) definition goes further and includes the following set of abilities:

* Recognize a health information need

* Identify likely information sources and use them to retrieve relevant information

* Assess the quality of the information and its applicability to a specific situation

* Analyze, understand, and use the information to make good health decisions.

This definition incorporates elements of evidence-based practice and puts the onus on lay people to find quality information, analyze it, and use the evidence as a basis for making their decision.

LITERATURE REVIEW

The key elements in making an informed health care decision are the person’s ability to read and understand the information. According to Davis, Crouch, Wills, Miller, and Abdehou, “educators have measured the readability of written materials since the 1940s” but “medicine has only recently recognized problems in this area” (1990, p. 533). Health care professionals, they suggest, have taken “patients’ educational and reading recognition levels to estimate literacy levels” (Davis et al, 1990, p. 533). While reading recognition (the ability to pronounce words) is important, “reading comprehension is the most important” of all the literacy skills needed in health care (p. 533).

Q: I have been hearing a lot about software piracy in the workplace, even radio ads encouraging businesses to “update their licenses” and encouraging people to report software piracy. How important is this issue to the lab?

A: Any work environment that uses computers and employs human beings is at risk for software piracy, especially if there is no clear understanding of the underlying law and good policy in place. You’re right–software developers are becoming increasingly worried by the unauthorized use of their products and have taken steps to reduce infringement by encouraging whistleblowers, and by making changes that limit the ability of a purchaser to duplicate or re-use software.

Software isn’t a tangible item, like a car or laboratory instrument. Such things, once purchased, are the property of the owner, who can do with them as he pleases: use them, rent them out, take them apart or reconfigure them. Computer software, on the other hand, is really a license to use a copyrighted intellectual property that happens to come encoded on a computer disc or CD. In general, licenses give the buyer the right to load the software onto one computer only, and to make a single back-up copy for archival purposes. Loading the software onto multiple computers without purchasing individual licenses for each one (softloading) is a violation of the copyright laws and a violation of the license.

Employees or independent contractors (such as outside computer technicians) may be tempted to pirate expensive software to their home computers, or to bring in outside programs for office use. Both should be clearly discouraged by well-publicized and well-enforced policy respecting software copyrights (check the Better Business Bureau website for a sample policy: http://www.cbbb.org/features/samplepolicy.asp.

In addition, licenses should be checked and verified on a regular basis to insure that no unauthorized software is installed and no unauthorized use is occurring. Hard copies of the software should be kept secured and not generally available, except to those with a legitimate need to access them. Downloads from the Internet should be discouraged, in part to prevent piracy, but also because of the increased risk of virus infection.

The law holds employers generally responsible for the actions of employees in the course of business. Consequently, piracy by employees under company auspices, even if unknown, may still be imputed to the employer, particularly in the absence of a program to prevent software theft. Copyright laws provide for fines of up to $100,000 for each infringement (for example, each of the extra computers onto which a single copy of software is illegally loaded). If it can be shown that the infringement was “willful and knowing” and “for commercial gain or advantage,” criminal penalties of $250,000 and imprisonment for up to five years can result. In either case, the fines are much more than the cost of purchasing valid licenses to begin with. And as is the case with all such illicit activities, it only takes a single disgruntled employee to blow the whistle.

Barbara Harty-Golder is a pathologist-attorney in Sarasota, FL. She directs the clinical laboratory at Health South Rehabilitation Hospital in Sarasota, and maintains a law practice with a special interest in medical law. She writes and lectures extensively on healthcare law, risk management and human resources management.

RELATED ARTICLE: TYPES OF PIRACY

There are five common types of software piracy. Understanding each will help users avoid problems associated with illegal software.

End-user piracy:

This occurs when a company employee reproduces copies of software without authorization. End-user piracy can take the following forms:

* Using one licensed copy to install a program on multiple computers.

* Copying disks for installation and distribution.

* Taking advantage of upgrade offers without having a legal copy of the version to be upgraded.

* Acquiring academic or other restricted or nonretail software without a license for commercial use.

* Swapping disks in or outside the workplace.

Client-server overuse:

This type of piracy occurs when too many employees on a network are using a central copy of a program at the same time. If you have a local-area network and install programs on the server for several people to use, you have to be sure your license entitles you to do so. If you have more users than allowed by the license, that’s “overuse.”

Internet piracy:

This occurs when software is downloaded from the Internet. The same purchasing rules should apply to online software purchase as for those bought in traditional ways. Internet piracy can take the following forms:

* Pirate websites that make software available for free download or in exchange for uploaded programs.

* Internet auction sites that offer counterfeit, out-of-channel, infringing copyright software.

* Peer-to-peer networks that enable unauthorized transfer of copyrighted programs.

For small, delicate part applications, lasers deliver stable, accurate energy for cutting, marking, and welding

Doctors are understandably sensitive about the tools they use-every dimension, joint, or mark can add to or detract from performance, depending on how well the tool features are made. So for medical devices, the pinpoint precision of lasers is valuable for cutting, welding, or marking the smallest of devices.

Lot sizes and part styles for medical parts can vary wildly, from customized implants to relatively mass-produced tools and devices. “Nonetheless, every single instrument is subject to the highest quality standards,” says Alexander Knitsch, application specialist for Trumpf Laser (Farmington, CT). For implants in particular, the main priorities include long lifecycles and biocompatibility.

“Medical devices are especially suited to laser processing, because they require extremely tight tolerances and advanced materials processing,” says Larry Green, industrial product manager, Spiricon Inc. (of Ophir Optronics Ltd., Logan, UT). “It’s also evident that the laser performance must be well characterized for the process to be repeatable, robust, and profitable.”

The key to laser-machining small medical applications is to use a laser beam with a narrow, stable, and focused energy profile, even for laser spot diameters under 100 µ More stringent requirements for stents, pacemakers, implants, catheters, and other medical products require better beam profiling and delivery tools, adds Green. Along with added quality and capability, such tools can improve device manufacturers’ cost profile through reduced downtime.

Some problems can be fixed just by checking the beam profile with real-time diagnostics and re-adjusting the laser. Green points to a medical-device manufacturer (the company requested that its name not be used) that laser-marks its product with a logo whose edges were no longer acceptable to the customer. “Since an illegibly marked product cannot be sold, they were discarding perfectly good product because of the poor identification of the part.” Here, laser-beam profiling showed that at certain power settings the beam profile had more than one peak, instead of a single peak at the center of its spot. “Readjusting the laser power settings to eliminate the multiple peaks solved the problem.”

In another case, a medical manufacturer (which, again, does not wish to be named) traced poor welds to a laser beam spot whose focus location varied randomly over time, causing spots of varying size on the product, says Green. The solution was to change the beamdelivery system from “hard” laser optics to fiber delivery-a common trend in laser/medical applications, as we’ll see below.

Bone screws and other medical hardware may look simple, but their manufacturing processes use the most advanced laser technologies. The laser, motion control, part positioning, and even vision software for beam delivery come together to create the small features that doctors need for stabilizing damaged bone or fixing other problems.

“The medical devices industry is now looking for a new generation of lasers that can offer better value and additional functionality over their existing laser technology,” says Linda McIntosh, product manager for Virtek Laser Systems North America Inc. (Waterloo, Ontario). This applies to marking lasers, which have been used for years for writing identifying information and other marks on metal and plastic medical tools.

“Laser marking on metals creates a very high quality, permanent mark, and it does not require inks, solvents, etc.-which means lower operational costs.” Lasers avoid the FDA-approval issues involved with ink, and they can mark surfaces without creating crevices, a feature to avoid on implants, McIntosh adds.

To improve the marking of bone screws, Virtek’s laser-marking systems integrator, FOBA Technology + Service GmbH (Ludenscheid, Germany) integrates a vision system called Intelligent Mark Positioning (IMP). The system is integrated with the laser system’s lens, feeding back data to reduce position errors when marking 0.5-mm characters on 3-mm-diam screw heads. Essentially, the system “puts eyes and intelligence” in the laser, says McIntosh, comparing a model of the part with what it sees for proper positioning. This capability reduces scrapped parts, minimizes fixture costs and laser setup time, and improves machine-to-machine consistency.

Tools used to create the holes for bone screws also require detailed marking, such as depth gaging on the shaft to guide the surgeon. Since these marks must go around a drill or tap’s shaft, the tools must be rotated while being marked, a complicated task better suited for automation, according to system supplier Telesis Technologies Inc. (Circleville, OH). The company’s system incorporates a six-axis robot for handling, a 100-W Nd:YAG laser, and Telesis software. The system “takes a pallet of 100 parts at a time through the complicated marking cycles in a matter of minutes,” says the company’s Ralph Villiotti.

Accounting and personal finance software expert Intuit had a great idea: Use its expertise to help families track medical expenses, payments, and insurance reimbursements. But while we applaud the attempt, this first version of Quicken Medical Expense Manager leaves us wanting more.

Medical Expense Manager is a slightly modified blank slate, a framework for entering the bills and statements you receive from suppliers of medical services and the companies that insure you. From this, you can see quick overviews of what you’re spending and receiving, and track missing money.

Like every other Intuit product, Medical Expense Manager is exceedingly easy to use. Prefab, customizable fields let you record things like provider, service, and reason; insurance and co-pays; and additional payments. Other fields in the detail box can hold provider billing amount and write-off, insurance payment, mileage, FSA status, and notes. Reports show you any claims in dispute (dispute letter models are included), any claims pending, tax deductions, and other groupings.

That’s all fine, but it’s not enough—and it’s not up to Intuit standards. There are many omissions, like the ability to track insurance premiums and deductibles more intuitively, partial payment and refund processing, and in-depth tools for medication management. Smaller changes (like customizable columns, keyboard shortcuts, better help, and more flexibility in field definition) would make the program more usable, too. Medical Expense Manager does not import or export even existing medical payments and deposits from Quicken or data to Excel.

That said, the shortcomings are not all Intuit’s fault. We pulled out a stack of old medical bills and tried to enter them. We were quickly stymied by several things, including billing line item differences among providers and insurers, and unfamiliar breakdowns of insurance payments, discounts, adjustments, and so on. Still, we say wait until the next version.

Now that you’re HIPAA compliant or have requested an extra year to get into compliance, it’s time to take a look at your practice management software, according to Dr. David Kibbe.

A new, noncommercial Web site created by Dr. Kibbe and sponsored by 15 medical societies and by several health information technology associations aims to help physicians make sure their practice management systems are ready for the electronic transactions and code set requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists is among the sponsors.

The administrative simplification portion of HIPAA contains standards governing three major areas in health care: transactions, privacy, and security. Physicians were recently able to receive a 1-year extension in complying with the electronic transactions and code set requirements of HIPAA by filing a model compliance plan with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A portion of HIPAA protecting the privacy of patient’s personal health information is already in effect. HIPAA’s health information security standards have been proposed, but are not finalized.

The site, www.hipaa.org/pmsdirectory, allows physicians to search a listing of more than three dozen company profiles created by practice management system (PMS) vendors. Eventually, the list is likely to grow to more than 400 companies, said Dr. Kibbe, director of health information technology for the American Academy of Family Physicians.

Each vendor profile includes the company name, address, phone number, a HIPAA contact, and a description of the company’s products and whether the products are HIPAA ready. So far, the site has gotten about 10,000 hits.

Physicians may be under the impression that their PMS vendors are providing HIPAA-ready products, but this may not be the case. Under HIPAA, it is ultimately the physician’s responsibility to make sure that the vendors providing their practice management systems are compliant with the act’s guidelines, Dr. Kibbe pointed out. “This Web site makes it simple for doctors.”

There are hundreds of companies in the PMS vendor community, and some of them are only “marginally viable” when it comes to HIPAA readiness, said Bruce Kleaveland, chief operating officer of Physician Micro Systems Inc., a physician-owned company based in Seattle that sells software for billing and scheduling, and electronic medical records.

Mr. Kleaveland recommends that physicians who have, or are considering purchasing, a PMS system, should ask their vendors if their products are HIPAA ready Ask very specific questions to make sure such vendors understand your concerns about compliance with the electronic transactions and code sets portion of HIPAA, as opposed to the medical privacy rule.

Under the electronic transactions and code sets portion of HIPAA, all claims and bills sent to payers electronically must be of a certain format. The privacy portion of HIPAA contains no specific technical requirement that vendors must follow, Mr. Kleaveland explained. Of course, any software products purchased should provide for the confidentiality of patient information, he noted.

Finally, physicians should sign a contract with the vendor, making sure that the HIPAA readiness of its products is noted in the document, Mr. Kleaveland said. Similarly, it is a good idea for doctors using billing services to sign contracts with these services, making sure it is noted that the service is complying with HIPAA and will protect patients’ private medical information.

Despite the communal angst surrounding HIPAA, it is actually good news for physicians, Dr. Kibbe said. Once the conversion to HIPAA-ready software is complete, doctors will save time and money.

For example, the average family medicine practice (2.5 physicians) currently spends an estimated 19 minutes tracking down insurance eligibility information on a patient. With the installation of HIPAA-ready PMS software, it takes 30 seconds for the automated system to track down the information, saving the average family practice an estimated $4,500 a year on that task alone. The average family medicine practice can be expected to save approximately $48,600 a year, according to research published in Dr. Kibbe’s book “Field Guide to HIPAA Implementation,” published by the American Medical Association Press. Physicians in other specialties such as internal medicine and pediatrics would probably see similar cost savings, if they also practice in a small group setting.

Memphis, Tennessee. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Warsaw, Indiana. Ansonia, Connecticut. The first three cities on this list are identified as major hubs for medical device manufacturing. However, HMP Industries, a generations-old screw machine shop, happens to be located in a sleepy town in Southern Connecticut. It also happens to be looking to put itself on the map in the field of medical device manufacturing. The company says it is making its mark by upgrading its massive bank of more than 100 conventional machines to CNC equipment, including a variety of multi-axis CNC Swiss-type lathes.

This new focus on higher-end medical device products and the acquisition of the type of sophisticated equipment needed to make these components forced HMP to reevaluate its programming approach. To survive in the medical device manufacturing arena, the company’s management realized that quoting, programming and setting up parts much faster would be imperative to its success.

The company turned to PartMaker CAD/CAM from PartMaker Inc., a division of Delcam. Implemented in the summer of 2006, the system purchased by HMP programs the company’s range of CNC equipment, including its Tsugami BU20SY, Star SR-20R, Star SB-16 and Kia LMS machines as well as its Fadal machining center, among others.

“Using PartMaker has definitely opened opportunities to us in our medical device business because the software allows us to quote and program faster,” says Steve Whitman, president at HMP. “This means we can deliver faster and meet the short lead times dictated by our medical customers.”

Since opening its doors more than 85 years ago, HMP Industries traditionally focused on making parts for the hand-tool industry on its cam-driven screw machines.

“As the ‘big box’ stores became more dominant and outsourced manufacturing to lower cost markets overseas, we needed to look to other growing markets,” Mr. Whitman says. “We identified the medical market as a prime target because of its growth and its need for the precision machining skills we developed over the years for other industries.”

Making this transition required HMP to look closely at a number of its manufacturing processes, from job quoting through part programming to machine setup of new jobs as the move to medical introduced new materials and parts with more intricate and complex geometries. These parts also require tighter tolerances as well as shorter lead times for both quotes and finished product deliveries.

Prior to implementing the software, HMP’s technical staff had been programming the CNC Swiss as well as the other CNC machines with a combination of manual programming techniques and “cutting and pasting” output from other CAM systems. The approach was particularly inefficient for the Swiss machines.

According to the company, PartMaker has improved productivity by speeding programming time, reducing machine setup time and reducing scrap. Gary Svenson, the chief CNC programmer at HMP, estimates that the new package has reduced the amount of time it takes him to program a part by about 70 percent from the previous method. Additionally, because PartMaker allows him to visually prove out a part on screen with its array of process verification tools, he has also been able to reduce the amount of time required to set up new jobs. Mr. Svenson estimates that the software has in fact reduced machine setup time by about one third.

“When you program parts by hand, you spend a lot of time dry running a part on the machine during setup,” Mr. Svenson says. “With PartMaker, this time is greatly reduced because you know what to expect–you see the part being simulated on screen.”

The 3D simulation capability allows the programmer to verify the machining of a part off-line before sending a program to the machine tool. The fact that the software is equipped with postprocessors for the company’s array of machine tools (including all of its Swiss models) offers HMP engineers the assurance that the program will run correctly when it is sent to the machine tool. More accurate part programs are sent to the machine, thus reducing scrap because fewer parts need to be cut before going into final production.

“The software has been helpful in programming some of our more complicated medical parts with more complex geometries,” Mr. Svenson explains. “This was especially important when you take into account the cost of the material for these parts, which are titanium or 17-4-PH stainless steel.”

The capabilities of the new software have allowed the company to maximize the capabilities of its CNC Swiss machines. HMP says it can use the fullest extent of its machines’ numerous axes in an intuitive manner through the Visual Programming strategy. This approach makes programming the milling and turning capabilities of machines such as HMP’s Star SR-20R or Tsugami BU-20SY much easier. The software breaks a complex part into individual face windows. Each window contains features being machined in a particular plane. For example in one window, all turning operations on the machine’s main spindle are programmed graphically. In another window, milling using the machine’s C axis with a horizontally oriented tool may be programmed, while in another a group of features using the machine’s Y axis with a vertically oriented tool may be programmed.

Sometimes in shifting to new systems as a result of an acquisition or merger, companies don’t always have time to bring their users up to speed on how to make the most of the new software.

Case in point: Dade Behring Holdings, the world’s largest company dedicated exclusively to clinical diagnostics. In 1996, Dade Behring (then called Dade International) purchased DuPont’s diagnostic business with an eye to expanding its leadership in clinical chemistry.

That same year, the company began switching from a DuPont-developed system to an SAP Flexible Planning Module. Unfortunately, once it got off the DuPont system, Dade Behring, which offers a range of products, services and systems designed to meet the needs of medical labs, discovered there were problems in getting users to adjust to the new software. “We had our first experience with training in using the SAP module,” says Bill Magagna, global Instructional System Design (ISD) lead for Dade Behring.

The implementation was hardly a success. In fact, because it couldn’t get its users up to speed on the SAP system, Dade Behring for eight months was unable to update forecasts on the system, according to an article by John Dougherty, a senior partner at manufacturing and educational consultancy Partners for Excellence who did consulting work for Dade Behring. New forecasts had to be generated manually.

Fortunately, Dade Behring managed to surmount this obstacle. Since then, it has continued to roll out new and updated applications, including additional SAP modules as well as internal sales and services applications from Siebel Systems, now owned by Oracle. “The objective was to leverage an interactive, real-time training program. OnDemand Software was the solution,” says Susan Klein, Dade Behring’s director of I.T. portfolio management, referring to a vendor.

More specifically, Dade Behring has had to ensure that more than 3,000 end users employees who speak a variety of languages and serve in key customer support areas including customer management, logistics and finance& could quickly get up to speed when new software came into play. “It’s our job to make sure every employee is knowledgeable and comfortable with the software applications they need to provide the best customer service,” Klein says.

Given that end-user adaptation, or lack thereof, is a major reason for failed implementations, this was one of those challenges that can make or break a company.

Lessons Learned

For its most recent training initiative, which began several years ago and is ongoing, Dade Behring selected OnDemand Personal Navigator from OnDemand Software, the King of Prussia, Pa.- based division of Global Knowledge. “OnDemand Personal Navigator served as the backbone of the end-user support solution to the different business areas and customers,” Magagna explains.

OnDemand Personal Navigator, a synchronized platform, supports all phases of a software rollout project life cycle from blueprinting, design, configuration, testing, simulation and documentation, to training and ongoing learning support. Its complementary product, OnDemand Knowledge Pathways, rounds out the solution with a content/knowledge repository to manage training materials.

The platform enables developers to create content in multiple languages, an essential feature for a global company such as Dade Behring. It also delivers multiple types of output as required by each member of the project team for each phase of the project life cycle. “All of the training materials are role-specific, providing users with just the information they need to know to get their job done,” says Diane Seghposs, an OnDemand spokeswoman. These outputs include business process documents, test scripts, simulations, training manuals and performance support.

Perhaps the platform’s most important feature, Magagna says, is that it enables companies to drive change management and achieve organizational readiness. “With a single functional group, we were able to use one solution to spearhead the company initiative of training the end users and deploying the new system,” he says. “We set as our goal, effective and efficient training material. And we drove standards throughout the instructional design cycle, from assessment to evaluation. All work procedures, training and documentation going forward were to be version-controlled and quality-certified.”

Typically, end users start the learning process with live instructors in a training facility, which can be situated either at a customer site or at an OnDemand location. “Training events occur at multiple sites at the same time,” Magagna explains. From there, end users continue their education virtually, accessing the software from the Internet or downloading it to their desktops. Content developers also receive a disk as part of the training process for developing content. The end users train through OnDemand, and do not receive disks.

Providing single corporate information resource for all mission-critical materials information, GRANTA MI(TM) v1.3 manages, analyzes, and applies materials information in engineering enterprises. Data management capabilities smooth flow of information from materials testing labs into design and analysis. Using Enterprise Materials Optimizer, manufacturing businesses can develop and apply materials strategies that comply with environment regulations and optimize product performance.

Cambridge, UK - May 24, 2007 - Granta Design has announced a new release of GRANTA MI(TM), the leading system for managing, analyzing, and applying materials information in engineering enterprises. GRANTA MI 1.3 has been optimized through collaboration with top engineering organizations, ensuring that its new features address business-critical issues in key industry sectors.

New data management capabilities further smooth the flow of information from materials testing labs into design and analysis. These features are prioritized and tested by Material Data Management Consortium members including NASA, Rolls-Royce, GE - Aviation, Honeywell, and Northrop Grumman. One such improvement is the automated capture and updating of relationships between material test data records. This is vital in sectors such as aerospace and medical devices where organizations must maintain and trace an accurate pedigree for data.

Manufacturing businesses must also apply materials information to make and implement business decisions. They use GRANTA MI’s Enterprise Materials Optimizer (MI:EMO) to develop and apply materials strategies that avoid cost, comply with environmental regulations, and improve product performance. MI:EMO, first released in 2006, is developed with guidance from the Materials Strategy Forum, a new collaboration including manufacturers such as Emerson Electric. The technology has been refined to create a robust tool validated through use in initial customer environments. MI:EMO is compelling for any organization that needs to consider materials selection or substitution.

Making the right design and business decisions also requires the right information. GRANTA MI 1.3 accesses new or enhanced reference data for: aerospace alloys, nuclear and chemical engineering materials, thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), medical plastics, and eco-design. Price data for over 3,000 materials has been updated using an improved price model.

“GRANTA MI is unique in its ability to provide a comprehensive range of materials information solutions to engineering businesses,” comments Dr David Cebon, Managing Director of Granta Design. “By working closely with our customers, we’ve delivered advances in many areas in GRANTA MI 1.3. Whether you simply want to access materials reference information, have more complex data management needs, or want to optimize your materials strategy, GRANTA MI now provides even more help.”

Details of key new features in GRANTA MI 1.3 are:

- MI:EMO identifies materials that meet specific functions, objectives, and constraints in product design. It ranks performance for your specific application relative to a reference material - a very useful tool when considering materials substitutions.

- ‘Smart links’ help to manage the relationships between data. For example, as lab test data is captured, GRANTA MI can recognize a reference to the batch of material being tested and link the test results to that material batch in the GRANTA MI database. Such links are updated automatically if data changes.

- New data handling and display features make it easier to interact with the complex graphical and functional data typical of material properties.

- Updated reference information: a new data module offering the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel code (materials for nuclear and conventional energy and chemical plants); updated MMPDS-02 aerospace alloys data (formerly Mil-Handbook-5); new data for thermoplastic elastomers (TPEs), material prices, medical plastics and eco-properties.

About GRANTA MI

The accurate, efficient, and secure use of data about materials such as alloys, composites, plastics, and ceramics is essential to engineering enterprises. GRANTA MI provides a single corporate information resource for all mission-critical materials information. Materials experts apply GRANTA MI’s specialist materials analysis tools, creating certified property information that GRANTA MI publishes in a secure and controlled manner. GRANTA MI helps engineers and other professionals to access and apply this information, for example in product design, assured that it is relevant, traceable, and the best available.

About Granta

Granta Design Limited is the materials information technology expert. Granta develops the leading software for materials information management in engineering enterprises, and the leading teaching toolkit for materials engineering education. Granta serves sectors as diverse as aerospace, defense, energy, medical devices, automotive, motorsports, manufacture of consumer and industrial equipment, publishing, and materials production. Customers realize multi-million dollar benefits in reduced cost, enhanced performance, improved quality, and speedier design. Granta was founded in 1994 as a spinout from the University of Cambridge and the work of Professor Mike Ashby and Dr David Cebon.

Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center, a 436-bed acute care, nonprofit teaching hospital serving eastern Los Angeles and western San Bernardino counties, licensed Lawson Software’s Enterprise Performance Management and Healthcare Supply Chain Management, with functionality for finance, surgical instrument and human resources management.