The data is in the LIMS, but seeing it means pulling it out. Every week someone exports, merges spreadsheets and builds an Excel or Power BI report by hand — and everyone counts a little differently. By the time the report is ready, the shift that fell behind is over. A blended total doesn't help either: 100 samples pending says nothing if 98 of them belong to one internal client. OnSight answers the question while it can still be acted on, per group, on the wall.
Three questions, answered on the wall
| The lab manager asks… | OnSight answers with |
|---|---|
| "Are we falling behind — and where?" | Floor: open work per group (Plant, Metallurgy, Geology…) with the oldest sample, jobs past target and % on time; what this shift has published against the usual; and the exceptions that need someone to act. |
| "Is that standard still in control?" | Control charts: Levey-Jennings for standards, blanks and duplicates with Westgard rules, rotating on the QC TV; SPC for the plant routines. |
| "How is the plant running right now?" | Routines: the last value, the last samples, the trend and the histogram of each routine and test, four per screen. |
Floor: are we falling behind?
The answer at a glance, per group: samples waiting for a worksheet, on a worksheet and part-published; the oldest one; and the share finished on time over the last 30 days.
- This shift against usual What has been published since the shift began, against the median of the 13 previous days at the same point of the shift.
- Needs attention Samples waiting over 24 h, jobs past target, part-published samples, stale work and abandoned worksheets — with counts and detail, and nothing dropped to make room.
- Turnaround From arrival to publication, median and p90 per group against its target, with % on time.
- Trends Received against published (if more arrive than leave, the queue grows), published per shift, per hour and per crew.
Control charts the QC team can trust
Every published reading of a control in its test, with mean, ±1/2/3σ and the certified range. Click a point and its worksheet opens. Mean and σ are computed the way OnLIMS quality control computes them, and automatic outlier removal ships switched off — what you see is what was published.
- Westgard Rejection on 13s, 22s, R4s, 41s and 10x; warning on 12s. The same rules in Levey-Jennings and SPC.
- Statistics Mean, σ, RSD, bias against the certificate, Cp and Cpk, outliers and distribution.
- Routine SPC The series of a plant sampling point with the target and specification limits the chemist sets, Cpk and yield in spec.
- Standards mosaic One box per control and test, coloured by its distance from the mean: every control at a glance.
Routines: how the plant is running
Four slots per screen, one routine and one test in each: the latest result with its time, a table of the most recent published samples, the trend over the chosen range and the distribution next to it. Built for the plant office and the metallurgist who needs the number before the shift meeting.
28 ready-made widgets — each one a report you no longer build
Every widget is a report the laboratory no longer has to build by hand. They combine freely, grouped in the editor by the question they answer:
The editor: screens without programming
The supervisor builds a screen by picking widgets from the catalogue and dragging them into place — no code, no ticket to IT. Each widget comes in up to three widths, its parameters (group, days, control, routine) are set in a side panel, and a TV preview shows the screen exactly as a 1080p or 4K TV will draw it, warning if something won't fit. Screens are saved for the whole lab or as a supervisor's personal screen, and any TV can rotate through several of them every N seconds.
Configured for each laboratory, not programmed
What changes from one laboratory to the next is configuration: the OnLIMS areas or clients that make up each group, picked by name, and each group's turnaround target; day and night shift hours, the rotation (4×3, 7×7, 14×14) and crew names; which controls the QC TV rotates through; the language and a dense mode for the TV; and how many minutes without publications turn the LIMS light amber and red.
Trust in the numbers
A screen on the wall is only useful if nobody argues with it. So OnSight follows one rule everywhere: only published results count. A sample is done when every result is published in OnLIMS, and its time is that of the last one — the same rule for every client, whatever the old Excel used to do. Every number says its unit and whether it is an average or a median, and every widget has an i button with its definition: what it is, how it is calculated, where it comes from in OnLIMS, what it leaves out and an example — 73 definitions, with a glossary screen of their own.
Safe and light for IT
It installs on a laboratory server, reads the OnLIMS database and touches nothing else.
- Two safeguards against writes A read-only SQL account and, on top of it, a filter inside OnSight that refuses any statement that is not a read.
- Signed installer One file, digitally signed by Online LIMS Canada Ltd., running as a Windows service under its own service account.
- Optional encryption HTTPS for the screens and an encrypted (TLS) connection to SQL Server, if the laboratory asks for them.
- No Internet, nothing else touched It does not need the Internet, does not change OnLIMS and installs nothing on the analysts' PCs.
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Server | Windows x64 on the laboratory network — it can be the OnLIMS server, or a mini PC next to the TV |
| Database | A read-only SQL account on the OnLIMS database (we provide the script) |
| Network | A free port on the server (8080 by default), reachable from the TVs and PCs |
| Screens | A TV with a Chromium-based browser (Chrome 80 or later), or a mini PC with Chrome or Edge — 1080p or 4K |
| Editing | An OnLIMS supervisor user — the one already in use |
What OnSight will not do: it does not write to your LIMS, it does not show results that are not yet published, and it does not forecast or put an “AI score” on your lab. It shows what OnLIMS already knows, counted one way for everyone, on the screen where people can act on it.
Implementation and commercial model
A short installation and a start-up done together with the laboratory: we ask for a Windows server, the read-only SQL account, an open port on the internal network and a TV; we install OnSight, set up the groups, targets, shifts and standards with your team, and train the supervisors. Perpetual licence per site, with no per-screen and no per-viewer fees — anyone on the lab network can see it in a browser.
Frequently asked questions
Does OnSight work without OnLIMS?
No. OnSight is an OnLIMS module: everything it shows is computed from the OnLIMS database the laboratory already runs. That is why there is nothing to export, merge or keep in sync.
Can OnSight change data in the LIMS?
No. It connects with a read-only SQL account, and on top of that a filter inside OnSight refuses any statement that is not a read before it reaches the server.
Do the TVs need a login or a licence each?
No. A TV only opens a web address on the lab network, and there is no limit on screens or viewers. Editing screens and settings takes the OnLIMS supervisor login.
Does OnSight need the Internet or the cloud?
No. It runs as a Windows service inside the laboratory network. HTTPS and an encrypted SQL Server connection are available if you want them.
Why does a sample I can see in the LIMS not count as done?
Because OnSight only counts what is published: a sample is done when all its results are published in OnLIMS, at the time of the last one. Half-entered values never reach the screen.
Is it in English and Spanish?
Yes. The language is a site setting, and any screen or link can ask for the other one — the lab TV in Spanish and a supervisor's monitor in English, at the same time.
Related reading
- Brochure OnSight brochure: every screen and all 28 widgets (PDF)
- Article When Mining Labs Face Sample Surges, Control Matters More Than Speed
- Article From Sample Reception to Certificate: Chain of Custody as the Operating Backbone of a Mining Laboratory LIMS
- Solution QA/QC for mining laboratories
- Solution Smelter laboratory LIMS: routines, shifts and 24/7 QA/QC
- Solution OnQMS: accreditation evidence for ISO/IEC 17025
- History Since 1989: the sample status boards of 1993 that OnSight puts back on the wall