Geotechnical Sample Tracking: Has the Sample Arrived?
A sample leaves the vessel, drilling site or storage facility. A few days later, someone asks: “Has the sample arrived at the laboratory?” For geotechnical laboratories, this simple question is at the heart of effective geotechnical sample tracking. It sounds like a simple question. But answering it can mean several steps: checking a chain-of-custody form, […]
Excel, email, and SharePoint are not a lab workflow
Friday afternoon. Someone on the project asks a question that should be simple: Which test result is final? Nobody points to one screen and answers it. Someone opens SharePoint and finds final_v3 — and final_v3_revised. Someone else pulls conditions from an email thread that may not match the PDF in the folder. The schedule lives in Excel, edited yesterday […]
Who Set the Test Conditions — and Who Approved Them?
A laboratory test can be executed perfectly and still create a problem for the project. Why? Because the test may have been run under the wrong conditions. Geotechnical laboratory test conditions can be critical. Confining pressure, consolidation stress, loading direction, drainage conditions, stress path, cyclic loading parameters and other requirements can directly affect whether the […]
Geotechnical Laboratory Workflow: From Version Chaos to One Source of Truth
Someone on the project asks a question that should be simple: “Which test result is final?” Nobody points to one screen and answers it. Instead, someone opens SharePoint and finds `final_v3` — and `final_v3_revised`. Someone else pulls conditions from an email thread that may not match the PDF in the folder. The testing schedule lives in Excel, saved in SharePoint and edited yesterday by […]
Geotechnical Laboratory Test Status: Live Visibility
You know the question. Midweek, someone on the project asks: “What’s the status of my test?” Unsure looks appear and everyone starts to dig into project documentation to understand exactly what has been happening in the laboratory. One person opens an old spreadsheet while another person scrolls through a cluttered email inbox to track down […]
Geotechnical Laboratory Workflow: How to Answer Client Questions in 30 Seconds
Can your team answer a client’s question in less than 30 seconds? A well-designed geotechnical laboratory workflow gives you information at your fingertips. Yet many laboratories have a workflow that relies on spreadsheets, emails, PDFs, shared folders, and disconnected software to manage their workflows. As a result, finding a simple project update often turns […]