What is LMACS?
Background
The Laboratory Management and Access Control System (LMACS) is the result of over 10 years of development within a shared access facility in the University of Alberta’s nanoFAB Centre. The system has grown to encompass a wide range of management features applicable to open access facilities, but is primarily focused with the task of managing user access to equipment. This includes managing equipment schedules as well as tracking actual usage and applying related charges.
In addition to this core functionality, the system also includes the capability to:
- Manage all types of requests (service, training, sample processing, administrative, etc..)
- Control physical access to equipment through hardware interlocks
- Charge rates based on project types
- Charge rates based on peak or off peak usage
- Automatically generate invoices
- Manages spending with project budgets (or user budgets)
- Delegate project management to group or project managers
- Create custom calendar subscriptions
Concepts
A few main concepts should be understood in order to work with the system. From an administrative perspective, work in the centre is performed by users and captured within projects. Projects are owned by groups. Groups are financially responsible for charges (if any) incurred by users.
Below is a brief explanation of each term as used within the system.
Projects
Projects are used to group together related charges within the centre. Each project belongs to a specific group who will be financially responsible for any charges. Users are added to projects in order to allow them to do work or request resources. Projects can be configured with a number of options the will determine the amount of work authorized, or the timeframe for which the project will remain active. Projects can be managed via LMACS by project or group managers.
Groups
A Group can represent either a company or a research group. Groups are financially responsible for the charges incurred to their projects. Groups can be managed within the system by group managers. Users who have been designated as a group manager will also be able to manage all of the projects associated with the group. The management functions for both group managers will be found under the manage menu option.
Roles
There are a few key roles to understand when working in the system. Roles are used to determine the type of system access a user will have.
User
A user is an individual who has registered in the LMACS system and has a username and password. Users are the ones who actually perform or request work within the centre. All of a users’ work is captured within projects. A user may be a member of any number of projects. All Equipment training and usage will be associated with a user account. User accounts can be automatically de-activated after a specified period of inactivity.
Project Manager
Project Managers are users who have been designated to manage a specific project. If you are a project manager, you will be able to configure project settings and manage project users.
Group Manager
Group Managers are users who have been designated to manage aspects of a specific group. If you are a group manager, you will be able to manage aspects of your group, as well as create and configure project settings and manage project users. Group managers are also project managers by default on all of their groups projects.
Equipment (Tools)
A piece of equipment, or tool, is any item within the system that can be booked and used by logging in. Throughout this guide, the term tool and equipment will be used interchangeably.
Equipment Booking
In order to ensure fair access to the Equipment in the centre – Equipment reservations, or bookings are typically required by users. This is to ensure that users are able to properly plan ahead to maximize their time in the centre and plan activities accordingly. All Equipment bookings must be made through the system in advance of using the Tool. There are a number of ways to view the availability of Equipment – details can be viewed in the HowTo Reserve a Tool section. The system will enforce booking restrictions based on a variety of factors. These are Tool specific and will be explained to you by your trainer during your training sessions. There are no charges incurred for booking a Tool.
Equipment Usage (Logging in)
Before you actually begin using a Equipment, you must first Login. In many cases, Equipment are physically disabled until you have successfully logged in. Once you have logged in, you will begin to accrue charges at the appropriate rates for the Tool.
Requests
Requests are a key component of managing workflow within the system. A request is simply a container which users and staff can use to track the progress of various user inquiries. Requests can be of arbitrary types – some examples are: Training, Maintenance, Sample Submission, Administrative, IT, etc. Within the request, you can create multiple Items (process steps, tasks, etc.. ), track history, add files, create bookings and add comments.