Digital location

In May 2020, Noack Laboratorien GmbH has been awarded the digital award „Digitaler Ort Niedersachsen“ by the Ministry of Economics of the federal state Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony). The price is awarded to schools, universities, research facilities, start-ups, small and mid-sized companies, charity organizations and other institutions that show extraordinary commitment in the success of digitalization in the respective field. Please find more information here.
Secretary of State Stefan Muhle presented the award and was shown the functionality of the awarded project, the smartGlasses.

A smart way to work in the lab
The laboratory staff scans the QR code on plant pots using the smartGlasses in order to identify the test replicate. Subsequently, the technicians characterize the development and the state of the plants with regard to certain criteria by speech recognition. The answers are shown on the screen of the smartGlasses and confirmed by the staff. This enables the technicians to efficiently assess the plants and document the effects without using pen and paper. Furthermore, transcription errors are avoided by exporting the data directly into files.

A successful cooperation for digitalization projects
The smartGlasses were established in cooperation with the research initiative smartLAB and the Institute of Technical Chemistry of the Leibniz University Hannover.

Noack Laboratorien GmbH follows further digitalization projects in cooperation with the TCI Hannover:
Digital picture processing algorithms help counting organisms like duckweed and collembola. Instead of counting the organisms manually, the algorithm analyses a picture of the replicate and assesses the number of leaves or collembolan in an instant.
Good Laboratory Practice requires thorough documentation of equipment and reagent usage. By scanning the QR codes on equipment or chemicals, the usage is documented simultaneously in study files and equipment handling documents. Additionally, expired chemicals or equipment calibrations are shown directly to prevent staff from using the respective items.

Digitalization is important for the present and the future
Digital communication has become of significant importance during the Covid-19 crisis. But already before, Noack Laboratorien GmbH has invested in digital communication tools like laptops and tablets.
Dr. Christian Maeß, CEO of Noack Laboratorien GmbH: “Digitalization has been a special concern in our facility for long and is followed up actively. In the current situation we can luckily come back to various already established processes. However, we see necessities for further support. This includes fast internet, digital communication channels and administration and training in the digital context. We as a company and others will only survive this crisis if digitalization is advanced massively.”