Introduction

Material Test Panels encompass all your material testing needs in the Material Management Module. A Material Test Panel is a set of tests that can be performed at the Material Batch Level, to fill out test results, notes, and documents related to each test. The Material Tester will be able to create and edit Panels, and any user with access to the Material Management module can navigate through these results to find out more about the mechanical and chemical composition of the material batches they are dealing with.

Setting up

Before addin a material test panel to a batch, there are a few set-up actions that need to be completed:

• adding your own personalised material tests (if you wish) 

• assigning corresponding material tests to Material Types

Add a Material Test to your Bureau

You can add a material test by navigating to your Bureau Administration menu and into Material Tests. The standard tests that might be useful to load in to the system are as follows:

If there are any additional tests that are performed at your facility, it is possible to add them to this list within your bureau. To add a test, first navigate to your Administration menu and Material Tests, click on the "Add Test" button, and enter a name and a unit for your test. You will be able to execute this test later on, along with the pre-loaded tests listed above.

If the unit you are looking for does not exist, add one manually by clicking the “Manage Test Units” button.

Assign Material Tests to a Material Type

Once you are happy with the material tests that have been added to the bureau, you will need to assign which Material Tests are applicable to which Material Type. Choose a material type to begin with, and in the “Material Tests” box, select all the Material Tests that apply to that material type.

These selected tests will be the only tests that appear as a suggestion when testing that type of material at the batch level. You will have the option to enter test results for all these selected tests, but they will not all be mandatory.

For example, if you have selected tests A, B and C at the material type level, when testing that material type at the batch level you will have the option to enter test results for tests A, B, and C only. However, you can choose not to enter test results for all 3, and only populate test C.

Execution

Now that you are set up, you can start testing your Material Batches and add new Test Panels to them.

Adding a Material Test Panel

When you are ready to test a Material Batch, scan the QR code of a batch and mark it as “In Testing”. The system will create a sample for that test. Here, the material operator will be able to keep working with that material batch without having to wait for the test results to come back.

In the meantime, when the lab tester opens the batch on their browser, they will be able to enter their test results by clicking on Add Test Panel (A). The Panel modal will have all the tests that are available for that material type listed on the left, as selected at the Material Type level (B). Click through each of the tests to add the test results. The units are added automatically, and the user is able to add notes and upload documents. The user can also add Custom Instructions, if the test has more than one result, and select the units (C). Save the panel to close the modal.

Simply click on the panel to edit your results. Each time the QR user marks that batch as “in Testing” in the QR app, there will be a new button for the lab tester to add a Material Panel.