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Instron (Norwood, Mass., U.S.), a global manufacturer of testing equipment for the materials and structural testing markets, has launched a new iteration of its Bluehill Central software platform. It now offers the Lab Management module as a standalone option for labs of all sizes seeking to easily manage their Instron assets and access test data.

Bluehill Central 2 enables centralized management of Bluehill Universal software applications that are tied to multiple Instron testing systems, as each system sends and receives data from the central database. It enables labs to remotely manage Bluehill Universal test templates, users, results, file revisions and audit trail data.

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Previously available only when bundled with the Traceability module, the Lab Management tool enables connected Instron testing systems to access Bluehill Central’s file repository to run controlled test methods, export results, upload and download files and manage user permissions.

With the latest release of Bluehill Central, the Lab Management module also offers new features including offline syncing, new read/write access and file revision status management.

Offline mode syncs and stores method files on each Instron machine in the lab so that users can continue testing even if a network outage occurs. Files and folders remain available, and tests that are run offline are automatically pushed to the database when the network connection is restored.

An extra layer of security has been added to the read/write access options, giving labs greater ability to restrict access to specific files, folders and methods. Individual files can be locked so they’re editable only by certain people, for example, and specific operators can be prevented from running tests that they aren’t yet trained to run.

The file revision status management available with Bluehill Central 2 is said to make it easy to view and control a method’s revision status — Active, Obsolete, Draft or Pending Review — which helps to streamline method life cycle management.

The Lab Management module is available without needing to purchase the Traceability plug-in, but Traceability is a valuable option for labs that want to review file changes remotely and filter and print the audit trail from test systems. The compliance-friendly plug-in is especially beneficial for labs in fields such as biomedical, aerospace, automotive and defense that are highly regulated by the FDA.

Another plug-in, Bluehill Central’s TrendTracker, enhances a lab’s data analysis by enabling users to export test results from all connected systems to track trends in data over time.