Use of software in construction laboratories, development of z-mega software for digitalization of laboratory reports, digital data

storage and processing of test results

USE OF SOFTWARE IN CONSTRUCTION LABORATORIES,

DEVELOPMENT OF Z-MEGA SOFTWARE FOR DIGITALIZATION OF
LABORATORY REPORTS, DIGITAL DATA STORAGE AND
PROCESSING OF TEST RESULTS
Bojan Lemez
BLCSS d.o.o , Sime Šolaje 1A, 78 000 Banja Luka ,infoblcss@gmail.com
Abstract: In daily work of all testing laboratories, including laboratories for testing of construction materials, software
is widely used as a necessary tool for quick obtaining of accurate results. This paper presents the development of the
Z-Mega software, which deals with the digitalization of the way the laboratory reports are generated. The final
product, the Z-Mega software, in many ways speeds up and facilitates the writing of laboratory reports and enables
quick processing of results of unlimited number of reports in the form of tabular and graphical presentation of data.

Keywords: Construction laboratory, software

1. INTRODUCTION

The use of software in construction laboratories has increased significantly in the last couple of decades,
to the extent that the daily work of construction laboratories is now unthinkable without the use of some of
the programs. In principle, the software used in construction laboratories can be divided into 4 categories:
 Industrial software (software integrated into measuring instruments, e.g., concrete press, steel
tensile strength machine, etc.)
 Digital test templates (software in which work templates and tables are defined, which are
manually filled in during the examination, then by entering data into the digital version of the
template, further processing and data manipulation is performed, for example, work templates for
conducting tests created in Excel, etc.)
 Programs for reports writing (after the test is conducted and data are processed, the next step is
to write reports in programs, most often they are Word and Excel)
 LIMS (Laboratory information management system) software that deals with the workflow
management etc.)

The LIMS software (Laboratory information management system) is widely used in industries such as
pharmacy, medicine, chemical industry, etc. Wherever monitoring of the test workflow is of crucial
importance, LIMS software is irreplaceable. Unfortunately, in the field of construction materials
testing, the aforementioned category of software is underrepresented to a large scale. In previous
market research, it was established that the use of LIMS software in construction laboratories is
characteristic of laboratories that are a part of large construction companies. In their activities, those
companies use software specially adapted for their needs, and laboratory management is only one of
the modules of a larger integral software.

Due to the need to digitalize the way the laboratory is run, the client, the Institute for Civil Engineering
“IG” Banja Luka, has started the process of creating software that deals exclusively with the
management of the working processes in laboratory for testing construction materials, which is part of
the Institute. The work on creating the software started in the first half of 2020. During the software
development, the special care was taken to digitalize as many segments of the laboratory work as
possible. The final product saw the light of day at the beginning of 2021, the Z-Max software, which in
addition to workflow management (the main task of the LIMS software) has many other modes.
Thanks to the Z-max software, users have a clear overview of job execution, an archive of completed
jobs, the ability to create financial reports, management of quality system documentation,
management of material and service procurement, etc. In using of the software, the databases that
were created over time proved to be particularly useful. Databases enable users of Z-Max software to
quickly search entered data (archives of reports, clients, purchase orders, etc.) and to manipulate the
 Use of software in construction laboratories, development of z-mega software for digitalization of laboratory reports, digital data
storage and processing of test results

data. Thanks to the realized benefits of using Z-Max software, the idea was born to create new
software that will deal with writing of laboratory reports, which would raise the quality of laboratory
work to a higher level. The very process of creation and the final product Z-Mega software is also the
subject of this paper.

2. FROM IDEA TO REALIZATION

The task we were given was to create a dedicated software that will replace the current practice of
writing reports in Word and/or Excel, i.e., ultimately in PDF format, with the goal of digitalizing the test
results. The results in digital form have a huge advantage, which is reflected in the fact that they can
be easily worked with in terms of creating tabular displays of test results in one or more reports and
their statistical processing.

2.1 The project task

The project task requested by the client could be briefly summarized in a few sentences.

The future software had to have the following characteristics:

‐ Universality (the software must be universal and applicable in all areas of construction materials
testing of the laboratory of the “IG” Institute)

‐ Independence - The software must be able to function as a separate unit, but must be compatible
with the existing Z-Max software.

‐ Simplicity – using the software must be simple and adapted to all users.

2.2 Starting postulates

At the very beginning, it was decided to keep the form of the user interface from the Z-Max software. In
this way, software users will have no problem adapting to the software architecture. Apart from the
interface, we have kept the logic of using the software itself. It is reflected in the fact that the user first
defines the initial parameters, then follows the phase of data entry and finally the statistical processing of
the data. The logic of using the program is shown schematically in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Schematic representation of the use of Z-Mega software 

 
Defining of initial parameters   Statistical
processing
  Defining of basic data Data entry
 

 
Defining of conditional
 
parameters
 

     
Defining of forms
 

                                                      
 

 
Use of software in construction laboratories, development of z-mega software for digitalization of laboratory reports, digital data
storage and processing of test results

2.3 Defining of initial parameters

In general, every laboratory report, regardless of the activity of the laboratory, contains the following
elements:

- Home page with basic company data and information about the examined sample

- Test results

- Comparison of results with limit values

In this regard, in order to generate a report from digital data, it is first necessary to define individual items.
Defining of initial parameters means defining of basic values related to the company and clients
(Departments, Positions, Employees, Clients), defining of Conditional Parameters (Conditional
documents, test definitions and conditions for tests) and defining of forms (Test forms, report forms). The
method of defining of each of items is described further in the text.

2.3.1 Defining of basic data

At the very beginning of using the software, it is necessary for the user to enter the basic data of the
department, positions of organizations and employees in the organization, as well as clients. Data entry in
the program is done in the Departments, Positions, Employees and Clients program panels, classified in
the Company category. The data entry itself is done in such a way that the user enters one of the panels,
and by pressing the "Add" button, fills in simple forms and enters the data. After filling out the form, the
user confirms the data entry by pressing the confirm button. An example of the data entry form is shown
in Figure 2.

Figure 2 (Entering departments in the organization) 

 
After defining of basic data, it is necessary to define conditional parameters.

2.3.2 Defining of conditional parameters

Defining of conditional parameters means defining of "Conditional documents", "Defining tests" and
"Conditions for tests".

Defining of conditional documents is done in the "Conditional Documents" panel. The conditional
document refers to the technical standards, guidelines and/or rules that define the limit values of
individual test results that the laboratory relies on in its work. Entry of conditional documents is done by
filling in the form in the panel with the following data: the name of the document and the department in
which the document is used during the validation of the results.
Use of software in construction laboratories, development of z-mega software for digitalization of laboratory reports, digital data
storage and processing of test results

After defining of conditional documents, it is necessary to define tests. This is done in the "Experiment
definition" panel. The definition of an experiment is done by filling in a form with the name of the
experiment, the standard according to which the experiment is performed, the name of the output value
(result), the unit of the output value and the number of conditional values. In order to have flexibility, the
user may add n output values, and the number of conditional values can be 1 or 2. If the number of
conditional values is 1, the conditional document stipulates that the result is smaller/greater than the
conditional value. On the contrary, if the number of conditional values is 2, the conditional document
predicts that the obtained result is in the range between the two values. The appearance of the entered
form for defining of the experiment is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Layout of the entered form "Experiment definition".

At the end of defining of conditional parameters, it is necessary to define the conditions for tests. Defining
of conditions for tests is associating the conditional values from the conditional document to the results of
the test. For the sake of flexibility, users are allowed to create an unlimited number of subgroups. For
example, for the conditional document "BiH Guidelines for Design and Construction", for the bound final
wearing layer BB11, it is possible to enter several conditional values for the same test, which is a
consequence of the different criteria defined in the guidelines regarding the type of traffic load.

The presentation of the form for entering the test conditions is shown in Figure 4.
Use of software in construction laboratories, development of z-mega software for digitalization of laboratory reports, digital data
storage and processing of test results

2.3.3 Defining of forms

The last step in defining of initial parameters is defining of the form. The definition of forms implies the
digitalization of test forms and reports. These are at the same time the two most complex steps when
using the program, so we will pay special attention to them. Due to the constantly changing standards by
which tests are performed, as well as to introduction of changes to the test report itself, it was not
possible to "fix" the layout of the forms and reports. In addition, it is often necessary to use complex
formulas to calculate test results based on measured values, and predefining formulas is an impossible
task. In order to comply with the first requirement from the terms of reference, the universality, the BLCSS
team decided to make compromise at the expense of the third requirement of simplicity. The solution is to
use Excel as a program in which most of test results are already obtained, and with certain changes to
forms in Excel, the form itself is digitalized in the program. With this move, the universality of the program
has been maintained because it accepts any form in Excel format, and Excel is left to do what it is
indisputable in – calculation of values of test results in a quick and simple way.

The concrete definition of the test form is carried out in 3 steps.

1. Customizing the form in Excel in such a way that cells containing values of laboratory tests and results
are marked separately.

2. The second step is to add the entered form to the program, by filling in the form with the following data:
name of the form, department, standard, and to add the Excel file itself.

3. The third step is to combine test results with values that we indicated when defining the test (defining
the test described under point 2.3.2)

In this way, we fully complied with conditions related to universality, because it is possible to enter any
form for any experiment.

Defining Report Forms

Similar to the definition of the layout of forms for the digitalization of the report form, it was decided to use
reports written in the Microsoft Excel program. Digitalization of the report form is carried out in the
following steps:

1. Transferring the report, if it is not already used, to the Microsoft Excel program

2. Labeling of cells containing data, test results and conditional values. Here, the entering of free
text is additionally enabled if necessary.

3. Entering the "processed" report in Excel format into the program

4. Sorting of marked cells in Excel and associating result values that were defined during the test
definition with conditional values when defining the test conditions..

2.4. Data entry

Entering data in the program means writing of reports. The report itself is written in the reports panel. At
the very start, the form of the report is selected and basic data is entered, the name of the client, the
name of the construction site, the conditional document and the subgroup of the conditional documents
according to which the results are validated. The program guides the user step by step, where the user
enters the values measured in the laboratory, test by test. At the end, the entered results are recorded
and we have the option of generating report based on the test results.
Use of software in construction laboratories, development of z-mega software for digitalization of laboratory reports, digital data
storage and processing of test results

2.5 Statistical processing

And at the very end, the user has the option of creating a tabular overview of test results found in reports,
referring to one product or type of product. By simply checking the offered reports, the user decides which
results will be included in the table. Apart from the tabular presentation of results, the user is given the
opportunity to create more types of diagrams from the data he chooses. When creating a diagram, the
user has the option to graphically display results of mean value and limit values related to that
experiment.

3. CONCLUSION

Digitalization of the work process and management of the laboratory has multiple advantages, which are
primarily reflected in the reduction of the time required for the execution of certain operations; it enables a
better flow of information within the organization, raises the level of management of the organization to a
higher level, etc., and consequently the quality of test results, which is the universal goal of all
laboratories. The digitalization of test results represents the crown of software use in construction
laboratories. Digitally stored data, in addition to reducing the virtual space required for data storage,
enables the user to quickly and easily tabulate test results and to perform statistical processing. In this
way, laboratory employees are provided with powerful tools they can use when communicating with the
client, either to suggest corrections to improve the quality of production or to reduce the consumption of
individual components in order to achieve savings, as well as when writing scientific papers that involve
processing of a large number of results.

Acknowledgments

Special thanks must be given to Filip Vujnović, the developer who implemented everything I imagined
without too much input data.