“This is what we want to be when we grow up,” quipped Amanda Hays, PhD, after touring ARUP Laboratories with more than 150 other attendees who were in Salt Lake City for the Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) Conference. Her colleague, Amy Berg, added: “It’s good for us to see all of this in action—the automation, the Six Sigma and LEAN aspects—to learn what’s possible for our own labs.”
Prior to attending an ARUP-hosted reception up the street on the top floor of the Natural History Museum of Utah, attendees were escorted through ARUP’s main building in Research Park that houses most of its 65 laboratories, many of which operate 24/7.
Glimpsing ARUP’s inner-workings began in Specimen Processing, where attendees witnessed test tubes and specimens spinning, chugging, sliding, and riding along automated equipment on their way to the appropriate laboratories. ARUP’s in-house IT and engineering team has helped make ARUP one of the most automated medical laboratories in the world, which has played a significant part in helping ARUP achieve Six Sigma in lost specimens.
The tour made several other stops outside of Specimen Processing, including: Molecular Infectious Disease, Molecular Genetics, Sequencing, Fragment Analysis, Molecular Oncology, and Genomics. In each laboratory, designated staff shared information about testing and fielded a range of questions. “If you are a lab geek, like me, this made me very happy,” said one lab technologist from Oregon after the tour.
Questions revealed the expertise of this discerning audience of guests, who noted everything from types of instrumentation, LEAN aspects, processes, efficiencies, and volumes of specimens. Juan Dong, PhD, from Arizona, also said, “I noticed happy people at work here.”
![Dave Rogers, AVP group manager of Support Services and Specimen Processing, kicked off the tour by showing our guests all the automation and systems in place to protect and maintain specimen viability from the moment it enters a courier’s hands, arrives at ARUP, and maneuvers through Specimen Processing. Rogers estimates that it takes a specimen, on average, about 11 hours to reach ARUP from out-of-state clients, spending approximately 4 hours in the Specimen Processing area before arriving at its designated lab.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Dave-Rogers.jpg)
![Zach Wilkey, Laboratory Support Group Manager of
Operations Engineering, showed off the in-house track where pucks move along at three meters a second, then he walked attendees through the sorting automation in place, including 10 automated sorting machines with robotic arms. He also showed attendees the world’s largest specimen freezer, which can hold more than 2.2 million specimens.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Zach-Wilkey.jpg)
![In the Infectious Disease Sequencing Lab, lead technologist, Amy Cockerham, talked about the new test, Respiratory Pathogens by Next Generation Sequencing (also known as Explify). She also spoke about testing for hepatitis C, human immunodeficiency virus, and antiviral drug resistance.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Infectious-Disease-Sequencing.jpg)
![Technologist, Jeremy Vibber, spoke about molecular infectious disease testing, fielding quite a few questions about high volume workflow. “They wanted to know how we’re able to maintain sample identities throughout the process, which processes are manual or automated, and the role of instrumentation,” said Vibber.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Jeremy-Vibber.jpg)
![Carlos Vance, technical supervisor in the Genetics Sequencing Lab, spoke about their tests, including the Pancreatitis Panel, breast and ovarian cancer sequencing. Many groups were interested in how the confirmations were done for next-generation sequencing.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Carlos-Vance.jpg)
![More than 300 AMP attendees joined ARUP faculty and staff at the Natural History Museum of Utah, located in the foothills of Salt Lake City.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-300-Visitors.jpg)
![AMP Conference attendees boarded buses from ARUP and headed up the street to the museum, just a few minutes away. Attendees came from laboratories and hospitals around the world.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-AMP-Conference-1.jpg)
![A Visual Tour: AMP’s Attendees Spend a Night at the Museum and ARUP Laboratories](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-AMP-Conference-2.jpg)
![Andy Theurer (left), ARUP’s president, and Julio Delgado, MD, the ARUP’s chief medical officer, visit with colleagues and guests.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Andy-Theurer.jpg)
![A Visual Tour: AMP’s Attendees Spend a Night at the Museum and ARUP Laboratories](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-AMP-Conference-3.jpg)
![CEO Sherrie Perkins, Andy Theurer, president (left), and Jake Stevens, director of Market Research at ARUP, enjoy the music, food, and company at the reception.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-Sherrie-Perkins.jpg)
![Details, like the S’more treats (marshmallows dipped in chocolate and dusted with crushed graham crackers) and local craft beers, added to the evening’s delights.](/files/images/blog/slides/2017-AMP-Conference-5.jpg)
By Peta Owens-Liston, ARUP Science Communications Writer