Paper logbooks and spreadsheets are disconnected.
Lab results sit in a binder or a spreadsheet, completely separate from the DCS or historian. When an off-spec result shows up, there is no automatic link to the process conditions that caused it.
PiLimsLaboratory Information Management System with OPC Client for Process Plants
PiLims sample queue and OPC live tags · lab results correlated with real-time process data
Overview
What PiLims Is, and the Problem It Solves
PiLims is laboratory information management system (LIMS) software with a built-in OPC client, built by PiControl Solutions as a low-cost, user-friendly alternative to complex enterprise LIMS platforms. PiLims captures lab analyses and quality specs, tracks sample chains from collection through disposition, and — because of its native OPC client — correlates every lab result with the live process data (temperatures, flows, pressures, compositions) captured directly from the plant's DCS, PLC, or historian via OPC-DA or OPC-UA.
Enterprise LIMS software is powerful but heavy: multi-month validation projects, dedicated IT administration, and licensing costs that few mid-size plants can justify. PiLims exists for the plants that need core LIMS functionality (sample tracking, spec checking, quality reporting) without the enterprise overhead, and adds a capability most LIMS platforms don't have at all: a built-in OPC client that ties lab quality data directly to real-time process data for inferential control.
The problem: Most plants sit between two bad options for lab data: paper logbooks and spreadsheets that never touch the process, or enterprise LIMS platforms sized and priced for pharmaceutical majors and central labs. Neither gives a mid-size plant what it actually needs — sample tracking and spec checking, correlated with the live process data that explains why a result came out the way it did.
Swipe
Enterprise LIMS is expensive and slow.
Full enterprise LIMS deployments run into six figures and multi-month validation projects, sized for facilities far larger than most process plants actually need or can justify.
Lab results without process context arrive too late.
Even a well-run lab that reports results quickly is reporting in isolation. Without the live process data attached, engineers still have to manually reconstruct what the plant was doing when the sample was taken.
PiLims removes the structural problem: core LIMS functionality at a cost mid-size plants can justify, deployed in days rather than months, with a built-in OPC client that automatically attaches live process data to every lab result.
Capabilities & Features
PiLims Capabilities & Features
PiLims's feature set is built for one outcome: lab quality data and live process data in one correlated record, without enterprise LIMS overhead.
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01
Built-in OPC client
Reads and writes live tags directly via OPC-DA or OPC-UA, compatible with every major DCS, PLC, and historian.
Why it matters
No middleware, no new control hardware, and no rip-and-replace to connect lab data to the plant.
02
Sample tracking and chain of custody
Full lifecycle logging from collection through disposition, with a complete audit trail.
Why it matters
Every release decision is documented and defensible for regulatory review.
03
Automatic spec-limit checking
Flags results as pass or fail against quality specs the moment they're entered.
Why it matters
Removes manual comparison and catches out-of-spec results immediately, not at end-of-shift review.
04
Lab-to-process correlation
Every result is timestamped against the live process data captured at sample time.
Why it matters
Turns isolated lab records into the data set inferential models and root-cause analysis need.
05
Quality and COA reporting
Certificate-of-analysis-style reports and statistical trend charts, ready to export or print.
Why it matters
Puts audit-ready quality documentation in front of customers and auditors without manual assembly.
06
Low-cost, fast deployment
Runs on standard Windows hardware and deploys without a multi-month enterprise LIMS validation project.
Why it matters
Plants get core LIMS functionality without the licensing cost or IT overhead of enterprise platforms.
07
Inferential model data feed
Correlated history trains and validates soft sensors that predict quality between lab assays.
Why it matters
Fills the gap between infrequent lab assays with a continuous, model-based quality estimate.
Who uses it
How Labs and Process Engineers Use PiLims
Quality & Lab
Sample Tracking and Quality Documentation
Quality and lab departments use PiLims to log samples, enter assay results, and check them against spec limits without the cost and validation overhead of enterprise LIMS platforms. Every release decision is backed by a documented, time-stamped record, ready for certificate-of-analysis reporting and regulatory review.
- Sample collection, logging, testing, and release workflow
- Automatic pass/fail flagging against quality specs
- Certificate-of-analysis-style reporting
- Batch quality documentation for pharmaceutical and specialty-chemical plants
- Trend charts for recurring out-of-spec investigation
Process & Control
Inferential Control and Quality-Driven Troubleshooting
Process and control engineers use PiLims's OPC-correlated data to close the gap between infrequent lab assays and continuous process operation. Because every sample is tagged with live process conditions, PiLims's history becomes the training set for inferential models that estimate product quality between lab tests, feeding real-time monitoring and process optimization work.
- Soft-sensor and inferential-model training data
- Root-cause investigation linking off-spec results to process upsets
- Quality reporting alongside loop and unit performance
- Correlated data feed for advanced process control projects
Related products
PiLims and the PiControl OPC and Monitoring Software
PiLims is part of PiControl's OPC-connected software range: correlated lab and process data feeds directly into loop monitoring, high-speed data logging, and cross-network OPC connectivity.
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APROMON - for Real-Time Loop Performance Monitoring
APROMON real-time loop monitoring watches PID and APC loops continuously for oscillation, valve degradation, and tuning drift — the process-side counterpart to the quality data PiLims tracks in the lab.
PiLogger - for High-Speed Data Logging
PiLogger historizes the same OPC tags PiLims correlates with lab results, at sub-second resolution for tuning analysis and post-mortem investigation.
PiBridge - for Cross-Network OPC Connectivity
PiBridge bridges OPC data across networks and firewalls, extending PiLims's built-in OPC client to plants where the lab and the control network sit on separate segments.
Industries
PiLims at work in your industry
Every process industry runs a lab alongside its plant floor — PiLims connects the two, whatever quality specs and process tags a given industry runs.
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions About PiLims
LIMS OPC clients, DCS/historian connectivity, inferential control, and how to get a trial.
PiLims is laboratory information management system (LIMS) software with a built-in OPC client. Built by PiControl Solutions, it captures lab analyses, tracks sample chains from collection through disposition, and correlates lab quality data with live process data pulled directly from the DCS, PLC, or historian via OPC.
Enterprise LIMS platforms are powerful but expensive and slow to deploy, often requiring months of validation and dedicated IT administration. PiLims is a low-cost, user-friendly alternative built specifically for process plants, and its built-in OPC client is not a standard enterprise LIMS feature.
An OPC client lets software read and write live tags from a DCS, PLC, or historian over the OPC-DA or OPC-UA standard. PiLims uses its built-in OPC client to pull live process data at the moment a sample is taken, so lab results are automatically correlated with the process conditions that produced them.
Yes. PiLims connects through OPC-DA and OPC-UA, which are supported by every major DCS, PLC, and plant historian. No rip-and-replace and no new control hardware is required.
Yes. Because PiLims timestamps every lab result against the live process data captured at sample time, that correlated history becomes the training and validation feed for inferential models and soft sensors that predict quality between lab assays.
Both. Quality and lab departments use PiLims for sample tracking, spec-limit checking, and certificate-of-analysis reporting. Process and control engineers use the same correlated data for inferential control, quality-driven troubleshooting, and closing the gap between lab results and real-time operations.
Request a free PiLims demo, or contact PiControl Solutions directly for free trial software. A PiControl engineer will walk through sample tracking, OPC connectivity, and lab-to-process correlation for your plant.
Get started
Request a PiLims Demo
See PiLims track a sample from collection to release, and watch its built-in OPC client pull live process data in real time. A PiControl engineer will demonstrate the software on data relevant to your lab and plant, and discuss free trial software.