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SampleManager runs the QA and QC lab. Seal runs the lab and the batch its results support.

Seal, the GxP execution system, is your eBR, your QMS and more. Neil, your AI agent, does the paperwork across your systems. You sign. Bioventix cut document admin time by 80%. Start with one process beside SampleManager.

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Where SampleManager falls short.

From Thermo Fisher’s own pages, brochure and courses.

  • Project manager
    Thermo’s
    Lead consultant
    Thermo’s
    System architect
    Thermo’s
    LIMS analysts
    Thermo’s

    Implemented by a services team.

    Thermo Fisher staffs each implementation with a project manager, a lead consultant, a system architect and LIMS analysts. In Seal, Neil configures the first process from your procedure, and your team approves it.

    Thermo Fisher, LIMS Implementation
  • Its language
    VGL
    The VGL course
    5 days
    It assumes
    “familiar with programming”
    Seal
    Neil, then your approval

    It has its own programming language.

    Thermo teaches SampleManager’s language, VGL, in a five-day course that assumes you are “already familiar with programming”. In Seal, Neil configures the first process from your procedure, and your team approves it.

    Thermo Fisher, VGL for SampleManager
  • The lab
    SampleManager
    The batch
    An MES
    Between them
    Integration

    The batch sits in other products.

    Thermo Fisher describes SampleManager as connecting to ERP and MES systems, so the batch and its release sit elsewhere. In Seal, the lab, the batch and quality are one set of records.

    Thermo Fisher, SampleManager LIMS Software
  • Deviations
    Not on its pages
    CAPA
    Not on its pages
    Change control
    Not on its pages
    In Seal
    Opens from the result

    Quality events are not on its pages.

    SampleManager’s product page and brochure describe no deviation, CAPA or change control workflows. In Seal, the investigation opens from the result.

    Thermo Fisher, brochure, 2025
  • Its QC agent
    Checks sample quality
    Its models
    Predict sample results
    Neil
    Drafts the change

    Its AI works on samples. Neil does the paperwork.

    Thermo’s Autonomous Test Revisor analyses sample quality within the sample lifecycle, and its models predict sample results and trends. Neil prepares the change itself and the paperwork around it, for your team to approve.

    Thermo Fisher, Data Analytics Solutions

See it in Seal.

Real Seal screens with fictional test data: one result outside its limit, from the sample to the investigation, then Neil’s overnight release review.

  1. 1

    Each result with its method and source.

    Release test S-041-12: every result carries its method version, instrument file and limit, and the batch it came from.

    Sample S-041-12, release testing, in Seal: linked to batch B-041 and a potency preparation, a table of results for potency, impurity A and water content with unit, limit, status, method and source, and water content outside its limit with the investigation open.
    1. The batch it came fromB-041, linked to the sample.
    2. Method and source on every rowEach result keeps its method version, instrument file and limit.
    3. The exception, at the resultWater content 0.72% against ≤ 0.50%, with the investigation open.
  2. 2

    The investigation starts with its evidence.

    INV-041 opens on the result outside its limit, with the instrument file, the method, qualification and wider impact to assess.

    Investigation INV-041, laboratory review, in Seal: water content 0.72% against a limit of 0.50% or less, linked to sample S-041-12, a table of evidence to assess for source acquisition, method execution, qualification and wider impact, and the conclusion still open.
    1. The result in questionWater content: 0.72% against a limit of ≤ 0.50%.
    2. From the sampleS-041-12, linked to the investigation.
    3. What to assessThe instrument file, the method, qualification and wider impact.
  3. 3

    Neil checks every lot. People decide.

    Overnight, Neil checked each lot against its release plan and said what its record leaves out.

    The release board in Seal: 111 lots in release across three sites, $123M waiting, 86 with nothing open, and a table of the lots with findings, each with Neil’s summary, its value and a predicted certification date.
    1. The morning, in two lines111 lots and $123M waiting. 86 need only a decision.
    2. Neil’s summary of each lotWhat is open, and where Neil found it.
    3. A predicted certification dateFrom how long this site’s lots have taken.

What Seal’s customers measured.

Each figure links to the customer’s story.

QualityAcclinate and Skye Biologics

−50%
quality cycle times at Acclinate, from a procedure change to everyone trained.Acclinate
−40%
non-conformances at Skye Biologics, with training checked before execution.Skye Biologics

RecordsMiAlgae and Bioventix

−75%
documentation time at MiAlgae, from the lab to commercial production.MiAlgae
−80%
document admin time at Bioventix, after two decades on paper.Bioventix

SampleManager and Seal, side by side.

Every source is listed under References.

SampleManagerSeal
What it isLIMS with about 40 years of history¹The GxP execution system, with LIMS built in
Built forDevelopment and QA/QC labs²Process development, the lab, manufacturing, batch release and quality
Data modelThe sample and its tests³Primitives your team composes: record types, their relationships, steps and checks
AIA QC agent and predicted results, within the sample lifecycle⁴Neil, Seal’s AI agent, prepares changes to the process; your team approves them
Who configures itThermo’s project team and your trained super users; VGL and C# to customise⁵⁶Your team, with Neil preparing it from your procedures
ManufacturingERP and MES systems it connects to²Batch records on the same records as the lab
Quality eventsNot on its product page or brochure²³Investigation opens from the result
Getting startedImplementation with a Thermo Fisher project team⁵A 48-hour evaluation of one process, once the scope is agreed and the inputs received

Summary

The story
SampleManager is good for the QA and QC laboratory. By 2003 it had over 1,100 systems installed across manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and water,⁷ and Thermo puts its history at about 40 years.¹ Its model centres on the sample and its tests,³ connected to ERP and MES rather than containing manufacturing.² Thermo says it meets your workflows “Through configuration, not customization”,³ yet it teaches project teams to map their laboratory onto its functionality in a five-day course, and its own programming language, VGL, in another.⁸⁹ Its AI agent, the Autonomous Test Revisor, analyses sample quality within that sample lifecycle.⁴ If your laboratory runs the same methods for years, it can work well. That is rare, and rarer now that the work changes so fast.

1What SampleManager offers.

SampleManager is Thermo Fisher Scientific’s LIMS for process development and manufacturing QA and QC laboratories, connecting to ERP and MES systems.² It covers sample management and chain of custody, inventory, instrument status and maintenance, statistical quality control and reporting, with built-in SDMS, ELN and LES functions and preconfigured versions for pharma QA/QC, food and beverage, refineries, biorepositories and environmental monitoring.²³

Thermo’s Data Analytics Solutions add AI: an Autonomous Test Revisor, described as a “Quality Control Analyst AI Agent” that analyses sample quality “without user intervention”, and models that predict sample results and trends.⁴

2Running Seal alongside SampleManager.

Teams move to Seal one workflow at a time, with SampleManager connected read-only until the move is complete. Seal’s SampleManager connection reads approved REST resources and passes the JSON to your Seal Scripts; it does not write to the LIMS. File Sweeper and instrument collection are separate interfaces.

Ask the SampleManager administrator for the supported REST resource, its authentication and a read-only account scoped to the intended laboratory. In Seal, open Settings → Integrations → Thermo Scientific SampleManager, enter the narrowest approved HTTPS prefix, a test resource and the authentication header, then select the resources to share. Supported headers are Authorization, X-API-Key and apikey; cookies, SOAP or a private address need an approved gateway. A successful test shows connectivity and readable JSON, not analytical correctness, so compare representative responses with SampleManager before mapping them.

Once connected, Neil can collect a selected sample’s results and the available instrument references for an investigation, compare supplied instrument outputs with recorded results, units and identifiers, and assemble the laboratory records a batch review needs. Any write-back to SampleManager is a separate integration with its own controls; the LIMS integration guide sets out the checks.

3Moving from SampleManager to Seal.

Start with one workflow and expand from there.

  1. Choose one release test, incoming-inspection workflow or stability study whose results should reach batch review directly.
  2. Bring the method, a redacted specification, a representative result and the instrument export it came from. Start with sample material, or arrange an NDA before sharing confidential records.
  3. Neil proposes the workflow from the approved method and specification, and your team checks it against the source. Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares the first working process and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.
  4. Connect one source: SampleManager read-only for the samples and results the workflow needs, or the instrument export through Seal IoT.
  5. Agree which system owns each record during the transition, how identifiers map and what must reconcile. Evaluate historical records, original files, versions and review status before deciding what to migrate; raw data and work outside the scope stay in SampleManager.

The LIMS blueprint and the scientific data blueprint describe the laboratory and capture workflows in detail.

References

  1. 1SampleManager LIMS ソフトウエア, Thermo Fisher Scientific K.K. on IPROS. https://pr.mono.ipros.com/thermofisher/product/detail/2000793701/ (read 5 November 2026)
  2. 2SampleManager LIMS Software, Thermo Fisher Scientific. https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/digital-solutions/lab-informatics/lab-information-management-systems-lims/solutions/samplemanager.html (read 5 November 2026)
  3. 3SampleManager LIMS, SDMS, LES and ELN software: a complete laboratory solution (BR1009-EN0325), Thermo Fisher Scientific, 2025. https://assets.thermofisher.com/TFS-Assets/DSD/brochures/SampleManager-LIMS-Brochure-2025-EN.pdf (read 5 November 2026)
  4. 4Data Analytics Solutions for SampleManager LIMS Software, Thermo Fisher Scientific. https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/digital-solutions/lab-informatics/data-analytics-solution.html (read 5 November 2026)
  5. 5Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) Implementation, Thermo Fisher Scientific. https://www.thermofisher.com/us/en/home/digital-solutions/lab-informatics/lab-information-management-systems-lims/implementation.html (read 5 November 2026)
  6. 6Digital Science Education Services: course offerings, Thermo Fisher Scientific. https://resource.digital.thermofisher.com/education/ (read 5 November 2026)
  7. 7Thermo Electron Delivers SampleManager 2003 LIMS, Thermo Electron via LIMSforum, 24 July 2003. https://www.limsforum.com/thermo-electron-delivers-samplemanager-2003-lims/47986/ (read 5 November 2026)
  8. 8Data Configuration in SampleManager, 5 Days, Thermo Fisher Scientific Digital Science Education. https://resource.digital.thermofisher.com/education/course.aspx?c=aGD4z0000004EYJGA2 (read 5 November 2026)
  9. 9VGL for SampleManager, 5 Days, Thermo Fisher Scientific Digital Science Education. https://resource.digital.thermofisher.com/education/course.aspx?c=aGD4z0000004EYRGA2 (read 5 November 2026)

AQuestions and answers

Is Seal better than SampleManager?

Yes. SampleManager is good for the QA and QC laboratory. By 2003 it had over 1,100 systems installed across manufacturing, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food and water, and Thermo puts its history at about 40 years. Its model centres on the sample and its tests, connected to ERP and MES rather than containing manufacturing. Thermo says it meets your workflows “Through configuration, not customization”, yet it teaches project teams to map their laboratory onto its functionality in a five-day course, and its own programming language, VGL, in another. Its AI agent, the Autonomous Test Revisor, analyses sample quality within that sample lifecycle. If your laboratory runs the same methods for years, it can work well. That is rare, and rarer now that the work changes so fast. Seal has no fixed model of one kind of work. It is built from primitives: record types, the relationships between them, and the steps and checks that use them, which your own team composes into your process, with Neil able to prepare each change for approval. So one platform runs process development, the laboratory, manufacturing, batch release and the quality system, and each change becomes a new version, released once its selected tests pass, while earlier runs keep theirs. Moving from paper, Bioventix put its quality system and lab records on Seal and cut document admin time by 80%.

Is Seal a LIMS?

Yes. Seal covers sample management, specifications, analytical methods, stability, environmental monitoring and microbiology, OOS and OOT investigations, reference standards, instrument data and certificates of analysis, on the same records as batch records and the quality system.

Is Seal an alternative to SampleManager LIMS?

Yes. SampleManager is designed for the QA and QC laboratory. Seal covers the QC laboratory SampleManager runs, configured by your own team from your methods and procedures, with no VGL or C# to learn, and adds what SampleManager connects to elsewhere: batch records and the quality system, on the same records. A result keeps its instrument file, preparation, method and specification version, and an outside-limit result opens an investigation linked to the batch.

How does SampleManager’s AI compare with Neil?

Thermo Fisher’s Data Analytics Solutions for SampleManager include the Autonomous Test Revisor, a QC analyst AI agent that analyses sample quality within the sample lifecycle, and models that predict sample results and trends. Neil prepares changes to the process itself, with their tests, for your approval, and each change is released as a new version. Neil is not used in GMP execution.

Can Seal read data from SampleManager?

Yes. Seal’s SampleManager connection reads approved REST resources configured in your SampleManager release and passes the JSON to Seal Scripts. It does not write to the LIMS, and File Sweeper and instrument collection are separate interfaces.

Does SampleManager run batch records or quality events?

SampleManager is designed for the QA and QC laboratory. Thermo Fisher describes it as connecting to ERP and MES systems, and its product page describes no deviation, CAPA or change control workflows. In Seal, batch records, deviations, CAPA and change control run on the same records as the laboratory result.

How long does it take to start with Seal?

Once the scope is agreed and the inputs received, Seal prepares a first working process and its validation pack to evaluate within 48 hours, configured from one of your methods or procedures. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.

Do we have to move our SampleManager raw data to Seal?

No. SampleManager can stay the record for historical results and the raw data in its SDMS, connected read-only where a Seal workflow needs it. Agree which system owns each record, how identifiers map and what must reconcile before moving anything.

Start beside SampleManager.

Start with one release test or stability study. Seal’s SampleManager connection reads approved results read-only, so nothing has to move on day one.

Book a demo