Seal vs Thermo Scientific SampleManager LIMS

1SampleManager and Seal, side by side.

SampleManager and Seal both keep the original instrument data behind a laboratory result.¹ They differ in what the laboratory record is connected to. Thermo Fisher describes SampleManager as a complete informatics solution for laboratory, data, process and compliance management, with SDMS, ELN and LES functions built in, connecting to ERP and MES systems.¹ Seal configures laboratory, manufacturing and quality workflows on one platform around a shared ontology, so the batch and the investigation are records in the same system as the result.

2What SampleManager is built for.

SampleManager is built for process development and manufacturing QA and QC laboratories that want laboratory, data and procedure management in one product, with close links to Thermo Fisher’s Chromeleon chromatography software.¹ Thermo Fisher Scientific says SampleManager has helped laboratories with compliance for more than 30 years, is developed in an ISO 9001 environment, and meets each customer’s processes through configuration rather than customisation.²

The LIMS covers sample management and chain of custody, inventory with reorder alerts, instrument status and maintenance, resource management, analytical and statistical quality control, reporting and analytics, and HL7 for clinical requests and results.² It schedules training records and checks competencies and role-based access before an analyst uses an instrument, and offers a contracts portal for quotes, sample login, shipping labels, invoices and results.¹ Preconfigured solutions cover pharma QA/QC, food and beverage QA/QC, oil and gas refineries, biorepositories and environmental monitoring, among others, with predefined workflows and LES methods for common analytical tests.² For environmental monitoring, it configures sampling plans by location, frequency, sample type and method, includes personnel sampling points and cleanroom limits by grade, and provides a preconfigured microbiology library and floor-plan views of results.³ Thermo Fisher says the software is designed to support ALCOA++ data integrity and can be configured for GMP, ISO 17025 and 21 CFR Part 11.¹

Version 21.3 is built on Microsoft .NET, with token authentication and hardened session handling for its REST API. Its SMIDI interface supports SAP remote function calls to the SAP QM module, and its Sweeper picks up complex files such as PDFs and binary files.⁴ SampleManager runs on the customer’s own hardware, in the customer’s private cloud, or as a Thermo Fisher-managed service on Amazon Web Services.² In the managed service, Thermo Fisher provisions, monitors and patches the system and states 99.5% service availability, or 99.9% with optional high availability.⁵

Its Data Analytics AI Solution uses machine learning to predict the result of a test from historical data and to forecast sample volumes, expected tests, instrument runs and stock use; R scripts, Tableau and Power BI extend the analysis.²

3How instrument data reaches the result.

Both products keep the original instrument data with the result. The difference is what the result is connected to once it has been reviewed.

SampleManager’s SDMS preserves raw instrument data and metadata for the whole data life cycle, converts it to a vendor-neutral XML format that can be viewed without the original instrument software, and links it directly to the relevant sample records.²¹ With Thermo Scientific Chromeleon, analysts select samples in the LIMS and create sequences through Chromeleon’s eWorkflows, monitor queue status and instrument health from the LIMS, and view Chromeleon results without switching systems; SampleManager also connects to Waters Empower and Agilent OpenLab CDS. Its LES guides analysts through each step of a method and captures the complete process history.²

In Seal, the instrument file is captured once and kept with the result it produced. Seal IoT is installed on the instrument workstation or a local computer, with a watched folder, a processing script and a destination record; the original export is retained, and sample identifiers, values, units and acquisition metadata are mapped into the workflow. For Chromeleon, Seal’s Chromeleon guide collects the injection and sequence reports your export templates produce, and notes that a PDF report does not by itself supply the acquired signal or audit trail. Seal treats an arrived file as evidence to check, not proof that the acquisition is complete, and exercises missing files, duplicates and failed transfers before the connection is relied on.

The result then sits among the records it depends on. In the example in Seal’s LIMS blueprint, preparation PREP-041 keeps the working-standard lot, the dilution inputs and the calculation together, and investigation INV-041 opens from sample S-041-12’s outside-limit water content with the method, qualification and wider batch impact to assess. Because a standard lot is linked to its preparations and runs, a question such as which batches used lot WS-041 has a direct answer.

4Changing a calculation after go-live.

In SampleManager, workflows are built to map to the laboratory’s processes, and decisions and actions can be automated.² In Thermo Fisher’s managed cloud, Thermo Fisher carries the operational work of keeping the system current while the laboratory keeps its configurability, integrations and life-cycle control.⁵

In Seal, a revised calculation is a changeset. Its inputs, units, formula and reporting rules are defined in the method configuration, and the change is verified for boundary values, missing inputs, division by zero and rounding before release. Selected acceptance tests run when the changeset is prepared for review, publication requires current passing results, and earlier work keeps its method version and calculation context.

5Where SampleManager is the better fit.

SampleManager is the better fit when Thermo Fisher instruments and software are at the centre of your laboratory.

• Chromeleon is your chromatography data system and you want sequences created from the LIMS and results viewed there.²
• You want raw instrument data preserved long term in a vendor-neutral format, readable without the original instrument software.²
• Your quality laboratory exchanges data with the SAP QM module.⁴
• You run contract testing with quotes and invoices in the LIMS, or need HL7 for clinical work.¹²
• You want Thermo Fisher to host and operate the system on AWS with a stated availability, or need it on your own hardware.²⁵
• You run laboratories beyond biopharma, such as refineries or food and beverage, on the same product.²

6Where Seal is the better fit.

Seal is the better fit when a laboratory result should carry straight through to the batch and the quality decision.

• Your laboratory, manufacturing and quality work should share one set of records. Laboratory review contributes to batch disposition alongside manufacturing exceptions and quality events, without copying results between systems.
• You want specifications as versioned records, with each result evaluated against the version assigned to it and keeping that version when the specification changes.
• You want each configuration change to carry its requirements, test evidence and approvals, with earlier runs keeping the version they used.
• You want an agent to do the preparation. Neil turns an approved method into a proposed workflow, assembles the source evidence for an investigation and drafts the controlled change, and your team checks and approves. In line with the EU’s draft GMP Annex 22 on AI, Neil is not used in GMP execution. It helps set up configuration, which your team verifies and releases under change control.

7Running Seal alongside SampleManager.

You can start with one workflow and keep SampleManager as the laboratory record. 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.

8Moving from SampleManager to Seal.

Move one workflow first. SampleManager stays the record for the rest.

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 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.