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NuGenesis captures instrument data. Seal connects it to results on the same platform as the batch.

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 Waters NuGenesis.

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Where Waters NuGenesis falls short.

From Waters’ own pages and release notes, and the Waters partner Astrix.

  • Waters says
    “from discovery through manufacturing”
    Batch records
    Not on its pages
    Deviations, CAPA
    Not on its pages
    Seal
    SDMS, LIMS, MES and QMS

    Batch records and CAPA live elsewhere.

    Waters says NuGenesis supports the product lifecycle “from discovery through manufacturing”, yet its NuGenesis pages describe no batch records, deviations or CAPA. In Seal, the lab, the batch and quality are one set of records.

    Waters, NuGenesis LMS
  • Database
    Oracle 19c
    Application servers
    Windows Server 2019, 2022
    Clients
    Windows 10 and 11
    Seal
    Seal hosts it

    You run the servers.

    Waters tested NuGenesis LMS 9.4.0 with an Oracle 19c database, Windows Server application servers and Windows clients, for your IT to run. Seal hosts it; an agent sends files over HTTPS.

    Waters, December 2024
  • Requirements
    One per template
    Configuration specification
    One per template
    Validation test script
    One per template
    Seal
    Neil prepares it and its checks

    Validated one template at a time.

    Astrix, a Waters partner, advises requirements, a configuration specification and a separate validation test script for each file capture template. In Seal, Neil prepares each capture change with its checks, for your team to release.

    Astrix, March 2020
  • 1996
    Capturing lab data
    2014
    LMS, on the SDMS
    Results elsewhere
    Copied out, with links back
    Seal
    Linked to the original

    A file catalogue at its centre.

    NuGenesis began in 1996 collecting data from PC-linked lab equipment, and its SDMS still underpins the LMS. Results sent to a LIMS leave as copies with links back. In Seal, each acquisition is linked to its sample, batch and investigation.

    Waters, NuGenesis SDMS

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

Waters NuGenesis and Seal, side by side.

Every source is listed under References.

Waters NuGenesisSeal
What it isScientific data management¹The GxP execution system: your eBR, your QMS and more
Built forAnalytical data across industries²Process development, the lab, manufacturing, batch release and quality
Data modelThe captured file, catalogued by protocol and project¹Primitives your team composes: record types, their relationships, steps and checks
ScopeData archive and analytical lab²SDMS, LIMS, MES and QMS on one platform
Who runs itYour IT: Oracle, Windows servers and clients³Seal hosts it; an agent sends files over HTTPS
A new captureYour URS, specification and test script⁴Neil, Seal’s AI agent, prepares it and its checks; your team releases it
CompletenessTemplates define what is captured³Required files, checked by role
Results elsewhereCopied out, with links back¹Linked to the original on one platform
ReprocessingRestore to the source application¹A derived record, with its reason
UpgradesYour change control, impact assessed³Seal’s releases come with supplier evidence; your team assesses each against its intended use
Getting startedRequirements, sizing and validation first⁴A 48-hour evaluation of one process, once the scope is agreed and the inputs received

Summary

The story
Waters NuGenesis is good for capturing instrument data. NuGenesis Technologies was founded in 1996 in Westborough, Massachusetts, to collect the growing volume of data from PC-linked instruments and prepare reports from it, and Waters bought it in 2004.⁵⁶ Its model is the captured file in a catalogue: Waters still calls the SDMS the repository and foundation of NuGenesis LMS, launched in 2014 as an alternative to a LIMS.¹⁷ Waters says NuGenesis avoids “complex, costly, and time-consuming deployments”,⁸ yet a Waters partner advises separate requirements and a validation test script for each capture template.⁴ Waters also says it supports the product lifecycle “from discovery through manufacturing”,² while its NuGenesis pages describe no batch records, deviations or CAPA. If the job is archiving what instruments produce, it can work well. Most teams need each result to become typed data on the same records as the sample, the batch and the investigation.

1What Waters NuGenesis offers.

NuGenesis comes from Waters Corporation, which also makes the Empower chromatography data system, and Waters recommends it for pharmaceutical, chemical materials, food and beverage, and environmental companies.² NuGenesis SDMS captures, indexes and stores printed reports, raw instrument data and documents in a searchable catalogue, and restores instrument data to its original application for further analysis.¹ NuGenesis LMS adds an analytical notebook, sample submission and results review, and a stability module.² Waters tested release 9.4.0 with an Oracle 19c production database and Windows Server application servers.³

2Running Seal alongside Waters NuGenesis.

Teams move to Seal one instrument workflow at a time, with NuGenesis kept as the archive until the move is complete. Seal has no dedicated NuGenesis connector, and it does not need one to start: it collects the exports your instrument software already writes. Seal’s Waters connection collects chromatography results exported from Waters Empower with the Seal IoT app and maps them to sample and result records with a Seal Script; export content depends on the configured Export Method, and the Empower guide works through an example.

For NuGenesis itself, Seal’s REST API and Scripts can connect a system that is not on Seal’s integrations list. Agree the records, the direction of transfer, the credentials and the failure handling before setting up the connection, and start with read access.

Agree which system owns each record. NuGenesis can remain the long-term archive while one instrument workflow runs in Seal. Preserving a proprietary file and interpreting its contents are separate capabilities, so verify the formats, extraction and mappings for each source, and review ambiguous matches rather than attaching a result to the wrong sample. The regulatory guide covers how to qualify the connection.

3Moving from Waters NuGenesis to Seal.

Prove one source, then expand from there.

  1. Choose one representative acquisition and the workflow it supports, such as a release assay on one HPLC.
  2. Confirm the vendor interface, file formats, required companion files, ownership and review expectations. Start with sample material, or arrange an NDA before sharing confidential records.
  3. Install Seal IoT on a Windows or macOS host with access to the export folder. The documented folder-upload route uses outbound HTTPS on port 443 and needs no inbound ports; confirm the account, allowlist and startup arrangement with IT.
  4. Neil prepares the capture template and its checks, and your team checks them 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.
  5. Include a late file, a duplicate transfer, a clock discrepancy and a failed integrity check in the evaluation, and show what happens when expected evidence is absent.
  6. For an archive migration, scope the native files, renditions and missing evidence first, verify identity mappings, file integrity and sample or batch relationships, and label a legacy PDF as a rendition when the native original is unavailable.

Retention obligations continue for the records that stay in NuGenesis. The SDMS blueprint describes capture, review and retention in Seal in detail.

References

  1. 1NuGenesis SDMS, Waters. https://www.waters.com/nextgen/global/products/informatics-and-software/lms-and-data-management/nugenesis-software/nugenesis-sdms.html (read 4 November 2026)
  2. 2NuGenesis Lab Management System (LMS) and SDMS, Waters. https://www.waters.com/nextgen/us/en/products/informatics-and-software/lms-and-data-management/nugenesis-software/nugenesis-lms.html (read 4 November 2026)
  3. 3NuGenesis LMS 9.4.0 Release Notes (715008931, version 00, 12 December 2024), Waters. https://help.waters.com/help/en/support/library-details.html?documentid=715008931 (read 4 November 2026)
  4. 4Tips for Implementing and Validating NuGenesis SDMS File Capture Templates, Astrix, 18 March 2020. https://astrixinc.com/blog/waters-empower3/tips-for-implementing-and-validating-nugenesis-sdms-file-capture-templates (read 5 November 2026)
  5. 5Waters Corporation Announces Agreement to Purchase NuGenesis Technologies Corporation, Waters Corporation via LIMSforum, 28 January 2004. https://www.limsforum.com/waters-corporation-announces-agreement-to-purchase-nugenesis-technologies-corporation/48108/ (read 5 November 2026)
  6. 6NuGenesis Technologies Corporation, TA Associates portfolio. https://www.ta.com/portfolio/investments/nugenesis-technologies-corporation/ (read 5 November 2026)
  7. 7Waters’ NuGenesis Lab Management System Becomes Industry’s Most Adaptable and Comprehensive Information Management Platform, SelectScience, 28 April 2014. https://www.selectscience.net/article/waters-nugenesis-lab-management-system-becomes-industry-s-most-adaptable-and-comprehensive-information-management-platform (read 5 November 2026)
  8. 8NuGenesis Lab Management Software, Waters, as archived on 6 October 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20251006193451/https://www.waters.com/nextgen/us/en/products/informatics-and-software/lms-and-data-management/nugenesis-software.html (read 5 November 2026)

AQuestions and answers

Is Seal better than Waters NuGenesis?

Yes. Waters NuGenesis is good for capturing instrument data. NuGenesis Technologies was founded in 1996 in Westborough, Massachusetts, to collect the growing volume of data from PC-linked instruments and prepare reports from it, and Waters bought it in 2004. Its model is the captured file in a catalogue: Waters still calls the SDMS the repository and foundation of NuGenesis LMS, launched in 2014 as an alternative to a LIMS. Waters says NuGenesis avoids “complex, costly, and time-consuming deployments”, yet a Waters partner advises separate requirements and a validation test script for each capture template. Waters also says it supports the product lifecycle “from discovery through manufacturing”, while its NuGenesis pages describe no batch records, deviations or CAPA. If the job is archiving what instruments produce, it can work well. Most teams need each result to become typed data on the same records as the sample, the batch and the investigation. 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 an alternative to Waters NuGenesis?

Yes. NuGenesis is designed for scientific data management. Seal captures the original files with Seal IoT and links each acquisition to the sample, batch and investigation it supports, on the same platform as the LIMS, batch records and quality system. Completeness is checked by file role, reprocessing is kept as derived records, and capture changes are released with their verification.

Is Seal an SDMS?

Yes. Seal keeps original instrument files with their audit trails, checks each acquisition for its required files, keeps reprocessed results as derived records linked to the original, and connects each acquisition to the sample, batch and investigation it supports.

Can Seal work alongside NuGenesis?

Yes. Seal IoT collects exports from instrument software such as Empower into Seal records, and Seal’s REST API and Scripts can connect NuGenesis itself, which has no dedicated Seal connector. Start with read access and agree which system owns each record.

Does Seal replace Empower?

No. Empower continues to acquire and process chromatography data, and Seal works with it: Seal IoT collects the exports Empower writes, and a Seal Script maps them to sample and result records, with export content set by the configured Export Method.

How does Seal handle reprocessed results?

Reprocessing creates a derived record linked to the original acquisition, with the method, parameters, software version, operator, time and reason. The earlier result stays available, so a reviewer can compare both and reach the same original from either.

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 procedures. Production timing then depends on scope, interfaces, migration and your release requirements.

Start beside Waters NuGenesis.

Start with one instrument workflow. Seal IoT collects the exports your instrument software already writes, and Seal’s Waters connection and REST API can read what NuGenesis holds, so nothing has to move on day one.

Book a demo