Shipments are data transfer

Shipping in LDMS is the process of transferring specimen information from one laboratory to another.

This is a parallel process to physically packaging and shipping specimens to another laboratory. As specimens are packaged, you will specify in LDMS that they are to be shipped. You will then generate a data file with the information for those specimens called a shipping file. Once created, you provide that file to the laboratory that will receive the specimens. In this sense, it is more accurate to think of “shipping” in LDMS as “data transfer” between two laboratories.

LDMS does not assist with the physical shipment of specimens. LDMS does not create postal labels for shipping boxes, track the progress of shipments of couriers, and other logistical tasks. Laboratories need to implement their own solutions for the actual shipping process.

Figure: Shipping vs data transfer. This figure illustrates how creating a shipping data file in LDMS and transferring it to a laboratory is a separate process from physically boxing and shipping the specimens to the recipient.


Figure: Two linear processes, one for data transfer and another for specimen transfer.

There are two ways to ship specimens using LDMS:

  1. You can select individual specimens to be shipped, and then tell LDMS how you are going to put them in a shipping container.
  2. You can assign the specimens to a container on the Storage page, then ship the container.

Both of these methods can be used together within the same shipment. Sending a container from LDMS storage is generally preferred over creating ad hoc shipping containers. By using a container that has already been organized and checked, you will save time and reduce the possibility of sending the wrong specimens.