Core Facility Management Platform

- These software and services should include, but should not be limited to, the following:
• Research instrument and resource booking and scheduling capabilities
• Communication channels
• Resource management
• User management
• Finance system integration
• Reporting and analytics
- Current environment
a. Instrument booking and scheduling capabilities
• University custom websites
• Google calendars
• outlook calendars
• Paper logs
• Equipment software queues
• BookKit by Clustermarket
b. Communication channels
• SYMPA mailing lists
• Group and individual emails
• Lab management software
• Notes on equipment
c. Resource management
• SharePoint
• Topaz
• Door locks
• BookKit by Clustermarket
d. User management
• QuickBooks, manually entered user data
• Excel files
• Paper logs
• BookKit by Clustermarket
e. Finance system methodology
• QuickBooks to create .pdf invoices
• wave to create .pdf invoices
• transfer of paper logbooks
• bookkit by clustermarket
• Manual effort from university staff
- Functional features
1. User/lab functions
a. Mandatory requirements
• Intuitive scheduling tool that allows users to reserve time on an instrument/service/vehicle/drone etc.
• Ability for users and core managers to add charges to a booking, e.g., training, consumables, one-off supply purchases, etc., while booking equipment
• Flexible booking intervals e.g., 5 min or more, and can be different per instrument/core
• Ability to book overnight and more than 24 hrs.
• Ability to group users
• Staff and users can report equipment issues or create notes in the software that will be visible to other users
• Functional mobile interface
b. Preferred features
• Ability to search the entire platform for a bookable service using keywords, even if the user does not know which core the service is in, however user should not be able to book the service unless dependencies are met.
• Ability to filter a search by equipment the user is trained on
• Recurring bookings
• Equipment configuration status, e.g., what materials are loaded in a chamber, what column is in an HPLC
• Integration with sensors (gas levels, gas monitors, temperature/humidity readouts, etc.)
2. Management functions
a. Mandatory requirements
• Functionality customizable per core facility
• Ability to associate a tool/equipment with a location or display the location it is checked out to
• Single user interface for all campus cores, with sub-units for each core facility (users would navigate to the portal and select which core they want to book)
• Core staff must have the ability to internally manage users and services based on permissions
• Ability to add new cores or research facilities in the future
• Ability for external non- university users to create an account using their own log in information, without having to apply for a university net id-only for users who will not be on campus
• Ability to require explanation for data deletion and voiding for data retention (e.g. user profiles services, billing items, etc.)
• Integration with university SSO
• Ability to send push notifications, emails and SMS messages about booking reminders as well as service outages to specific equipment users or lab groups
• Allows for multiple tiers of user, with cost of instrument booking and permissions tied to tiers, e.g. external academic user, university student, university staff, industry, administrator etc.
• Data reporting module that allows core staff and administrators to export booking and user data into .xlsx or .csv files; ability to toggle fields on/off in order to create custom reports e.g. department/major, pi, project name, index number, booking hours, user added notes etc., revenue
b. Preferred features
• Ability to set maximum number of hours for a booking in a set time frame corresponding to facility access hours, which vary by core and user tier
• Platform maintains a record of all service bookings, including completed and cancelled bookings, for at least 7 years.
• Allotted storage space for core staff to upload training documents, technical manuals, current rate sheets, and other documents relevant to core users
• Ability to integrate with 3rd party application providers including CITI, vector solutions, topaz, Inteum, and SciShield chem tracker for required protocols and user training
• Ability to add multiple instruments/tools at once (copy paste type functionality)
• Ability to use interlock devices which prevent unauthorized access to instrumentation; devices must meet it functionality and security requirements.
• Publication tracking
• Project management tools
• Tracking of user location in lab
• View only access via web or mobile app to a searchable list of equipment and services
o Access not to require an account or multi factor authentication (MFA)
o Equipment to be identified as reservable or non-reservable
3. Financial
a. Mandatory requirements
• Ability to require users to provide billing index(es), or payment information at the time of booking a service
• Invoicing module which compiles booking information and generates invoices for core services on a per fund or per pi basis or per user
• System assigns invoice numbers sequentially; invoice numbers are not duplicated between different cores
• Platform has a central record of all invoices, accessible to university administrative users
• Ability for core managers to add charges to invoices manually
• Prices are shown, including total price of booking before it is confirmed by the user
• Mechanism for generating mass billing records from booking and/or invoice data
• Ability to set workflows for invoice generation, invoice approval, and billing record generation
with customizable timelines
b. Preferred features
• Financial integration with Ellucian banner to:
o Bill index(es) specified by users when booking services
o Run a validation process for index numbers provided during service booking; returns an error and fails booking if the user provides an invalid index number
o Complete billing funding transfers automatically upon request by facility manager and administrators
o Receive payment from external core users via credit and debit card.