The Importance of Training to Maximise Your Waters Empower Software Investment

Every investment in technology should deliver a return, and your investment in Waters Empower CDS is no different. The question is how do you maximise ROI? You need to have the right licence arrangements in place, and the software needs to be properly installed and configured. Training is essential, too, both at the outset of your Waters Empower journey and on an ongoing basis.

Empower CDS (chromatography data system) is used by laboratory teams in pharmaceutical companies around the world because of its features. However, it is the extent of its capabilities that increases its complexity (the Getting Started Guide alone runs to more than 150 pages!).

Why Waters Empower Training is Important for ROI

Ensures the Software is Being Used

Just because features and capabilities exist in Empower doesn’t mean they will be used. In fact, there are more reasons for features to be ignored than used. For example, lab employees might not know the capabilities exist and, even when they do know, they might not know how to use them or have the confidence to do so. Training gives lab staff the knowledge, skills, and, crucially, confidence they need.

Reduces Errors

Training reduces Empower usage mistakes, but it can also reduce errors more widely in your laboratory operations. This is because additional and ongoing Waters Empower training will allow you to use the software for an increasing number of processes, minimising the risk of human error.

Ensures Consistency

There are two aspects to this point:

• Consistency across your lab team, as training will bring everybody up to a baseline level of skill, while also allowing you to constantly raise that baseline.
• Process consistency, as completing tasks using Empower is more structured and controlled with less manual intervention.

Improves Productivity

The above points result in productivity improvements. A reduction in error rates and better consistency help to accelerate and increase return on investment, but productivity improvements are where you will see the biggest gains.

Enhances Automation and the Digitalisation of Lab Processes

Waters Empower training can also help move your laboratory forward by reducing manual processes and increasing automation, especially in relation to data capture, processing, analysis, and reporting.

Focusing on the Individual to Boost ROI

It’s also important to remember that Empower CDS can only reach its full potential in your laboratory if it is being used. At its most basic level, training will help laboratory staff understand what to do and when, i.e., the buttons to click, the workflows to complete, etc.

However, the best Waters Empower training does much more, as it also shows users why Empower is essential and how the software will improve how they do their jobs. The importance of this should not be underestimated as there are countless examples of organisations implementing new software applications only for the investment to fail because of poor take-up by users.

Decisions on training that centre on the needs of the organisation are important, but a focus on the individual is essential too.

In other words, offering bespoke, highly relevant, and instructor-led training will lead to more rapid adoption of Empower’s features and capabilities at an individual user level, improving return on investment.

Final Thought – Training Programmes Are Not Created Equally

Finally, purchasing training is not enough to maximise your investment in Empower CDS. Instead, you need to choose the right training, as not all training offerings are equal.

In many situations, the best option is customised, instructor-led training, i.e., training delivered by skilled and experienced instructors with a laser-like focus on the needs, workflows, and capabilities of your laboratory.

This is the sort of Waters Empower training that we offer at Westbourne IT. To learn more and to get a quote, get in touch with us today.