Commentary: The analyst and automation

That the implementation of automation is a systems problem and must involve a multidisciplinary approach has been stressed many times in this journal. The skills required to achieve effective automation inlude electronics, statistics, computer expertise, combined with business and organis-ational acumen. Indeed, there may, in the past, have been too much input from the experts in mini and micro computers and not enough consideration of business and organisational factors. This may be a daunting prospect for the traditional analytical chemist. But the analyst's role in this process is nonetheless vital. However, it would seem that analysts have been ill prepared for the task and do not fully appreciate or recognise their responsibilities. In the age before automation the analyst's responsibilities were, perhaps, more clearly defined. Boundaries were clear-cut; samples were received in the laboratory and by using a set of well established manual chemistries a set of results were delivered to the 'client'. Now, with even a small element of automation, it is far too easy for the analyst to blame a failure in his procedures on the instrumentation. If an instrument is not working, is unreliable or is unsuitable for the task no one person can take the blame. It is necessary to encourage a collective responsibility and the analyst must be an integral part of the team. He cannot sit back and wait for management, electronics experts and/or instrument manufacturers to provide him with an automated means o f finding results. It is sometimes thought that the analyst's job has been down-graded by the introduction of automation and computerisation. It is believed that his hard earned skills and experience are being replaced by the requirement merely to operate an instrument which overrates his capability of responsible judgement. He may also feel less able to substantiate results he has obtained from an automatic instrument than he could from his manual procedures. This may be particularly so if he has not had a hand in purchasing the instrument. No! The analyst's job has definitely not been down-graded by the introduction of automated systems. In a laboratory dedicated to automation the analyst holds a central, important position in the team, although it may well be different from the accepted role of a traditional analyst. He retains ultimate responsibility for the status and quality of the results produced by his laboratory. He must therefore cooperate fully with his in-house electronics engineer and]or …