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Food and Nutrition Research Institute – Proficiency Testing

Laboratory

Proficiency Testing Portal User Guide Manual

http://lab.fnri.dost.gov.ph/ptl

2018

http://lab.fnri.dost.gov.ph/ptl/ | Food and Nutrition Research Institute – Proficiency Testing Laboratory

User Guide Manual 1

I. Introduction to the New Portal ........................................................................................ 2

II. Getting Started................................................................................................................ 3

1. Signing-up .................................................................................................... 3

2. Logging in .................................................................................................... 6

3. Change of Password ..................................................................................... 7

4. Updating Account Information .................................................................... 8

5. Exit System .................................................................................................. 8

III. Participation to the On-going PT Round ...................................................................... 9

1. How to Join the On-going PT Round........................................................... 9

2. Selecting of Measurand/s and Method to Employ ...................................... 10

3. Mode of Payment ......................................................................................... 12

4. Sample Distribution ..................................................................................... 15

5. Analysis ........................................................................................................ 17

a. Method Details Encoding ............................................................... 17

b. Results Encoding ........................................................................... 20

6. Reports ......................................................................................................... 22

a. Access to Interim Report ................................................................ 22

b. Access to Final PT Report ............................................................. 23

c. Access to Certificate of Participation ............................................. 25

IV. Resources ........................................................................................................... 26

V. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ............................................................................. 27

VI. Contact Us .................................................................................................................... 27


User Guide Manual 2

Food and Nutrition Research Institute Proficiency Testing Laboratories (FNRI-PTL)

Accredited by the Department of Science and Service—Bureau of Laboratory Accreditation, Bangkok,

Thailand to ISO/IEC 17043:2010 as Food Chemical proficiency testing provider with over ten (10)

years of experience in organizing PT focusing on nutrition labeling requirements and serving more than

25 local and international laboratories per round. In addition to PT schemes, FNRI-PTL provides

trainings and seminars for its participants to address their needs for improvement and continuous

development.

This manual explains the ways on how to use the portal in order to get the most out of our vast

resources.

About the Proficiency Testing Portal

The Proficiency Testing Portal is a tool for growth and development of the Food and Nutrition Research

Laboratory – Proficiency Testing Laboratory (FNRI-PTL). It is typically used for the services offered by

the PTL. This also allows quick feedback from customers to improve processes that could offer services

to larger number of customers. The improvement and upgrading of existing RMs and PT schemes portal

will provide a cost-effective, fast, and convenient access on ways to improve the accuracy of analytical

results by customers/ local testing laboratories; thus, maximizing efficiency and increasing generated

income from the implemented RM/PT portal. The Proficiency Testing Portal is directly connected to the

Reference Material Portal, thus only one account is needed to access both portals.

Organization of the Manual

This manual is arranged in the following order: Chapter I provide the General Information of the

developed PT Portal; Chapter II provides the general walkthrough of the system from log in to log out;

Chapter III provides the detailed information on how to Participate on an on-going PT Round; and

Chapter IV, V and VI provides details on other important parts of the system which are the Resources,

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), Footer and Contacts Us, respectively.


User Guide Manual 3

II. GETTING STARTED

In this chapter you will learn the different functionality that will be used within the system. You will also

learn about the different menus and their corresponding feature.

From iFNRI

Go to iFNRI and you will see the iBusiness Menu. Click the iBusiness Menu where you can find the

FNRI-PTL and its submenu

1. Signing up

Customers account enables everyone to log on the Proficiency Testing Portal and gain access as

well to the Reference Material Portal.

- Click the ―Sign up‖ menu on the upper right of the navigational bar.


User Guide Manual 4

- Provide all the necessary information (username, email address, password, category of laboratory, laboratory name, address, country, contact person, designation/position, telephone number and mobile number) for Sign-up.

- After filling-out, click the ―Signup‖ button below to create the user’s account


User Guide Manual 5


User Guide Manual 6

2. Logging in

The username and password encoded in the signup fields will be used to log in and access the user’s account. Note: This username and password can be used to log in and access the reference materials portal - Click the Log in Menu at the right most side of the navigational bar.

- Use enrolled username and password during signup. The user may tick ―Remember me‖ to

store the username and password in the system for automatic log in unto the portal.

- Click the ―Login‖ button to access account

- If the user fails to remember or recall the username and password, click ―Reset it‖ hyperlink above the Login button.

- Provide the user’s email address then click the ―Send‖ button to reset the username and password.

- A message will be sent to your email address which provides a link to change your username and password.

Note: You may retain your current username or change by creating new username in the

username field and create a new password for the user account.


User Guide Manual 7

***The user may now access their account with the new password.

3. Change of Password

- Log into the user account - At the upper right corner of the navigational bar, click the dropdown menu with your

username then click the ―Manage Account‖ submenu.

- Enter the old password and your current username.

- Enter and confirm the new password then click the ―Update‖ button.

***The user may now access their account with the new password.


User Guide Manual 8

4. Updating Account Information

Updating your profile information is necessary. Changing your password once in a while is

advised for better security of your account. You may update your account information by: - Clicking the dropdown Menu at the upper right corner of the navigational bar with your

username. - Select the ―Update Profile‖ submenu - Change profile information on: category of laboratory, address, country, contact person,

designation/position, tel. no., mobile no., & email

5. Exit System

- Click the dropdown Menu at the upper right corner of the navigational bar with your username.

- Select the ―Logout (Username)‖ submenu

- The user account will be logged-out


User Guide Manual 9

III. PARTICIPATION TO THE ON-GOING PT ROUND

1. How to join a PT round

- At the Home menu, click the ―Latest News and Updates‖ at the overview navigational bar at the left side of the page.

- Alternatively, the user may directly click the ―Latest News and Updates‖ section at the

Home Page or click the ―REGISTER NOW‖ at the overview navigational bar located at

the left side of the page.


User Guide Manual 10

- After clicking the on-going PT round link, it will direct the user to the page with the

complete details about the PT round that includes Timetable, cost of participation, and

Mode of Payment.

- Click the ―Join‖ button on the right side of the page to join the current PT round

2. Selecting Measurand/s and Methods to employ

- Select the checkbox of at least one (1) measurand and specify the test method to be used. - Indicate if the test method is ISO/IEC 17025 accredited by selecting either the ―YES‖ or

―NO‖ radio buttons. - Provide the accreditation information, if applicable.



- Click ―Join‖/‖Register Now‖ to submit registration for the PT round participation

- The system portal will verify the success of your registration

Note: The admin will confirm the user’s request of participation. Once the request has been confirmed,

an email will be sent by the system to the registered email address to notify the user with the approval of

request, availability of system-generated quotation, and deadline of payment.

- The registration of the participants will be available in pdf format which can be found at the

Registration submenu for printing and viewing



- The user may monitor the step-by-step process of the PT participation by clicking the ―Status

of Participation‖ submenu from the PT round dropdown menu at the navigational bar. This

will allow tracking of the PT participation if the requirements are completed, pending or no

action yet based on the legend provided as listed below.

3. Mode of Payment

- Upon registration, the user will be given options to choose the mode of payment as

highlighted below. - The user can select their preferred mode of payment by clicking the radio button



- For bank deposit and bank to bank transfer option, the user should upload the proof of

payment in the portal.

- To upload the proof of payment, go to:

a. Payment submenu under the PT Round menu

b. Click the ―Upload‖ button (as shown below)

c. Choose the proof of payment to be uploaded as an image file only (i.e. png, jpg, jpeg)

then click the ―Upload‖ button below

d. If successful, the ―View‖ button can be seen as replacement of the upload button (Note:

Payment status will also indicate if the proof of payment is already uploaded, if payment

is not yet confirm and if payment is already confirmed).

- When viewed, the user may have the option to delete the uploaded proof of payment or

update if there are any changes to be done



- The proof of payment will be evaluated and confirmed by the PTL admin.

- After confirmation of the payment by the admin, the system will automatically notify the user

through an email

- Again these can be verified by checking the ―Status of Participation‖



4. Sample Distribution

- During registration of the user in a PT Round, two options are given for the mode of

sample distribution which are thru: pick-up (in FNRI) or courier.

- Pick-up of sample will be directly to FNRI. The official location of sample distribution is at Rm. 338 (Sample Receiving Room), 3

rd floor FNRI bldg.

- Timetable is provided which will inform participants of the date of sample dispatch - Payment is required before sample distribution - Samples are dispatch based from the mode of distribution selected by the participants and if

payment has already been processed.

- Courier of sample will be sent to the contact person of the participating laboratories. - Courier tracking no., date of sample dispatch and the name of the courier company are

provided in the Sample Tracking submenu after clicking the ―View‖ button



- The user then should confirm receipt of sample by going to the Sample Receipt Confirmation Submenu under the PT Round menu. Click the ―View‖ button to be redirected to the confirmation page

- Select the date of sample receipt and choose whether the sample upon receipt is in good

condition, damaged, or not suitable for analysis.

- Include remarks, if necessary then click the ―Confirm‖ button.

- A notification box (green) will appear in the Sample Receipt Confirmation page confirming

the success of the sample receipt submission



- For damaged or not suitable for analysis status of sample/s, the PTL admin will contact

the participant with the arrangements on the returning, replacement and delivery of new

samples through email.

5. Analysis

a. Method details Encoding

Access to the method details will be activated after submission of the sample receipt

confirmation. This can be monitored through the Status of Participation. - From the PT Round dropdown menu, select the Method details encoding submenu.

- Click the ―View‖ button of the on-going PT Round.

- Method encoding page for the on-going PT Round will show the Instruction to Participants, a

printable copy of the method details in pdf form, the measurand and the ―Edit‖ button.



- Click the ―Edit‖ button to encode the method details for the measurand

- Encode the methods selected for the analysis of the measurand/s before the due date as shown

in the portal page.

- The user can save the method details by clicking ―Save‖ button and update if there are

changes before submission of the method details. The status of participation will appear as

―pending‖ for the method details encoding once saved.



- Once the method details of a particular measurand has been encoded and saved by the user,

the portal will automatically update the status column with a ―Complete‖

- Ensure that the methods are completely encoded upon submission.

- Click the ―Submit Method‖ button after completion of the method details.

- Click the ―Submit Method‖ button after completion of the method details.

- A confirmation of the submission of method will pop-up to remind or serve as warning to

users that modification will not be possible once methods are submitted

Note: Method details encoding will be allowed within the scheduled deadline as listed on the timetable

and showed in the method encoding page. The user has the option to “Save” the incomplete method

details or “Submit” the completed method details.



- Method details submitted can be viewed under the Action column. A printable version is also

available by clicking the ―View Printable Copy‖ which is in pdf form

b. Result Encoding

- The user can only encode the results once the method details have been submitted. - Encode the results and measurement uncertainty of the tested measurands before

the due date

- User can save the encoded results then modify later by clicking ―Save‖ button - A success notification box will be shown once encoded results are saved. - If measurement uncertainty was not computed you may leave it blank - Upon completion of results the user can submit it by clicking ―Submit Result‖ button



- A confirmation of the submission of the results will pop-up to remind or serve as warning to

users that modification will not be possible once the results are submitted

Note: PT Results encoding will be allowed within the scheduled deadline as listed on the timetable. The

user has the option to “Save” the incomplete results or “Submit” the completed results with measurement

uncertainty. Only the saved results can be modified by the user. Submitted results cannot be subjected to

further revisions



6. Reports

a. Access to Interim Report

- The user can view, download and print the interim report once uploaded by the PT Provider and user accomplished all that is required to access the Interim report such as Sample receipt confirmation, Method Encoding and Results Encoding.

- Once the PT Provider uploaded the Interim Report, the system will send a notification to the user’s email address that Interim Report is uploaded and is available for viewing on the PT Portal.

- If the user was not able to accomplished previously required steps in the PT Round, ―No Interim to show‖ will be the shown under the Actions column

- Access to the Interim report feedback form will be activated after receipt of the interim report by the user, and if previous steps were all accomplished.

- The Interim Report is available for printing in pdf form.



- Access to the Interim report feedback form will be activated after receipt of the interim report by the user

- The interim feedback form should be accomplished to allow access to the final PT report - Click the ―Fill up‖ hyperlink to be directed to the Interim feedback page.

- Fill-out any comments or suggestions on the PT interim report then click the ―Submit‖ button

b. Access to Final PT Report

- The user can access, view, download and print the final PT report after the uploading of

the Final PT Report and the confirmation of the receipt of interim report feedback form by the PTL admin.

- Once the Final PT Report has been uploaded, the system will send an email to notify the user of the recent activity.



- Under the PT Round Menu is the PT Feedback submenu, PT feedback should be accomplished by clicking the pdf icon which will direct the user to the feedback page

- Submit the accomplished PT Feedback to allow access of the certificate of participation.

- If the user selects the Certificate of Participation submenu under PT Round menu at the

navigational bar prior submission of PT report feedback form, the page will notify the user to

Fill-out the Feedback for the action to proceed.

- Click the ―Next‖ button to fill-up the next page. For the last page the user may give the

comments and suggestions before clicking the ―Submit Feedback‖ button



c. Access to Certificate of Participation

- Certificate of Participation can be accessed if previous steps were accomplished or

completed and if it is already uploaded by the PT Provider.



- Once the Certificate of Participation has been uploaded by the admin, the system will

automatically send an email to notify user of the uploaded certificate.

- The user can view, download and print the certificate of participation after submission

of the PT feedback to the PTL admin.

III. RESOURCES

- Next on the navigational bar is the Resources Menu, where the important files are made

available in the system such as the PT Protocol, Statistical Protocol and brochure. These files

can be viewed as pdf file and can also be downloaded and printed.



IV. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

- This submenu answers most the frequently asked questions by the participants regarding their

participation in the PT Round or navigation through the PT Portal.

V. CONTACT US

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