Method coverage & DOC windows — know what your lab can actually run, today
A live map of every method and who's qualified to run it, with every demonstration-of-competency window tracked — so a lapsed window never slips through, and you see a coverage gap before it stops the work.
What are method coverage and DOC windows?
Method coverage is the map of which analysts are qualified to run which methods — your lab’s real testing capacity at a glance. A DOC window is the valid period of a person’s demonstration of competency for a method: earned by an initial demonstration, kept alive by ongoing ones on a cadence. LabMODO tracks both, so you always know what you can run, and nobody runs a method on a lapsed window.
You're accredited to run forty methods — but can you run them all today?
Being accredited for a method and being able to run it right now are two different things, and the gap between them lives in a spreadsheet nobody keeps current.
“There’s no system to flag when someone’s outside their DOC window.”
“No systemic check that the person assigned is actually authorized for the method.”
A DOC window quietly closes and an analyst keeps running the method anyway — a finding, and a real liability. A key method turns out to have only one qualified person, and when they’re out, the work stops — but nobody saw it coming. And when an assessor asks you to show competency coverage across your scope, it’s a reconstruction, not a readout.
Inside method coverage & DOC windows
The capacity of your lab, mapped and kept valid.
01
The coverage matrix.
Every method against every analyst — who’s qualified, who isn’t, where the gaps are — in one view. Your lab’s real capacity, not a list of certificates in a drawer.
02
DOC windows, tracked and flagged.
Each person’s demonstration-of-competency window — initial and ongoing — is tracked per method and surfaced before it lapses, not after. A closing window is something you see coming.
03
Nobody runs a method they’re not current on.
Authorization is tied to an open DOC window, so a lapsed window means a person is no longer shown as able to run that method — the dispatch-liability gap closes.
04
See your single points of failure.
Methods only one person can run show up as the risk they are — so you can cross-train before a vacation or a resignation becomes a stop-work.
05
Rolls up to Mission Control.
Coverage and expiring windows feed the lid, so “can we run our full scope right now?” is a glance, not an investigation.
Coverage, windows, and the gaps between them
The coverage map.
Every method × every analyst, qualified or not — capacity you can read.
The windows.
Initial and ongoing DOC windows per person per method, flagged before they lapse.
The gaps.
Single-points-of-failure and coverage holes surfaced before they stop the work.
What lives here:
Your team’s qualifications and their DOC windows — the “provably able” record. How that competency is demonstrated and renewed lives in Competency tracking; this is the view across all of it — what you can run, and whether it’s still valid.
What changes when coverage is a map, not a guess
You always know what you can run.
Capacity is a live readout — no wondering whether a method is covered until someone’s out.
No lapsed-window findings.
Windows surface before they close, so an analyst is never running a method on expired competency.
No surprise single point of failure.
The method only one person can run is visible as a risk, early enough to cross-train.
Capacity to grow.
Adding a method or a matrix shows exactly who needs qualifying — so scope grows without outrunning your people.
The readout of "provably able"
Method coverage & DOC windows is the capacity view of the People & training pillar — the “able people” step of the LabMODO Quality Loop: rules → able people → daily work → checked against your standards. When a document changes, its people are flagged to re-qualify in Competency tracking, and their coverage here updates — so the map always reflects reality, and the loop stays closed.
What the assessor saw at one of our customers
“She pulled up one of our newest employees and showed all of the documents associated with the training right there under his name, under the module, under the department. It was really well laid out.” — Owner
Twenty minutes about your lab — and what to fix first
Bring your method list and how you track who's qualified today — the matrix, the spreadsheet, the training folders. We'll look at which windows are closest to lapsing and which methods ride on a single person. You get a plan either way.
FAQ
Questions labs actually ask
If yours isn’t here, ask it on the demo.
What’s the difference between method coverage and competency tracking?
What’s the difference between method coverage and competency tracking?
Competency tracking is how an analyst earns and renews competency for a method — the initial and ongoing demonstrations of capability. Method coverage is the view across all of that: which methods you can run, by whom, and where the gaps are. One is the engine; this is the map it produces.
What exactly is a DOC window?
What exactly is a DOC window?
A DOC window is the valid period of a person’s demonstration of competency for a method — opened by an initial demonstration and kept open by ongoing ones on a cadence (often annual). LabMODO tracks each window per person per method and flags it before it closes, so competency never silently lapses.
Can it show where only one person is qualified for a method?
Can it show where only one person is qualified for a method?
Yes. The coverage matrix surfaces single points of failure — methods only one analyst can run — so you can cross-train before an absence turns into a stop-work.
Does it stop someone running a method they’re not current on?
Does it stop someone running a method they’re not current on?
Authorization is tied to an open DOC window, so once a window lapses the person is no longer shown as able to run that method — closing the “was the assigned person actually authorized?” gap.
Does it work with our LIMS?
Does it work with our LIMS?
Yes — LabMODO works with or without your LIMS. Your LIMS runs samples and results; LabMODO holds the quality side, including who’s qualified to run each method. Where the LIMS stops, LabMODO starts.
Is LabMODO ISO 17025 certified?
Is LabMODO ISO 17025 certified?
No — and no software can be. ISO 17025 sets requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories, so it’s labs that get accredited to it (by bodies like A2LA, ANAB, or PJLA), not software. What LabMODO does is keep your people provably qualified for that assessment.