Set Integration Acceptance Criteria With Both Technical and Lab Owners

An automation engineer may arrive with a design drawing and ask for immediate integration approval. A field application scientist can help turn that request into a sound validation discussion, but cannot approve the customer’s integration. The daily laboratory user must be part of the conversation alongside the technical team that owns the interfaces.

Start by mapping the proposed connection: systems involved, inputs and outputs, operational handoffs, exception handling, and the people who own each part. Ask what the laboratory must observe before accepting the workflow and which approved specifications apply. A design drawing is useful evidence; it does not show that the local workflow meets customer acceptance criteria.

In a fictional workshop, the engineer asks, “Can you approve the integration based on our design drawing?” The scientist replies, “I can review the drawing against the approved interface information, but your organization will need to validate the integration. Has the laboratory scientist who owns the daily process defined the acceptance evidence with you?” The engineer says that person has not seen the design. They schedule a joint session to map sample identifiers and exception paths.

Practice by taking a simple interface diagram and asking for three acceptance observations from the lab owner. A manager can assess whether the trainee identifies decision owners, documented evidence, and an agreed validation step instead of allowing a technical diagram to stand in for customer approval.