Please note: A PDF version of this guide is available for download at the bottom of the article.

This manual details the functionality of the ARC module that allows you to view animal orders and transfers, enter specific order information, mark orders as received, and process the quarantining of received animals. In addition, you will learn how to search for orders in the iRIS system using the Find an Order functionality. For more information about the initial creation and submission of ARC orders and transfers, please reference the ARC - Animal Management manual.

ARC - Orders

The ARC – Orders screen, accessed from the iRIS Home screen under ARC Assistant > Orders, contains information about all of the orders and transfers from various studies that have been submitted to the ARC board for review and processing.  The Orders screen features five tabs: Approved for Ordering, Pending Approval, In Progress Orders, Quarantine, and Completed.

Approved for Ordering

New Requests

Orders

Orders and transfers with the status “New Request” are orders and external transfers that have been created via the Animal Management tab of a study and submitted to ARC by the study’s PI or other study personnel.

Click the icon in the Open column to open the Animal Order Request Form Processing screen.

At the top of the screen, under Request Information, appears the original order information as submitted by the study personnel. This information is read-only. Click the icon to show or hide this information.

You can click the second to expand the second section of the screen, Approval for [Name] with the role of [Role], to view the order submitter’s electronic signature.

The bottom section of the screen is where you can input the details of the order. This section contains the following fields:

Order Date: This is an editable date field.

Expected Delivery Date: This is an editable date field.

Confirmation Number: This is a text field where you can enter a confirmation number from the vendor.

Method of Ordering: Select Web, Email, Pager, Fax, or Phone.

Vendor: Select a vendor from the dropdown list. The list of vendors is configured under System Administration > List Configuration and Maintenance > Business Associate List. The vendors that appear on the animal order form are those in the Associate Group “Animal Vendor.” For more information on configuring business associates, see the Sys Admin - List Config - System Setup manual.

After a vendor has been selected, a Find Contact button will appear, allowing you to search for a contact associated with the vendor you selected. Clicking this button opens the Find a Sponsor Contact: Select window. If you do not see the contact you are looking for, you can click Add a New Contact to the Master List if you wish to add a contact to the master list of contacts associated with that vendor.

In the Sponsor Contact: Details window, you can enter personal and contact information about your contact at the sponsor. Click Save Sponsor Contact Info to proceed.

Information added when adding a contact to the master list will populate in the main Order Information screen.

Vendor Contact Name: This is a text field where you can enter the name of the vendor contact if you did not select or add a contact from the master list.

Vendor Contact Phone Number: This is a text field where you can enter the vendor’s phone number.

Vendor Contact Fax Number: This is a text field where you can enter the vendor’s fax number.

Vendor Contact Email: This is a text field where you can enter the vendor’s email address.

Vendor Confirmation Document: If you receive an order confirmation document from the vendor and would like to upload it, click Upload. This will open a pop-up window where you can click Browse to locate the document on your computer. Once you have located the document, click Save selected file to save the file and return to the order processing screen.

Order Animals:

Under this section, you will see the type and number of animals and the cage configuration requested by the study already filled in. The Species field is read-only; if the value in this field is incorrect, a new order must be submitted. However, you can edit the Strain, Stock #/Order Code, Age/Size, Number of Males Ordered, Number of Females Ordered, Number of Cages, and Approved Location fields if the actual order differs from the initial request.

External Transfers

External transfer forms are similar to order forms, excluding the fields to enter vendor information (as there is no vendor). The form only contains places to edit the Order Date, Expected Delivery Date, and Confirmation Number. The Order Animals section of the form is the same as that on order forms.

Approved for Ordering

Replacement Orders

Replacement orders appear on the Approved for Ordering tab with a status of “Approved for Ordering.” These orders, identifiable by the “R” appended to the end of the order number, are generated when less than the requested number of animals is received (see the Less Animals Received section of the manual). These orders can be processed in much the same way as other orders on the Approved for Ordering tab with the status “New Request,” except the Vendor, Strain, Stock #/Order Code, and Age/Size fields are read-only. In addition, you will not be able to order a larger number of total animals than the original request, although you can change the number of males vs. females.

Once you enter a Facility in the Approved Location table, the Generate Card column will populate and you will be able to print cage cards.

Internal Transfers

After internal transfers go through the signoff process, they are moved to the Approved for Ordering tab with a status of “Approved for Ordering.” Internal transfer forms are similar to order forms, excluding the fields to enter vendor information (as there is no vendor). The top section of the form only contains places to edit the Order Date, Expected Delivery Date, and Confirmation Number.

The “Order Animals” section of the form is processed differently for Internal Transfers.

First, take note of the Approved Cage(s) to Transfer table. This table lists the specific cages from the originating study that have been approved for transfer to the current study. In the above screenshot, note that the cages being transferred each contain 10 animals (10 males and 10 females), while the original order asked for 5 males and 5 females. In this situation, you must accept all of the animals in the cages being transferred (20 total animals instead of 10), as internal transfers are based on cages, not individual animals.

Therefore, in order to process this transfer, you must change the Number of Males Ordered to 10 and the Number of Females ordered to 10. The Number of Cages field must contain the same number of cages as those approved for transfer; which, in this case, is 2.

In the below screenshot, you can see the Order Animals section filled out in a way such that it will validate correctly.

If you wish to change the location of the cages, check a box in the Change Location column. This will open dropdown menus in the Cage Type, Facility, and Room columns, which will allow you to select a new cage location.

Processing the Order/Transfer

At the top of the Order Information screen, there are buttons which allow you to save the order, deny the order, or process the order.

Clicking Save Order will save the information you have entered without changing the status of the order/transfer. The order/transfer will remain editable. Once you save the order, a new Generate Card column will appear in the Approved Location table, allowing you to generate and print cage cards. For more information about cage cards, please consult the ARC – ARC Assistant manual.

Click Deny Order if you do not wish to proceed with the order, and click OK in the pop-up window to confirm. This will change the status of the order to “Denied,” and you will subsequently only be able to view it from the Animal Management screen within the associated study. The order will be read-only from this point forward. After denying the order, you can click Back to return to the main ARC - Orders screen.

Click Process Order to indicate that you are proceeding with the order/transfer. The required fields need to be populated or the order cannot be processed. This will generate the Receiving Information tab for the order. If you do not wish to process the receipt of the order at this time, click back to return to the ARC - Orders screen. The order will have been moved from the Approved for Ordering tab to the In Progress Orders tab, and the status changed to “Ordered – Pending Receipt.” The order will be read-only from this point forward. The number of animals requested will be added to the Total Pending on the study.

Pending Approval

The Pending Approval tab displays internal transfers with the status “Pending Approval.”

After an internal transfer is initially submitted by the PI of the study requesting the animals, it is routed to three more users for signoff: the PI for the originating study (the study that will supply the animals), the Transfer Coordinator, and the Veterinarian. The transfers that appear on this tab supply information regarding the status of the signoff process.

 When you open a transfer, you will see several read-only sections on the form. Click the icons to show or hide the information in these sections.

At the top of the screen, under Request Information, appears the original transfer request information.

The second section consists of the electronic signature for the original submitter of the transfer.

The third section is for the electronic signature for the PI of the originating study. If the originating PI has not yet signed off on the transfer, the signature section will appear, but no signature will be present.

Further sections will only appear if the preceding signatures have been completed. In the screenshot above, the first two signatures have been completed, but the Transfer Coordinator has not yet signed off. The image shows the questions that are presented to the Transfer Coordinator at signoff (as of yet unanswered) and the space where the electronic signature will appear when it has been completed.

Once the Transfer Coordinator has signed off on the transfer, a new section will be created for the Veterinarian’s signoff.

Once the Veterinarian has signed off on the transfer, the transfer’s status will change to “Approved for Ordering” and it will appear on the Approved for Ordering tab.

In Progress Orders

The In Progress Orders tab lists orders with the status “Ordered – Pending Receipt. “  These are orders/transfers which have been submitted but not yet marked as received.

Click the icon in the Open column to open an order. The screen will open to the Order Information tab, which will display the read-only order information as seen after you initially processed the order.

Click the Receiving Information tab to begin processing the receipt of the order. As when viewing an order from the Approved for Ordering tab, you can click the icons to expand the Request Information section and the Approval section.

The Receiving Information tab contains the following fields:

Date Received: This is an editable date field.

Purchase Cost: In this field, you can enter the dollar value of the order’s purchase cost.

Service Cost: In this field, you can enter the dollar value of the order’s service cost.

Container OK: In this field, you can select Yes or No to indicate the state of the container. If you select No, you can enter information in the If No, Explain text box.

Physical Exam

In this section, you can indicate the physical health of the received animals. Select Yes or No to indicate the quality of the animals’ General Appearance; Eyes, Ears, Nose, Mouth; Urogenital, Anus; Respiratory; and Hydration.

Describe all abnormalities…: This text box allows you to describe any problems with the condition of the received animals.

Comments: This text box allows you to add any comments about the condition of the received animals.

Order Animals

In this section, the Species, Strain, Stock #/Order Code, Age/Size, Number of Males Ordered, and Number of Females Ordered fields are read-only.

Number of Males Received: In this box, enter the actual number of male animals received.

Number of Females Received: In this box, enter the actual number of female animals received.

Animals must go through Quarantine: Here, you can select Yes or No to indicate whether the animals need to be quarantined. If you select Yes, the Approved Location table of cages changes to the Quarantine Location table.

Number of Cages: In this box, enter the number of cages you need to house the received animals. If you change the number in this field, the system will change the number of records in the Approved Location/Quarantine Location table.

Approved Location/Quarantine Location: This table is where, if necessary, you can edit the proposed cage types and locations for the new animals. To fill in a whole column with the same information, click the All button under the column name. The lists for Cage Type, Facility, Floor, and Room are configured under Review Board Administration > System Setup > Setup Cage Types and Setup Facilities/Floors/Rooms. The number of animals entered in the table of cages must equal the total number of animals received or the form will not validate. After selecting a facility, the Generate Card column will appear, allowing you to generate and print cage cards.

Note: In order to be able to enter locations to house quarantined animals, rooms must be designated for Quarantine Use under Review Board Administration > Setup Facilities/Floors/Rooms. If no rooms have been designated for quarantine, no locations will populate in the Quarantine Location table. For more information about configuring facilities, floors, and rooms, please consult the ARC - Review Board Administration manual. In the below screenshot, Room 101 has been designated as a quarantine location.

Click Save Order to save the information in the form without completing the receiving process, or Process Receipt to submit the form. If you process the receipt and Animals must go through Quarantine is set to No, the form will become read-only, the order status will change to “Completed,” and the order will now appear under the Completed tab of the ARC - Orders screen. The number of animals marked as received will be added to the Total On Study number of animals.

If Animals must go through Quarantine is set to Yes, the form will become read-only and a Quarantine tab will be generated. The order status will change to “In Quarantine,” and the order will now appear under the Quarantine tab of the ARC - Orders screen.  The number of animals marked as received will be added to the Total On Study number of animals.

Receiving Internal Transfers

When receiving internal transfers, the number of animals entered as received must be equivalent to the number of animals ordered. Since an entire cage is being transferred, it isn’t possible to receive more or less animals than the ones in the cage.

If you select Yes to Animals must go through Quarantine, you can enter the Quarantine Location on the Quarantine tab after the transfer is processed.

Less Animals Received

If the number of animals entered as received is less than the number of animals requested for orders and external transfers, a pop-up will appear upon clicking Process Receipt that will ask you if you would like to either credit the charge account or request the remaining animals.

If you wish to credit the charge account, select Credit Charge Account and click Continue. The number of animals actually received will be added to the Total On Study and the number of animals not received will be credited back to the Total Available for the study. The order will be closed and moved to the Completed tab.

If you select Request Remaining Animals and click Continue, a new order will be created on the Approved for Ordering tab with the status “Approved for Ordering.” The new order will have the same order number as the original order, with “-R” appended to the end. Please see the Approved for Ordering section for more information on how to process these orders. The original order will be closed and moved to the Completed tab, and the number of animals actually received will be added to the Total On Study. The number of animals not received will still appear in the Total Pending for the study.

Clicking Cancel will return you to the order screen to continue processing the receipt.

More Animals Received

If you enter larger numbers in the Number of Males Received and Number of Females Received boxes than the number of animals ordered for orders and external transfers, a pop-up will generate when you process receipt of the order.

In this window, click Continue to confirm the receipt of the additional animals, or click Cancel to return to the order and edit the number of animals received. If you confirm the receipt of the additional animals, they will be added to the Total On Study number of animals along with the original number ordered.

Quarantine

The Quarantine tab contains a list of the orders with the Order Status “In Quarantine.” This represents the animals which have been marked as needing to go through quarantine on the Receiving Information tab of the order.

Click the icon in the Open column to open an order. The Order Information and Receiving Information tabs will both be read-only at this point, but the Quarantine tab will be editable. As when viewing an order from other tabs, you can click the icons to expand the Request Information section and the Approval section.

The Quarantine tab contains the following data values:

Receiving Animals

Under this section, you can see the read-only data values Species, Strain, Stock #/Order Code, Age/Size, Number of Males Received, and Number of Females Received. These values are indicative of the information entered upon receipt of the order.

Quarantine

Under this section, you can enter information pertaining to removing the animals from quarantine and testing their health.

Date Expected out of Quarantine: This is an editable date field.

Animals due out for testing?: Here, you can select Yes or No to indicate whether the animals are due for testing.

Date Due out for Testing: This is an editable date field.

Testing Results: If desired, click Upload to upload a document containing test results.

Actual Date out of Quarantine: This is an editable date field.

Move to Approved Location?: You must select Yes here if you wish to close the order.

Quarantine Location/Approved Location: When you first view this table, it is already populated with the quarantine location of the animals. If you select Yes for Move to Approved Location, you will need to fill out the table with the new location for the animals. Once you select a facility, you will be able to generate cage cards by clicking Generate in the Generate Card column.

Click Save Record to save the information in the form without changing the order status, or click Move to Approved to indicate the animals are out of quarantine and complete the order. This will change the order status to “Completed,” and the order will now appear under the Completed tab of the ARC - Orders screen.

Completed

The Completed tab of the ARC – Orders screen is where you can see orders with the status “Completed.” These orders are no longer editable but you can open them for viewing and to generate cage cards, if desired.

At the top of the page is a date range filter that you can use to search for submissions completed between certain dates. Click in the box to type in a date (DD/MM/YYYY format), or click the button to select a date from the calendar. Enter a date in both boxes, and click Refresh to filter the results.

Click on the icon in the Open column to view an order. Here, you will see the Order Information and Receiving Information tabs and you can review the order. You can also generate cage cards from the Approved Location table at the bottom of the screen on the Receiving Information tab.

Find an Order

From the iRIS Home screen, navigate to ARC Assistant > Find an Order to open the order search screen. The ARC – Find an Order screen has several filters at the top that you can use to locate orders and transfers in the system.

The following fields are available to filter search results:

Order Number: In this field, you can enter all or part of the order number.

IACUC Number: In this field, you can enter all or part of the associated study’s IACUC number.

Principal Investigator: When you begin typing in this field, a list will populate of the users in the system with the corresponding letter(s) in their names. Click the Active button to switch it to Inactive in order to search for inactive users.

Protocol Nickname: In this field, you can enter all or part of the protocol nickname.

Order Status: In this field, you can select an order status from the dropdown menu.

Date Order Placed/Expected Delivery Date: In these fields, enter all or part of a date you wish to search for. For example, selecting April from the Date Order Placed dropdown list of months will return all orders placed in April. Entering 2016 in the year field will return all orders from 2016.

When searching, you can enter data in one field or in all of the fields that you wish to use to filter your results. Or, to return all results in the system, click Find without adding any filters.

The below screenshot represents a search by Principal Investigator.

The table of results has several columns that can be used to sort the records.

When you click on the headers of the Order Status, Order Number, IACUC Number, Study Title/Protocol nickname, Principal Investigator, Date Order Placed, and Expected Delivery Date columns, an icon will appear, meaning that the column is now sorted alphabetically, numerically, or by date from lowest to highest. If you click the header again, the icon will change to, sorting the column from highest to lowest.

Click an icon in the Open column to open an order. The functionality available for an opened order depends on the Order Status. For example, you can process an order with the status “Ordered – Pending Receipt” via the Receiving Information tab, which is still editable. An order with the status “Completed” is read-only, but you can generate cage cards.