The business landscapes are changing rapidly. The employers need to keep their workforce competent enough to pace up with ever-changing and growing trends. The use of technology has also increased recently, which has become a challenge for many organizations. But it is more of an opportunity for businesses to make themselves adaptive towards the only constant i.e., Change.

So, how can you drive more efficiency? Will there be a need for a robust training management solution? In this post, we will look at some similar concerns regarding the training management solution that most of the organizations have.

Let’s start by looking through the need for a robust training management system in the organization.

We have already discussed about the increasing role of technology in modern-day businesses. The organizations relying on advanced tools and technologies need a streamlined and standardized training management process in the organization to keep their employees competent and skilled.

A robust training management system helps organizations to manage their training processes, be it document-based or instructor-led. From trainee registration to defining course, you can do all the training administration activities within a minimal span of time. Also, it makes assessments faster and efficient than traditional paper-based systems.

What are the Benefits of Cloud-Based Training Management Software?

The organizations can leverage multiple benefits of choosing training management software over traditional training systems. Three key benefits include;

Centralized Access to the Training Data

Every organization has multiple departments, each with different teams and training requirements. It implies ample training data in their systems. Managing, accessing, and sharing the training data may get tedious with manual operations. On the other hand, a cloud-based training platform makes training management simplified.

With cloud-based training management software, you can keep track of all the training records, data, and documents through centralized access. You can offer your employees a convenient way to complete the online registration and schedule automatic notifications to keep them informed about upcoming training sessions, assessments, and certification trainings. In addition to quick signups, the trainees can make registrations, enrollments, view other participants, and results.

For trainers, the cloud-based training systems provide a configurable interface to tailor training for specific needs, based on the different job-functions, department, revisions, or refresher training.

Streamlined Training Processes

The advanced capabilities of the cloud-based Training Management Software allow organizations to expand and integrate the training processes with the quality management system to meet the quality objectives effectively and efficiently. Streamlining the processes include the setting-up training schedules, creating assignments, tracking, and visibility through the training performance for significant improvements in the existing courses or schedules. It also helps identify the new training needs. Let’s have a quick look at each aspect:

• Creating and Setting Up Training Schedules and Assignment

  The cloud training software that comes with configurable workflows allows you to create and set up multiple user groups to provide training and conduct assessments. The software makes it easy for you to sort the trainees based on the job functions, roles, facilities, departments, or locations. The most simple and straightforward way to manage core training activities, isn’t it?

• Efficient Tracking and Completion of Employee Training Programs

  Regular tracking and on-time completion of training programs increase organizational efficiency. The training management software allows you to set alerts and notifications to keep your employees informed about the upcoming training sessions while keeping their supervisors and managers informed about their performance. The regular tracking also keeps managers notified about the overdue training schedules so they can take necessary actions to get it completed on time.

• Improved Visibility Through the Training Performance

  You can experience greater visibility through the training metrics and data, especially the training performance of your employees. The real-time insights will help you develop necessary action plans to improve their performance. It will also help assess whether the trainees can understand the training content, or there is a need for new and more comprehensive content. The main objective of tracking the training performance is not just to evaluate an employee’s performance, but also to improve the trainer’s capability to understand and fulfill the neccessary training requirements effectively.

Minimize Training Costs and Meeting Regulatory Compliance

With a cloud-based training management software, you can effectively manage the training requirements by eliminating the inefficiencies from the system. It further reduces the wastage of time, money, and resources. You need not rely on spreadsheets or paper reporting systems anymore when you can use dashboard and reports capability to generate simplified reports within a few minutes.

Besides cost-effectiveness, you can also meet the regulatory compliance with the help of a robust and secure training management system. You can create the training schedules based on the guidelines of different standards, including ISO 9001, ISO 19011, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001, and ensure 100% preparedness for regulator audits.

Isn’t a cloud-based training management system a real deal to steal for ever-growing and changing training requirements of your organization?

Now that you realize the significance of a training management software. The real challenge awaits you is choosing the right software for your needs, especially in the digital age, wherein you get numerous solutions listed in one search. But you can cut to the chase with one of the most recommended and rated training systems i.e., Qualityze Training Management Solution.

Qualityze Training Management Software is a next-generation solution, built on the most powerful and secure cloud platform i.e., Salesforce, that allows you to streamline the training programs for your employees to increase their efficiency and productivity. It comes with multiple amazing capabilities like powerful analytics and reporting capability that allows you to perform trend analysis and gap assessment to proactively respond to training requirements while meeting the regulatory standards with regular documentation.

If you want to get rid of the job quality and relevant compliance issues, you must invest in a cloud-based Training Management System to keep your workforce competent, skilled, and productive for the roles and responsibilities designated for them.

For more information about the cloud-based training management solutions and the opportunities, get in touch with the Qualityze customer success team today. You can also request a free demo here to get real-time insights about the offerings our solution has, for you.

Whether it’s about the things that we use or the food we consume every day, quality is the prominent consideration. Even the success of the organization depends on the quality of products/services they deliver to their customers.

Quality covers a broader spectrum, including safety, efficiency, and reliability, while many organizations define quality as exceeding customer expectations. This is the reason; there are some standard guidelines published for different industries to manage product quality and keeping the deviations to a minimum.

You already know that understanding different standard guidelines can be a confusing and costly chore. Fortunately, the core differences of ISO 9001 and IATF 16949 are highlighted in this post to give you the most accurate idea about both and their implementation. Let’s begin with a quick introduction of ISO 9001 and IATF 16949.

ISO 9001

ISO 9001 is a set of international standards that defines requirements for an effective quality management system (QMS). ISO 9001 certified organizations are the ones that demonstrate their ability to deliver high-quality products and services consistently while meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements.

IATF 16949

IATF 16949, specified by The International Automotive Task Force (IATF), defines the QMS standards specifically for the Automotive industry. An organization needs to achieve this certification through a 3rd party auditor. Though IATF 16949 used the structure of ISO 9001, the automotive companies need to comply with both the manuals, i.e., IATF 16949 and ISO 9001, for achieving certification.

A quick look through the differences between ISO 9001 and IATF 16949

Though both the standards share the same structure, there are specific differences that you should know for the successful implementation of best practices in your organization.

1. The ISO 9001 defines the fundamental requirements of a quality management system for every organization, while IATF 16949 talks about the requirements of QMS for automotive organizations.
2. The ISO 9001 can be implemented alone as a stand-alone document, while IATF 16949 must be implemented as an extension and in combination with ISO 9001:2015.
3. The ISO 9001 applies to all the sites of the organization. At the same time, IATF 16949 is applicable for the organization sites that produce service parts or parts for car assembly, not the aftermarket parts.
4. The ISO 9001 focuses on customer satisfaction, while the IATF 16949 focuses on customer-specific requirements.
5. ISO 9001 does not require calibration for all measurement systems. You can calibrate only the systems that significantly contribute to the quality of the product. At the same time, IATF 16949 requires calibration/verification activities and records along with the details on conformity to specification after the calibration/verification activity.
6. The accreditation bodies for ISO 9001 include ANAB, Auditors, Certification Bodies, etc. while the accreditation bodies for IATF 16949 include IATF, IAOB, Auditors, etc.

Different Guidelines: One Common Goal

Though guidelines specified in both the standards may vary, they share a common goal to achieve, i.e., Quality – for products, services, and processes. Achieving quality ensures Longevity, Fulfillment, Cost vs. Need, Security, Usability, and Efficiency of the product.

You must ensure quality is critical to keep your customers satisfied and retain their loyalty for long-term profits. Maintaining quality processes make the organization a better place to work while fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

Also, quality helps businesses to achieve:

1. Productivity
2. Sustainability
3. Profitability
4. Business Success
5. Customer Satisfaction

Achieving Quality Requires an Effective Quality Management System

When you have a well-documented and implemented Quality Management System in your organization, you can leverage multiple benefits like;

1. Streamlined and controlled processes
2. Reduced wastage and downtime
3. Lesser chances of expensive mistakes such as product recall
4. Lowered costs of quality
5. Identifying and fulfilling training requirements
6. Increased employee engagement
7. Continuous improvements and process alignment with quality objectives
8. Smoother communication and collaboration to eliminate inconsistencies

To achieve quality consistently, you need a quality management system that not only helps you to streamline and standardize the processes but also to measure and review the performance analytics for making necessary changes in the system.

Which quality management system to go for?

Qualityze Enterprise Quality Management Software will make a perfect solution for all your quality management needs. It helps you gain a competitive edge by utilizing the best-in-class quality processes to ensure improved product quality and achieve compliance. It focuses on reducing the overall costs of quality, regardless of your industry focus.

Qualityze EQMS Suite includes Nonconformance Management, CAPA Management, Document Management, Change Management, Audit Management, Training Management, Complaints Management, Supplier Quality Management, Calibration Management, and Maintenance Management system.

Qualityze is built upon the world’s most secure and reliable platform, Salesforce.com, which enables your quality teams to manage end-to-end quality from anywhere around the globe. It also comprises features like Email Approvals, Important Reminders Notification, Digital Signature, Dashboards, and Reports.

Conclusion

Complying to quality standards, be it ISO 9001 or IATF 16949, gives your organization a competitive edge over others. You can put an effective quality management system in place to have better control of the process and maintain consistency in product quality.

Optimize Quality to Gain Customer Loyalty!

The disruptive notion of technological advancements has led to many transformations in the business landscape, including some disturbances like skill gaps. It emerged as a challenge for organizations to get their employees trained on requisite skills such as problem-solving, communication, new technologies, and much more.

Why is this a challenge?

There are two reasons behind it. Firstly, they are unable to identify the right training requirements. Secondly, they don’t have a training strategy to fill the skill gaps and upskill their employees for a better and productive environment.

Let’s take a look at the brief definition of Skill Gaps and Upskilling. It will help you understand the need for training management systems in the workplace for improved employee engagement and efficiency.

Skill Gap refers to the gap between what employers want from their employees and what employees are actually delivering. For example, – you have a bunch of experienced people in your customer service team. But, at times, they couldn’t understand customer complaints due to substandard communication. It is just one of many cases wherein organizations are struggling due to skill gaps.

On the flip side, upskilling is the process of keeping your employees trained on new skills as the technology holds many opportunities and new positions that may require specialized skill sets. Through upskilling, the organization can make the current workforce competent that help them to pace up with new development opportunities available in the marketplace.

For upskilling, you will need the right training management solution that can help you create the course sessions specifically for different job functions and roles. It will help your employees to overcome the everyday technological challenges with the utmost ease. It will, further, increase the overall organizational productivity.

More you will focus on the skill gaps that are holding your employees back; more will be opportunities to unleash and stay competitive.

How Upskilling Improves Organizational Effectiveness?

With technology making rapid growth, employee upskilling has become a priority for organizations. They need their employees to be competent by consistently adding new skills and upgrading the technical knowledge based on the tasks assigned.

In fact, employee training programs can no longer be treated as an extra benefit – they have become a necessity to maintain competitiveness. All the organizations, committed to quality and customer satisfaction, must ensure that their workforce is up to date on the latest technological trends, industry-specific developments and can access the best tools and technologies to deliver the desired results consistently.

In addition to filling the skill gaps, upskilling is significant for modern organizations for multiple reasons such as:

1. The changing job roles
2. Increased expectations for growth opportunities
3. Increased emphasis on employee satisfaction
4. Need to improve organizational performance
5. To gain competitiveness
6. To fill the skill gaps and much more.

How to Upskill Your Employees?

Upskilling your employees is not an easy job to accomplish. It requires you to create an actionable strategy. You need to identify what all skills your employees need training for and how you can achieve that.

The main objective of upskilling is to keep your workforce ahead of the industry-specific demands, maintaining a leading edge from the competitors. So, think proactively while creating the upskilling strategy.

5 Fail-Proof Upskilling Strategies

To upskill your workforce, you can implement the following strategies:

Increase the Accessibility to Training and Development Opportunities

Every organization has some dedicated employees who always try to exceed the expectations and possess high morale. But it would be best if you focused more on every employee by ensuring that they are getting access to the right training and development opportunities. The results of this activity will take you by surprise when you see many other employees taking advantage of such initiatives to improve their productivity. And you will start seeing some remarkable improvements in your organization.

Experiment with Different Learning Methods

Just like – One Size Doesn’t Fit All, you cannot expect every employee to make most of every learning opportunity you offer them. It’s not about their need or interest. It’s more about the learning style. Some prefer old-school classroom training; some prefer online training schedules that allow flexible learning; and some prefer watching short explainer videos so that they can maintain an everyday learning routine. You can leverage the right cloud-based Training Management System to manage your employees’ training needs effectively. Offering different methods of learning helps to keep every employee engaged and motivated for new learning.

Focus on Decision-Making Capability of your Employees

You must empower your employees for decision-making. Let them control their development plan. Once they start making their own decision, they will be more informed about things. It will also give them a sense of freedom to make their choices, and they will take ownership of their duties. You will shape more leaders in your organization for a better and productive organization.

Every Effort Deserves a Reward

You must reward your employees for the efforts they put for upskilling and meeting the increasing competency levels. Appreciate them, give them some incentive for every training they undergo for organizational maturity. The regular recognition leads to a happier and satisfied workforce that contributes to increased productivity.

Improve Employee Engagement

Like different learning methods, you can try various employee engagement activities to keep your employees motivated. It could be a little challenging to keep them engaged, but regular new initiatives can help you understand what works and what doesn’t. Thus, you will be able to make informed decisions for different employee engagement activities.

It’s time that organizations take upskilling seriously by making an employee-centered for significant improvements. The next-generation Training Management Software solution can play a very prominent role in such improvements since it puts organizations as well as employees in better control of learning initiatives that can actually help them to be more productive.

How to Get Ahead?

With the different reports and surveys published, it is quite clear that organizations must address the existing skills gaps in their workforces. It may become a daunting task to identify and fulfill the training requirements manually. The best solution here is Training Management Software Solutions that can make it easy for organizations to streamline their training processes without any hassles.

Skill gaps reflect the real deficiency in the capabilities of the workforce that should be monitored and reduced at regular intervals. The robust Training Management Solution like Qualityze standardizes the training process cycle to fight this deficiency effectively and efficiently.

Just because the employers’ requirements are getting changed doesn’t mean the existing workforce will have to lose their job. It’s time that organization should pay attention to improve the competency of their employees by providing requisite training and learning programs through cutting-edge training management solutions.

Empower your workforce for better and competent job roles by encouraging a learning environment in the organization!

Cloud has been a buzzword for all the industries for the recent few years. Now it has become quite mainstream especially after the Corona hit. Organizations have realized the importance of shifting their processes and operations to cloud applications that their workforce can access from anywhere, anytime.

Now that most of the software applications are cloud-based, is not an exception.

We all agree that every manufacturing unit uses some or other equipment, instruments, and systems that needs to be calibrated regularly. Since the quality and accuracy of the equipment can bring all the difference in producing quality products.

And, managing calibration schedules and data for all the devices manually will only get challenging with the time. Therefore, businesses need a powerful calibration management software, cloud-based and intuitive, that can make the entire process simple.

Cloud-Based Software for Calibration: What Difference It brings?

Using a cloud-based software for calibration management enables organizations to perform better, faster, and accurate analysis of calibration records while keeping a check on all the existing as well as historical data trends.

Further, manufacturers can experience lowered costs of calibrations by optimizing calibration schedules. For example – the improved safety may require them to increase the frequency of calibrations. It will help them to take necessary actions before it leads to something catastrophic.

5 Key Improvements with a Cloud-Based Calibration Management Software

The cloud-driven solutions for calibration management can leverage multiple improvements in process cycles including:

Planning and Decision Making

The advanced calibration software makes it easy for organizations to coordinate and disperse critical data efficiently. It, further, enables your quality teams to plan the processes effectively. With all the critical information accessible, the software enables them to make informed decisions about the improvements, action plans, and change of devices required.

The cloud-based solutions increase the visibility through the data available in the system, making the planning and decision-making process simple, faster, and agile.

Improved Organization

Streamlining and standardizing the processes becomes feasibly easy with a software. And, having organized structure of processes helps businesses to keep a track of improvements required in a process, system, and structure. You can also create organize the instruction guides for calibration personnel to maintain consistency. It is rightly quoted that “For every minute spent organizing, an hour is earned.”

Wouldn’t you like to earn more hours for your teams to maximize the productivity levels? If yes, you must consider upgrading to the Cloud-based Calibration Management Software that gives you more flexibility and scalability to organize process and workflows.

Process Execution

Using the software for calibration management minimizes the errors in the process execution, making it more efficient. There are software applications that allow you to configure the execution process based on the industry best practices and regulatory standards to meet the quality expectations. Smooth process execution requires clearly defined quality objectives that you can document and share efficiently through a robust software.

The software makes it easy for you to define the business goals with the steps you need to follow for achieving those goals, making it easy to specify the execution strategy.

Documentation

Documentation also gets improved with the cloud-based calibration management software. Whether you want to generate multiple reports or manage the calibration certificates, the software makes it easy and quick. You can also print the certificates with watermark and electronic signatures to validate the calibration activities. Moreover, you can send them to multiple sites over a click without needing to print them.

The cloud-driven calibration management software also leverages you ample of storage to keep all your important calibration related documents securely on a single platform, which can be accessed by your team anywhere, anytime they need.

Analysis

Analysis just get simpler with the cloud calibration management software since it increases visibility and traceability of data and trends. You can gain extract improved insights on what’s working and what’s not. It will further help you make better decisions to improve process cycles.

Unlike traditional systems, you need not worry about missing calibration records or maintaining the records in separate files. The software automates the process with a unique reference number for every record. Experience new phase of analytics with next-generation calibration management software.

These improvements can further help organizations to experience multiple benefits. 3 key benefits that they can expect include:

Cost Reduction

The cost of calibration management will significantly reduce with the use of software since it will help curbing the need of additional resources and tools. Also, the costs due to process failures and errors will be minimal.

Quality Improvements

Quality improvements are, indeed, the most crucial aspect of upgrading to calibration software from traditional paper-based filing systems. Businesses will be able to create a culture of continuous improvements with a software that will streamline and standardize their operations.

Enhanced Efficiency

Organizations are likely to experience enhanced efficiency in their everyday processes and operations with the implementation of robust calibration management software. It will help them to streamline and automate the calibration schedules by setting their frequency well-in-advance.

Every type of manufacturing unit, regardless of industry focus, can take maximum advantages by implementing cloud-based calibration management software.

In comparison to traditional, paper-based management systems, using a robust calibration management solution helps organizations to improve their quality standards and productivity while cutting down on the costs of the calibration process.

Despite these benefits, there is only one quarter of companies that use software for calibration management. The others are still relying on incompetent means of scheduling and recording calibrations that will cost them their business in the long run.

Would you still prefer paper-based systems or switch to advanced solutions available in the market?

To know more about the kind of calibration management software you should choose based on your business needs, you can get in touch with Qualityze team and we will be right there for you. We will assist you with the best solution (and the respective configurations) to make your calibration management process completely streamlined and standardized.

Many organizations consider the change control and implementation the most challenging task to maintain quality. However, change is the only constant. They need a formalized change management system for smoother transitions to the newer technologies, systems, processes, and documentation to pace up with the ever-changing and growing business environment.

A Change Management System helps to reduce the overall impact of the change on your organization, its ongoing processes, and employees. This post intends to help you understand the entire concept of change management and why it is essential for an organization to be successful.

Let’s start with the Definition

Change Management refers to the process of managing and controlling the effective improvements in the documentation or processes to achieve business goals. The most significant part of change implementation is effective communication to ensure that every member is involved in the process.

The main objective of change management processes is to increase the overall organizational productivity and efficiency while minimizing the costs of quality. However, every change requires strategies, employee engagement, acceptance, and minimal resistance.

“Change before you have to.”– Jack Welch

If you will keep resisting the change and will stretch its implementation, you may end up losing the competitive edge.

3 Effective Steps for a Smoother Change Control and Implementation Process

We all understand that change needs a systemic and proactive approach for successful implementation to drive desired results. If it is not carried appropriately, you are likely to face inconvenience in the processes due to inefficiencies, redundant policies, and unnecessary delays. It will cost the business many new growth opportunities.

Doing the change management right is simple with these three steps:

Eliminating the Internal Resistance

The most universal and obvious reaction any organization gets from its employee on a policy or process change is resistance – be it any reason. Without overcoming this barrier, no organization can expect a successful change implementation. Here are some critical steps that will help you to eliminate the internal resistance:

• Establish a clear communication medium to inform your employees in advance about the upcoming change and its implementation plan so they can prepare accordingly.
• Resolve all your employees’ queries regarding the need for change and how the proposed change will help improve their performance in attaining the quality objectives within the specified time.
• Identify the unofficial leaders of the team to make change implementation successful. They can help understand the positive impact of the change to the coworkers while realizing their problems and reactions.
• Support from the management team matters a lot to help employees survive the changing and growing work environment in the most positive way possible. You can introduce new training programs, awareness seminars, and workshops to help them in every possible manner to adopt the proposed change.

Encouraging Employee Engagement

Employee engagement plays an important role in change control and management processes. Only when your employees will be involved in the process, they are likely to put more efforts to attain the desired outcome. You can ensure higher rates of employee engagement by:

• Adopting a level-based approach to ensure all the team members are equally contributing to the change process regardless of their teams and departments.
• Clearly defining the roles and responsibilities for your employees so as to avoid redundant tasks at one side and idle sitters at other. Always remember – “Everyone is responsible for Quality” and assign responsibilities accordingly.
• Focusing on the team members who are most affected by the upcoming change.
• Overcoming the resistance for the change among the top management. It should be the first step to avoid resistance from other employees in the organization.
• Keeping your employee’s motivation boosted. You can identify the factors that can be of most help.
• Encouraging your employees in every possible manner, so they take change optimistically.

Never underestimate the potential of happy employees to make every organizational endeavor successful. They are your real assets. So, nurture your assets through the right initiatives at the right time.

Implementing and Communicating Change

Implementing and communicating change go hand-in-hand. You cannot expect your employees to accept every change in the processes or documentation happily. It’s not easy to convince them to adopt new ways of doing something even if it is maintaining records digitally and not using paper-based filing systems. We can broadly divide this step into two categories, i.e., Implementing the Change and Communicating the Change.

• Communicating the Change
  If you are not intimating your employees about the change initiative; you should be ready to notice indifferent behaviors and resistance from their side. Success in a change implementation is possible if you maintain a two-way relationship with your employees. It’s possible only when you effectively communicate with them. You can use different mediums such as:

  Survey forms to know and understand your employees’ opinions about an upcoming change. It will keep them informed.

  1. Arrange one-on-one sessions to resolve the queries of the people who are resisting the change opportunity.
  2. Maintaining consistency and clarity to ensure timeliness.
  3. Using formal as well as informal approaches such as emails, meetings, texts, etc.
  4. Giving them an opportunity to put their opinions. They may come up with a better plan to implement a change.
  5. Keeping them informed about the worst-case scenarios since every change initiative may not end up well.

  Effectively communicating change will help you to bring all the employees together for the best results.

• Implementing the Change
  Any change initiative could turn into a challenge if the organization doesn’t have a systematic approach to make it smooth and flawless. Successful implementation requires:
  1. Preparation by following the change management strategy in a streamlined manner.
  2. Management by keeping every team together to contribute the best of their efforts.
  3. Strengthening the change with necessary CAPA actions.

Following these three steps will ensure that your organization doesn’t fail in the document change control and implementation process.

More you will be prepared; smoother will be an entire transition. The best way to escape the document change management challenges is to implement Change Control Management and Implementation Software.

The software will help you manage the end-to-end change processes right from identifying the need for change to managing the document revisions until publishing it for the end-user reference. Additionally, you can save all the relevant information, i.e., reason for the change, department, unit, and much more as objective evidence.

The powerful change management software like Qualityze even enables you to collaborate and communicate with the geographically dispersed teams in real-time for essential modifications. Even the availability issue can be easily managed through the scheduler that allows to schedule approvals, publishing, and deletion beforehand with a notification to all the impacted users.

Would you still continue with traditional change management processes that are highly prone to errors, or would you like to standardize the change process with software to eliminate the variances and maintain consistency?

Curious to know more about the Qualityze Change Management Software? Get in touch with the customer success team, and we will be right there for you. You can also request for a free demo for an exclusive tour of product functionalities.

With the manufacturing trends shifting to the digital, the paper-based document management process is something left behind. Modern-day manufacturers find digital records a more reliable and safer way to store and retrieve information – be it writing the process structures, product specifications, or amount of ingredients.

One of the major reasons could be the preference for digital records by FDA. The interest of the regulatory committee in quality control is an all-time high. They have made it very clear that paperless systems and processes are a key requirement for recording, verification, and validation purpose. The manufacturing industry complies with 21 CFR Part 11, Guidance for Electronic Records, and Electronic Signatures.

The new and advanced document management system has evolved as a perfect solution for the paperless initiative for systematic and efficient management for digital records. The ones with cloud platforms not only eliminate the need for paperwork but also reduce the infrastructure costs to scale with growing business needs.

5 Major Benefits to Expect from Electronic Document Management System

Lesser errors

It is an undeniable fact that traditional documentation systems in manufacturing are time-consuming, difficult-to-manage, and vulnerable to the errors. Also, manual records are likely to have more inaccuracies and missing information that can lead to real issues in the processes like product shipment and audits.

Digitization of records reduces the data collection errors that further lowers the ratio of data integrity issues throughout the organization. An electronic document management system helps organizations to streamline various processes including the creation of controlled documents, sharing, and retrieval.

Qualityze Document Management System comprises pre-defined standard templates for controlled documents and audit checklists to ensure that the same format is used throughout the organization. This reduces the chances of variances in the data collected from the different business units.

Faster review, releases, and approvals

As already mentioned above, the manual document keeping systems requires a lot of time and effort for proper management. The processes like reviews, approvals, and document releases could experience unnecessary delays due to the unavailability of authorized parties. Moreover, you will need to undergo the entire process again in case of any significant changes.

On the flip side, digital records are much easier to manage. An electronic document management system does not require the approver or authorized persons to be physically present. They can access the approval requests and changes from anywhere anytime by simply logging into the application or DMS.

From reviewing a document to publishing it for the end-user reference, everything can be scheduled well-in-advance or managed in real-time using a cloud-based document management system that gives you complete flexibility and accessibility.

Increase visibility and traceability

We cannot deny the fact that paper-based document filing systems lack visibility and traceability. It could take hours to search a single record especially it was something created a few years ago. It will eventually impact the productivity and efficiency of your employees to keep control of core business activities.

An electronic document management system is a totally worthy investment to experience a world of difference. It improves the visibility and traceability of records regardless of their age. It’s not just the searchability of a document that has got convenient; it’s the retrieval and analysis too. Moreover, the number of non-conformances and -compliances also gets reduced.

Qualityze Document Management Software comes with an in-built capability of audit trail that allows the users to look through the details of changes in the record as who, when, what for better control over critical data.

Better document and version control

Document Control is the activity that helps the organization to reduce errors in documentation. They can access the controlled documents at any required time to ensure all facts are verified and all the tasks are completed within specified timeframes. But this cannot be managed efficiently in the paper-based systems especially due to disparate locations.

An electronic document management system is an effective and efficient way for document and its relevant version control. It ensures that no employee refers to an older version of a controlled document when a new one is already released. This reduces the chances of nonconformances and noncompliance to a large extent.

Therefore, an electronic document management system is a perfect solution you need to ensure that the same document is referenced throughout the organization to maintain product quality standards.

Improved security

Security is undoubtedly one of the supreme concerns when it comes to managing controlled documents manually since there are no access controls in paper-based document management system.

On the other hand, an electronic document management system enables organizations to ensure complete security for important documents. It also comprises in-built capabilities like role-based access controls so that the crucial information will be accessed by authorized people only.

The cloud-based document management systems also save documents from physical damage such as wear and tear, misplace or loss of records, etc. unlike paper-based systems.

Paperless is the future: there’s no point doubting it.

We all know that artificial intelligence is soon going to intervene in the way the manufacturing processes were managed. Digitizing the records will add more value to the transition of manufacturing companies to industrial revolution 4.0.

You will be using high-tech equipment to keep a track of stock rather than relying on paper documents that are highly prone to damage.

The smartest decision for the manufacturing companies would be to get an electronic document management system on board at earliest to experience faster and better document control

But it could be a big step for the conventional manufacturers who still find traditional ways more reliable than new-age solutions

It’s high time for all the manufacturers to understand reality and carefully strategize their move to a paperless environment, which is a lot smoother and convenient. Credit goes to the user-friendly and configurable software solution like Qualityze Document Management System that made paperless notion easily adaptable to the manufacturers even if they are first-timers.

The best thing you can do is get in touch with the Qualityze team. We will get back to you with a solution to suit your needs.

Technology has made our lives simpler to the extent that going back doesn’t look like an efficient option. From working in flexible schedules to do shopping on the go, we have different tools, devices, and applications to rely on. One such tool we will be discussing today is Document Management Software.

Could you imagine your workspace as organized as it is today with traditional paper-based systems that require numerous filing cabinets for storage?

Definitely not, right?

The traditional document management systems are both time and space consuming. They are highly vulnerable to errors, physical damage, and confidentiality leaks. Even making changes to a document is a challenge in paper-based files. The document needs to be transferred from one person to another manually until it gets approved by all the stakeholders. And, you can imagine the time a single document change could take.

Fortunately, we have got electronic document management software to manage all types of controlled documents efficiently. They have improved organizational productivity by eliminating all the sharing, approval, and change-related challenges.

Different Types of Document Management Software

There are basically two types of document management software, i.e., On-Site Document Management Software and On-Cloud Document Management Software. Before we jump to any discussion regarding which one to choose, let’s have a quick introduction to both types of document management systems.

On-Site Document Management Software

The on-site document management software that requires you to use internal storage and server system. You or your internal team will be responsible for keeping all the documents securely and maintaining the system from time-to-time. You must keep it regularly backed-up to keep a hold of documents even if any unfortunate event hits.

For these types of document management system, you need dedicated IT resources to keep control of your critical documents. The software updates and technical support are also optional based on the subscription package you choose.

On Cloud Document Management Software

On cloud document management software, commonly known as cloud-based document management software/solution, that doesn’t have any infrastructure requirements to help manage controlled documents. Your service provider hosts it and makes it accessible for everyone in your organization. It generally comes with a monthly or annual subscription, including the maintenance, support, and software upgrades. Some cloud-based document management software comes with configurable workflows so you can create a standardized system to manage critical documents.

For these types of document management solutions, you don’t need dedicated IT resources. You can easily find the ones with an intuitive interface that makes setting up a document system a simple plug and play task. Your team can leverage the flexibility to access their documents from anywhere, anytime, without worrying about the storage space.

Which One to Choose?

Choosing the right document management system can be tricky. You need to consider a lot of things, including storage, security, infrastructure, and so on. Most of the organizations today are opting for a cloud-based document management system due to hassle-free management. Moreover, they don’t need to make investments in infrastructure or IT resources expansion. Just a subscription, and they can manage their controlled documents with utmost ease and flexibility. It also includes maintenance, software upgrades, and technical support from the experts. They are a feasible option for all – big, small, and medium enterprises.

However, there are still many companies that don’t prefer cloud systems. They equip a dedicated team, and IT resources to manage everything by themselves.

Cloud has become a necessity for businesses operating in dispersed locations since it’s quite cost-effective. Even the security is significantly improved in recent years to cater to the ever-growing and changing needs of modern-day businesses.

Once you are done with the selection between on-site and on-cloud document management system, you must head to in-depth research on the type of document management solution you are going to opt for. You must consider the capabilities, features, and functionalities that a software solution has to offer you. It will help you make an informed purchase decision for the most suitable software.

Here’s the list of some critical things you must look for in a document management system that you would like to implement in your organization:

Structured Approach

The system should allow you to streamline the document management process to avoid any confusion or repeated tasks. A structured approach ensures that everyone is following the best practices to manage the business-critical documents.

Searchability

The system must offer easy search options so that the user can quickly locate the desired file without causing delays in the related processes. Searchability can help optimize organization productivity.

User-friendliness

The systems must have a user-friendly interface so all your team members can quickly learn to operate it – even if they are not tech-savvy. The objective of electronic document management systems is to make work easier, not complicating it with complex functions.

Accessibility

The system must offer ease-of-accessibility to the users so that they can manage their critical documents anywhere, anytime, with the availability of the Internet.

Integration

The system with integration capabilities can increase the overall effectiveness of the organization since it allows you to gain more insights about the document record you are processing.

Security Controls

The system must offer great security controls so that you can keep confidential information safe and protected. Some document management systems come with role-based access rights for improved safety.

Compliance

The document management system must allow you to store and manage records for regulatory purposes. The systems with e-signature capability can be a perfect solution to meet your compliance needs.

Now that you have a general idea of types of document management software and the standard functionalities you must look for, you will be able to make the right selection of document management system based on your business needs.

One Quick Tip Here

When you feel stuck between your options of document management solutions, the best way to escape a wrong decision is by taking the product tour through demo. Most of the software companies offer free demo to give you a deeper understanding of the product and why it is suitable for your needs. Another advantage of the demo is getting answers to all your doubts in real-time directly from the experts.

So, wouldn’t you like to experience the ease and flexibility to create, edit, and manage all your critical documents like never before with the right document management software?

For more information on the cloud-based document management software, you can get in touch with the Qualityze customer success team on 1-877-207-8616 or write to us at info@qualityze.com, and we will be right there for you.

It is an undisputed fact that Quality is the number one most important aspect of manufacturing.

That’s why you’ll find many quality standards throughout industries and the world.

Any industry where more criticality or complexity is involved, the same way more stringent and stricter compliance requirements exist in terms of the applicable industry standard.

And why not? For instance, without FDA quality standards; life-saving equipment may fail to save a life! In the same way, without FAA quality standards, the airplanes pose risks that are not worth being taken!

Therefore, the fact always remains agreeable about the importance of quality and industry standards.

This importance extends to the fact that industries that are involved with the manufacturing of high-risk products such as medicine and aircraft etc. are also investing heavily in product compliance to avoid consequences of product failures.

DIY giant Ronseal gave us a term that Quality is doing “exactly what it says on the tin.”

But what if you don’t want to? Or what if you “knowingly” choose to act in a different way! Will you be allowed to do so? Presumably, we won’t be allowed. Right?

Well, I suppose you might be wrong. The answer should be a “Yes.” Quality Management shouldn’t be a straight jacket!

Here we meant to say that, if you are dealing with high criticality or high-risk areas, there will always be certain restrictions that are set up to non-negotiable. But sometimes situation demands to deliberate non-following of standards or processes.

And the right way to do it is called a “Deviation” and also termed as “Concession.”

Well, what’s in the name? Based on the industry, a word may differ or can have an exact meaning, but the intent will remain the same. For example, ISO 9001:2015 termed such requirements as Concession and Standards for the Pharmaceutical Industry such as EU GMP, ICH or FDA have termed such requirements as “Deviation.”

A deviation is any takeoff from approved guidance, procedure, specification, or standard.

The Pharma industry applies deviation under ‘Unexpected’ form and further related in ‘Planned’ and ‘Unplanned’ deviation.

Deviation management is an extremely important aspect of Quality Management. If not done or done sloppily, it may result in costly circumstances.

This blog is not to be treated as “How-to” of Deviation Management about which a lot of information is already available on the internet. Instead, this article is written to let you know about an approach to Deviation Management concerning “internal processes” related activities within an organization leading to the product realization process. Usually, an aspect about which lesser has been talked about.

There are various ways to manage deviations. However, it pays to remember that deviations don’t just fall under material changes. Deviations can be literally on any change or process activities.

And that’s why we attempted in this blog to let you know to consider your various inter-related process activities to be also scrutinized under an effective Deviation Management.

So what is the Golden Rule? Well, they say that the golden rule is that there is no golden rule!

But as far as the internal process specific deviations are concerned the best practices say that it must be pre-approved by a competent authority and must have a specific time frame defined. The basis of it will be a thorough risk assessment with the evaluation of the impact of the intended deviation.

A risk management process must be in place to determine the impact of the deviation on quality, safety and efficacy.

It must be kept in mind that deviation is, in principle, a nonconformity. Now, when you approach the customer (it can be internal or external) with this situation, they may allow you to proceed further. That’s called a “concession.” Even “Use as is” is an example of a concession.

Let’s take a classic example of the automotive supply chain. Let’s assume that considering sales profitability, an Automotive manufacturer’s After Sales department laid out the procedure for Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) of a particular Spare Part. A distressed customer who drives the car is looking to purchase a part and expecting to pay only the unit price of the said part and not at the entire MOQ. Since MOQ is something between the Automaker’s After Sales department and the Dealership, the end customer is not supposed to be concerned with their ordering process or routine.

Now imagine that because of any possible issues at Manufacturer’s or Dealership’s communication system (such as unrealistic ordering strategy), the part quantity is not maintained at Dealership, increasing the end customer’s wait time is and dissatisfaction. And what if the dealer is not ready to take entire MOQ considering lesser consumption of that particular part? Here a customer-centric carmaker may would like to send a single part or less no. of parts than as per pre-defined MOQ.

So, what should be the ideal practice? Now considering CSAT stats that a happy customer tells 9 people about good experiences, but a dissatisfied customer is going to tell more than 20 people about the bad experiences. (courtesy: White House Office of Consumer Affairs)

And here Technical/Production people in the factory are just not concerned about what is happening at the Sales front. The growing number of dissatisfied customers may lead to a decrease in demand resulting in an adverse effect on production processes, and so the chain goes on. We haven’t talked about Brand image yet! After-sales services are a high-margin business, and the organizations have begun realizing this fact. At the same time, it is tougher to compete in the aftermarket. And ignoring the promises or expectation of after-sales services is really imprudent, to say the least.

Now, what if the organization has not considered a deviation management process other than production processes then a situation like above may result either in the increasing level of customer dissatisfaction or non-following of organizational procedures and resulting losses in the After Sales division imagining that issue stated above becomes an everyday story and After Sales representative at Dealer end pressurizing logistics people to sell the parts every now and then by non-following of the MOQ process.

Therefore situation like this will require a thorough Risk Assessment and an unbiased Deviation Management process to be followed.

Thus, it is imperative that manufacturing organizations must look beyond the manufacturing activity to cascade the Quality System methodologies in other associated processes to ensure better control over operational matters.

Now coming to the solution for the above-stated issue, the organization must set up a Deviation Management Process, which can include risk assessment, impact assessment, approval requirement and duration of the deviation. Additionally, the process should consist of the steps to monitor such repeated issues and escalate it for addressing using the CAPA process.

Now in the above case, the investigation should be performed about the failure of the strategy about spare part ordering that must require an introspection at the organizational level or the dealer’s end. Also, adopting a new method for part delivery may require special packaging, thus an increasing packaging cost. And, for a premium brand automaker, they find it more challenging to afford customer dissatisfaction.

Thus, if the organization follows a customer-friendly policy then, to address all such issues considering the operational viability, an integrated Deviation Management is a must-have.

Thus, a progressive organization must have a well-structured deviation management process that can be adopted throughout its functions. Any requesting department can initiate a deviation request by performing a risk assessment. The deviation is then verified by the concerned for its impact or repetitiveness to segregate between concerns about the regular issues or repeat cases and, accordingly, to follow a due approval process by taking approval. Further to it, monitoring of the approved deviation as per the defined time frame is to be followed.

So, thank you for visiting Qualityze Blogs. We’d love to hear from you. If you have other methods that you think will be helpful when it comes to deviation management.

Please write back to us: info@qualityze.com and share this article!

“Customer is King” or “Customer is always right” – all these sayings that organizations used to swear by are fading away.

No, this doesn’t imply that you are not serving enough goods and services to your customers. More than the availability of products, it is about fulfilling your customer expectations these days. And, when they are not fulfilled, customers tend to make complaints and sometimes, they simply share their feedback through reviews.
Only when you handle the customers’ complaints effectively, you will be able to build stronger relationships with your customers. Moreover, these complaints, feedback, and reviews may unlock many new improvement opportunities for your business.

Before we move on the components of an effective complaints’ management process, let’s quickly look at the checklist that your complaints process should fulfill:

1. It should be customer-focused
2. It should offer complete visibility and traceability
3. It should be easily accessible
4. It should be responsive
5. It should be objective and fair
6. It should maintain confidentiality
7. It should drive appropriate solutions
8. It should be properly reviewed
9. It should be accountable
10. It should drive continuous improvements

To establish the right controls in place according to the checklist mentioned above, you should be aware of the 5 Key Components of the Effective Complaints Management System. Those components are:

Well-Defined Customer Complaint Policy

If you take the aspect of complaints management seriously, you must have a well-defined customer complaint policy. The policy must include:

A. Definition of a complaint.
B. All the channels and methods the organization will use to receive complaints.
C. A detailed explanation of the complaints handling process including the dependencies on different departments or authorities.
D. A clear outline of the factors that make a complaint high on priority.

The complaints that fall in the category of high-on-priority can either be a complaint that points any sort of discrimination / violates any legalities or a complaint that could blemish the brand reputation such that the entire bottom line gets affected.

So, you must have a well-defined complaint policy for your organization to ensure that every member of your complaint handling team follows a standardized process. It will help avoid more damage to the image of the brand and your ability to do your business.

Standardized Complaints Management Process

Like any other quality management process, the complaints management process should also be aligned in a standardized way to ensure that everyone follows the same processes and procedures to manage customer complaints effectively. Such sort of clarity in processes will help your internal team to be more efficient while limiting the compliance and quality risks in managing complaints.

If you don’t have a streamlined process for complaints management, you are likely to face bigger risks. Makes sure you formulate the complaints process after evaluating all the aspects such as receiving, investigating, and resolving the complaint. You may consider answering the following questions:

A. Are the timelines of the complaint responses specified?
B. Have you established a centralized database to store complaints and their respective investigations and resolutions?
C. Who will be responsible to record the complaint? Who will be involved in the investigation? Who will review the entire process? and much more.
D. Which complaints will go to management?

These are just a few of many questions that you can ask yourself and your team to establish the standardized complaints management process.

Assigning Responsibilities

Assigning responsibilities are one of the key factors that contribute to the success of a complaint management process. But this may grow complex with expansion of the organization. If there will be no clarity about the responsibilities, you won’t be able to handle the complaints effectively.

So, whenever you create or review the complaints management process, make sure you have clearly communicated the responsibilities of each team member as to:

A. Who will be collecting and recording the complaints in the database?
B. Once the complaints are reported, who all will get the notification?
C. Which type of complaints will be resolved by which department?
D. Who will review the resolution of the complaint and approve it?
E. Who will notify the details to the top management?
F. When exactly a complaint should be escalated and to whom?
G. What are the respective timelines based on the complexity of a complaint?
H. What could be the consequences of not handling the complaints on time? Etc.

These questions depend on the internal structure of your organization. Clearly defining the responsibilities will reduce the chances of missing complaints, which could also hamper the brand image.

Training and Development

Yet another important aspect of a successful complaints management system, training and development needs should be carefully analyzed and evaluated to ensure that the complaints management team responds to customer feedback, complaints, and queries with the most suitable and relevant solution.

Even if the team finds it difficult to respond to a customer complaint, they should know the right time and person to escalate the complaint for timely resolution. And, this all will be possible only when they will be trained for the role and responsibilities assigned to them.

For identifying the right training needs and programs, you can use a training management software since your team’s competency will reflect the organization’s capability to handle the customer complaints.

So, make sure your team is trained enough to handle all the critical complaints professionally while limiting the compliance risks.

Tracking and Reporting

Now that you have a complaints management policy and standardized processes to manage policies with defined roles and responsibilities, it comes on analysis and review process to understand whether the processes you have established are working well. It will only be possible if you will have the right tracking and reporting system in place.

With proper tracking and reporting system, you can identify the loopholes in much lesser time and improve your product, processes, and even training programs to make your employees competent.

There are many complaints management software that comes with inbuilt features for tracking and reporting all the important insights of a complaints process such as who made the complaint, when was the complaint made, who handled the complaint, what was the resolution, etc.

The Bottom Line

Complaints handling is the most critical task to ensure customer satisfaction. You must implement advanced complaints management software like Qualityze to address all sorts of customer complaints in a proactive and timely manner. This will help you to keep your brand image preserved while ensuring that no compliance regulations are abandoned.

For more information, get in touch with our customer success team. They will help you establish a compliant-friendly complaints management system and handle the customer complaints more efficiently than ever.

In the recent few years, there have been drastic transitions in almost every industry including manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, and lifesciences due to the intervention of technology especially cloud.

Cloud is the one gained high popularity and traction. It has become mainstream for most of the software solutions including the quality management software. Cloud-based solutions have completely changed the way quality was managed, fostering a culture of continuous improvement through a proactive problem-solving approach.

For many reasons, organizations are likely to move their business processes from traditional on-site to the cloud platform. And, they have multiple options to make this transition successful like – they can choose the cloud-based quality management software applications. The range of opportunities that an organization gets with the cloud is extremely diverse. Make sure you select the service providers wisely.

Six ways the cloud has changed the quality management landscape:

• Centralized storage for critical data and information

Centralized storage is one of the key advantages that a cloud platform offers to the end-users. In the manual quality systems, you are likely to face much more difficulties just due to information availability. The decentralized system often leads to confusion and unnecessary delays in data collection and analysis.

The centralized database makes daily tasks smooth and efficient as the users can share and retrieve information without any dependencies.

• Improved collaboration and communication

The cloud platform significantly improves the collaboration and communication in an organization, mitigating all the physical barriers. A manager can collaborate with his team for an urgent task like modifying a controlled document even when he is sitting at a geographically distant location.

Such flawless collaboration and communication cannot be experienced with traditional quality management systems.

• Increased flexibility and scalability

If you are still relying on the traditional quality management systems, you tend to miss amazing advantages like flexibility and scalability that cloud offers. You need not face space crunch situations any more since the cloud enables you to scale the storage with your needs. Also, you can experience unmatched flexibility with the cloud systems.

Give your business growth a positive push with the real potential of advanced quality management systems that offer flexibility and scalability.

• Better control and security

The cloud platform allows companies to have better control and security for their critical data, leveraging improved data integrity. The cloud-based storage platforms are not prone to physical damage. You can also put restrictions on the accessibility of the data so only authorized people can modify and share the data.

So, don’t put your data on risks with traditional storage platforms and shift to cloud for secured and controlled quality management processes.

• Automated and standardized quality processes

The cloud platform comes with an added advantage to configure the workflows as required. This enables organizations to establish standardize the quality processes and practices throughout the organization, to ensure consistency. It further helps to maintain a culture of excellence.

Standardization through the cloud platform is growing up with speed since it enables companies to take a holistic approach towards improvement.

• Reduced costs of quality

The cloud platform helps you avoid many expensive calls like hiring experienced IT Professionals, Software Installation, Maintenance Costs, Support Charges, Technical Training, and much more. Even the licensing costs of cloud-based quality management systems are way less than the traditional software license costs.

So, make the maximum advantages of cost savings by shifting to cloud for all your quality management needs with minimum operational hassles.

Don’t Let the Cloud Get Thunderous!

Like everything else, over-usage of cloud technology could lead to increased complexities. Think of a multi-cloud environment with a collection of processes, suppliers, documents, and other services. It will be as complicated as it sounds. If all the cloud environments will not be managed and monitored regularly, your IT department is likely to face more challenges.

For example – let’s understand the data security concept in the context of a cloud environment. When a company works with sensitive information like patient data in healthcare, the location of data should be properly defined since only a few countries have lee strict regulatory standards.

Working on a multi-cloud environment also requires IT teams in the organizations to stay updated in terms or patches, versions, and access-rights. This further makes it difficult to estimate the costs of quality.
The cloud has indeed made the paperless initiative successful. But the extensive growth of cloud, especially multi-cloud environments, finding the right quality management solution can be a challenging task.

The Right Type of Cloud QMS Your Business Need

Most of the highly regulated companies need configurable workflows and advanced features in their quality management software to align their processes with the quality objectives.

On the other hand, some industries like general manufacturing need a simplistic QMS that their employees can readily use without much complexities. Integration is also a consideration nowadays when it comes to an effective quality solution.

What else can differentiate a great QMS from a good QMS? It’s the capability to scale as the business grows since you cannot simply shift the processes all-of-the-sudden to another solution just because it lacks the scalability factor. It will be time-consuming and challenging.

All you need is a single solution with diversified features and inbuilt capabilities to scale and integrate based on your business requirements like Qualityze EQMS. Designed on the Salesforce platform, Qualityze is a user-friendly quality management solution. It helps to establish a closed-loop system to encourage continuous improvements.

Get in Touch for a Demo

Choosing the right EQMS solution is an important decision to make for any organization especially when there are a variety of options available. The best way to go about it is by taking the product demo and ask your questions. You must understand How the QMS you are going to select can serve your organization and its quality processes.

Qualityze Enterprise Quality Management System Software is designed on the most powerful and secure cloud platform to comply with the growing needs of organizations for quality products and processes. To explore the product in and out, request a demo now.