Ability to Scale
As a company that must stay on top of technology in many industries, Atlas is continually improving upon their own products and services. In 2013 Atlas took steps to automate its quality management processes. The quality control system in place at the time was all manual, utilizing mostly Excel spreadsheets and Word documents.
Atlas quality control management chose to automate with QT9 QMS based on the number of modules offered while still remaining affordable. Streamlining document control and corrective actions was the first objective, with the goal of scaling into other modules shortly after.
Since implementing QT9, Atlas has integrated several of the 25 modules that come standard in the QT9 QMS platform, utilizing modules beyond their initial expectations. Over the years, they have nearly doubled their concurrent licenses. This has enabled them to establish a robust multi-site quality system that serves their international operations on a daily basis.
CAPAs and NCPs
The company was quickly able to create efficiency in its corrective actions processes by using the eQMS to automatically reassign CAPAs globally to the right people. Peter Wysgalla, Atlas Global Quality Manager, outlines some of the initial successes with the QT9 eQMS. “The automatic review dates feature for documents and gauges has been key,” he says. “It seems simple, but as soon as you finish an audit the system schedules the next one for the following year and it’s in the system and ready to go when auditors want to see your audit schedule.”
A few years ago, Atlas decided to integrate its nonconforming products (NCPs) into the QT9 QMS. Now whenever a part fails during the manufacturing process, it is tagged with an NCP in the eQMS. NCPs are reviewed daily in a meeting between the quality, purchasing and engineering teams, and a course of action quickly determined. The notify supplier feature further enhances the process by involving suppliers when necessary.
“In 10-15 minutes, we can handle all of our material,” explains Wysgalla. “Everything is tagged with a QT9 NCP, so we can trace it back and act appropriately.
"It wasn't obvious how valuable this would be at first, but now that we've implemented it and involved our suppliers, it's become an important tool for maintaining our NCPs," adds Wysgalla.
Training, Audit Management and FEMA
Other modules that Wysgalla and his team have found helpful for simplifying quality efforts are the Training, Audit and FMEA modules. The Training Module allows them to educate service techs around the world via the quality software, tasks that used to be paper-based. The Audit Management Module has allowed the company to dispense with the hiring of third-party auditors since audits are now managed through the QT9 software.
“I always get a positive citation in an audit, especially with the links QT9 provides to all of the other modules,” says Wysgalla. “If audits are done virtually, I can be in my office and show a document, a gauge record, etc., in a matter of seconds. It has really made audits easy.”
"You guys include everything. I am using modules I didn't expect to use."
-- Peter Wysgalla
Global Quality Manager, Atlas Material Testing Solutions
Better All the Time
When Wysgalla began looking for an eQMS solution, he envisioned a system that didn’t require constant customization and that the company could grow within while maintaining their ISO certifications, thereby saving time and enhancing efficiency.
The company has been able to keep pace with industry changes and challenges with the help of a quality management system where the essential tasks come standard and offer out-of-the-box usability.
“We don’t have to mess around with trying to perfect QT9 to our needs. You guys are doing that,” says Wysgalla. “We can hit the ground running using it, and that is the essence of how well it has worked for us. It is very logical, easy to adopt and getting better all the time.”
QT9™ QMS is flexible for your business.
QT9 lets you choose modules based on what's best for your organization.
Modules for any business size
With multiple modules to choose from, there's solutions for nearly anyone.
A solution that scales with you
Whether you are a large corporation or a small start-up you can use as many modules as you want.
Cross-Platform Support
Whether you use Android, iOS or Windows, QT9 works from virtually any web browser.
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