(also known as defects, deviations, issues, etc)

Most eQMS systems ignore the collaboration required to define a problem statement for a non-conformance.  And without a correctly defined problem statement, you’ll never be able to close the loop on your quality management system.

On Unifize, users can quickly create NCs from their mobile or desktop devices and add collaborators to first discuss the nature and definition of the problem.  This brings the different skills together that you need to understand what’s going on.

Users can then collaborate on the data required to complete the NC using configurable checklists, including part/product numbers, project/work order number, drawing details, workstations, severity/priority and processes.

The activities that result from a customer complaint can often be complex. Not only do you need to understand the problem in depth, you need to plan how to dispose, root cause and implement corrective actions.  All of this often requires the involvement of multiple teams with different skills.

On Unifize, complaints can be created either by forwarding and email to a dedicated email address or from within the web or mobile apps.  These are then converted into ticketed conversations that automatically add the appropriate teams.

Users can then assign ownership, status and additional participants as required.  They can then collaborate around the necessary data using configurable checklists, including problem statement definition, customer details, requested actions, target dates, disposal actions, COPQ, root causes and corrective actions.

(also known as containment, corrections or immediate actions)

Immediately after a non-conformance or complaint is identified, the appropriate team needs to determine the action required to keep production moving or solve the customer’s problem.  These activities are usually classified as one of three things: Reject, Rework, Accept Under Deviation.  However, this often over-simplifies the actual work that’s needed to both determine the correct disposal action(s) and complete the necessary tasks.

Unifize’s conversational approach to quality management means that the appropriate teams can quickly be added to help determine the correct disposal action(s) for each complaint or non-conformance, following which tasks and other activities can be assigned to the right people in real-time.

Managers can then keep track of all their non-conformances and pending disposal actions using interactive reports and dashboards.

It’s hard to imagine a more collaborative process than a root cause analysis!  And without doing it properly, you’ll never implement the right corrective actions and eliminate your problems for good. 

While there are many tools and methods that can help facilitate a proper root cause analysis, the fact remains that conversations between different people (with different skills) underpin the whole thing. 

Until we built Unifize, we never found a tool that enabled these discussions!

On our platform, users can brainstorm root causes, discuss the 5 Whys and complete/upload Ishikawa/Fishbone diagrams collaboratively for each non-conformance or complaint.  The can then record the output in configurable checklists, ready to determine the right corrective actions.

(also known as CAPAs)

Without the right corrective actions, your problems will just recur.  However, determining and implementing corrective actions is highly collaborative.  Most existing eQMS, ERP or homegrown tools are just static systems of record that do little to enable the necessary collaboration.

Unifize takes a completely different approach by allowing teams to quickly form in real-time conversations to determine and assign corrective actions to the right people.  Ownership of each corrective action can transparently be negotiated and agreed rather than imposed unilaterally.  This increases the likelihood of the corrective actions being completed correctly and on time.

Each corrective action is fully traceable back to its original source using breadcrumbs and the conversational history.  Furthermore, managers can project manage all their corrective actions using interactive reports and dashboards.

Eight disciplines problem solving is a more structured approach to resolve issues that is often required by organizations to prevent recurrence.  This brings together many other elements of the quality management system, including problem definition, disposal/containment, root cause and corrective actions.  At their core, 8Ds are about collaboration.  In fact, D1 prescribes the formation of a team. 

Unifize was created specifically to enable teams to form around objectives like 8D analyses.  Ownership of the 8D can be defined and transferred as the process progresses and users can collaboratively enter data into configurable checklists.

Unifize’s conversational approach to 8Ds means that you can reduce the time and effort it takes for your team to complete the analysis correctly while at the same time getting unparalleled transparency and traceability in the process. After completion, each 8D analysis can be exported as a PDF and emailed to your customer.

While collaboration tools like Google Docs and Office 365 have greatly improved document management and traceability, they often do not have the necessary controls and structure in place to support an effective quality management system.

On Unifize, we treat every document as a conversation (like everything else!). Users can create libraries of policies, formats and work instructions that can be used in other checklists within the platform. These documents can be enriched with other metadata to help you organize them appropriately. 

Access to documents can be restricted to certain sets of users or roles within the organization.  Each document is version controlled and discussions about changes of ownership and revisions are recorded transparently and traceably in the conversation history.

It can be hard to get the right people in the right place to complete internal audits because they often require considerable preparation and coordination of people’s time and schedules.

On Unifize, a large part of the internal audit function can be completed asynchronously and remotely.  The auditor can add participants to a dedicated real-time conversation with each auditee, along with a configurable checklist of the various audit items.  The auditee can then use the Unifize conversation to ask questions and upload documents for verification by the auditor.

By bringing collaboration and the system of record into one place, Unifize builds a transparent and traceable history of all audit activities.  Furthermore, audit non-conformances and their respective corrective actions can be created and tracked by the auditor in our configurable reports and dashboards.

Even with companies that have an eQMS, calibration management is often in the realm of a cluster of excel sheets.  That’s because most of the work required to maintain calibration records is done via email, in meetings and over the phone.  There simply doesn’t seem to be any point in putting this into an overly structured database.

On Unifize, each instrument or tool is treated as its own conversation with associated calibration events.  This means that users can collaborate around the activities needed to ensure that calibrations are kept up-to-date.  They can also email third-party calibration services from each conversation, with responses automatically threaded back to the appropriate place.

Managers can also make sure they never miss a calibration event again by setting reminders and escalations for each calibration conversation.  This means that Unifize can be used to proactively ensure you remain in compliance with your calibration objectives.

Whether change requests are for engineering, design or processes, they will undoubtedly involve at least one immutable truth: approvals.  For this reason, change requests can often be cumbersome and result in delays.  This can be especially problematic if the change request affects an existing order or project.

By creating a separate, real-time conversation for each change request, users can quickly add the necessary teams and individuals to both discuss, approve and implement each change request.  Ownership of the change request and / or the approval can be transferred dynamically and traceably within the conversation itself.

The result: change requests are completed at least 3x faster than they would be using either a paper based system or email, giving you a massive boost to your innovation cycle times.