Document Control FAQ
General
Q. Where Document Control can be used other than Quality Management?
QMSrs can be used wherever documents need to be managed and their legitimacy and accuracy checked prior to distribution.
Q. What is the expected response time to view documents?
QMSrs ensures the fasted retrieval time since it uses standard application. The main factors affect the time is the speed of your Internet connection and the application in which the document was created.
Q. Can QMSrs gain personnel access to documents? Can be accessed internationally?
Any user who is an identified as QMSrs user with Internet access will be able to use QMSrs wherever they are located and at any time.
Q. Can the sub-contract partners have access to controlled documents?
Yes, As long as the sub-contract partners are identified users and have access to the Internet, they may view the controlled documents to which they have been granted access.
Ease of Use
Q. What about the ease of use? Is there a need to change the working methods?
QMSrs has been designed to make system as easy as possible for all users. The use of folders means that users do not have cluttered screens; they only see the documents they have been given access to. This also applies to user roles such as System Administrator, Approver, Trainer, etc…where their tools will only appear on their respective QMSrs screens if they have been assigned that role.
Q. Is there a need to update or re-write our existing procedures and other documents?
No need, QMSrs uses standard applications such as MS Word, Excel, Visio, and many others to create, edit and view documents. You can import the Existing documentation without any need for re-typing or formatting. Imported documents are effectively copied over to our server where they are held securely.
Q. Does the system cope with staff changing jobs or leaving?
Yes, this is covered by changing access to different groups to reflect a change in responsibility. Staffs that have left are deleted from the list of available users then their name will automatically be deleted from each group.
Q. Does QMSrs support third party applications?
Sure, QMSrs works with any application that can be accessed through a Web Browser. These include all Microsoft Office applications such as: HTML, PDF, .jpg, .tiff, .gif and others.
Document Access and Security
Q. Can we add security to sensitive material to prevent users viewing it?
Yes. All content is placed in folders. Individual users or user groups are given access to these folders. A user not included on a folder’s read access list will not be able to view its constituent documents.
Q. Is there different access levels for documents?
Yes, there are three different access levels for documents. The first area is the document’s authors, identified at the original import stage or given write access once document is held within QMSrs. The authors can then check the document out, modify it and then check-it back in. The second are the approvers who can review a document to approve or reject it. The third are the normal users who have read-only access to documents.
Q. What is the audit trail for a document recorded?
A record is automatically made for each activity involving a document. All the document attributes, such as the author, the approval actions, the version details, are recorded as well as when and by whom a document had been checked out and then checked back in.
Q. Is there a way to change document outside Document Control?
It is impossible to change any document without following the correct procedures, this is guaranteed by access to any document through QMSrs All documents are stored securely and can only be amended by users who have write access to the document.
Q. How can we secure the old copies of documentation?
By Archiving the old documents to a special archives profile where they are kept securely for as long as required.
Q. Is there a specific number of needed approvals for a document?
No. QMSrs identifies one document owner, who is effectively the originator of the document, but will recognize and accept many document authors and document approvers.
Messaging
Q. Can Document Control communicate changes?
Any communication of changes within QMSrs such as the posting of a document need approval, or the issue of a document update, is displayed in a communication node.
Internal Audit FAQ
General
Q. What are the features that allows me to speed up the process of building checklist?
By access prior audit checklists and these can be re-used for different audits as often as you wish. Another thing is that you can pick and choose which questions you want to re-use from a prior checklist and also add new questions to the checklist then you will have a completely new checklist in a matter of minutes.
Q. Is the checklist of Questions printable? Can I enter the findings on the same checklist?
Yes. There is facility for printing out a checklist and to enter the findings and notes on the printed checklist on the provided space.
Q. Can the audit results be changed?
No way, the full and complete history audit trails cannot be changed as well as other QMSrs functions.
Q. Is there a need to have a checklist of questions set up before running an audit?
Yes, you must have a checklist at least with one question.
Q. Can I conduct audit on the suppliers?
As all of QMSrs other functionalities, external activity can be run as effectively as internal ones. The auditor will simply need Internet access to perform the audit at the supplier’s location or print out the checklist prior to visiting the supplier.
Q. How can I memorize the procedure through the audit?
You can display the document while the audit is being run; you need to identify a document related to the audit at the start of the audit.
Scheduling
Q. Can I schedule my audits to be run in the future?
Yes, dates of audits may be planned at any time and can be scheduled to run in the future. You can change any of audit element structure as you establish and schedule the audit.
Q. How can I schedule the frequent audits?
Simply state the date on which you want the audit to start and then give the frequency of these audits; the rest will be done automatically.
Q. How can I alarm the auditor and auditee to perform an audit?
The agreed dates are displayed automatically in their respective Task calendars. On the day prior to the audit, both parties receive a reminder in Tasks that they are due to run the audit on the next day.
Q. How are corrective actions resolved?
Once an audit is finished both parties are required to acknowledge that the audit has taken place by entering their respective user details. The auditor then has a configurable period to assign a date by which the corrective actions, if any, must be completed by. The auditee then must submit their reply to the corrective actions, which the auditor can accept or reject.
Customer Complaint FAQs
Q. How can I be sure that a complaint is recorded and not forgotten?
By listing each complaint on the relevant persons’ "Action Required" list and stays there until the persons required to perform the action have completed their tasks. This is supported by notifications within QMSrs and by email to the concerned individuals.
Q. Can I categorize a customer complaint?
Yes, you can. As a complaint is registered it is categorized based on the root cause.
Q. Can I automatically send an email?
Yes. Email templates can be pre-specified for each stage of a complaint’s life. So when a certain stage has been reached email templates for that stage are displayed and when selected can be modified and sent to the complainant’s registered email address.
Q. Can key documents relating to a process or to a customer be attached to a complaint?
Yes. Once the complaint has been recorded a key document regarding the complaint or the customer can be selected. You can send email with attachments to management by select "Send Email" from the main complaint's main page, so when the complaint is going through its various stages the relevant document is included in the complaint’s details and accessible by the concerned individuals when responding to specific requests.
Q. How can I be sure that the right people are informed at the right stages in resolving a complaint issue?
When a complaint goes through its various stages whether it is an Investigation, a Non-Conformance or a Corrective Action relevant people can be informed of the complaint. May be required to reply and can access the interactive dialogue occurring in resolving the complaint.
Q. How Can a Complaint be raised to senior management?
You can inform the senior management of each complaint, if that is the way you run your business, you can also send an escalation notification if the complaint has not been resolved within a specific time period.