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Why You Need HQMS:
Manufacturing Accuracy
An important benefit of the HQMS system is that everyone involved in a project will
be simultaneously working on the same set of current data. If a system user is working
on a master file inside of the HQMS solution and later views a copy of that file,
immediately he or she will realize the copy is a replica of the original, or the
latest master revision. This feature eliminates, and serves to prevent overlapping
or inconsistent designs. Naturally, this leads to the emergence fewer design flaws
as well as re-occuring issues at a manufacturing or QA level. With HQMS there are
far fewer ECOs, greater instances of flawless first time designs, and much faster
path to the marketplace.
Design Productivity
When HQMS is used in an engineering environment, the related system tools significantly
increase the productivity of engineering teams. The HQMS system provides engineers
with the correct tools to access all related data efficiently, resulting in the
design process being dramatically shortened.
Another factor in the design environment is the fact that time saved equals money
saved. Historically, a design engineer would spend nearly 25-30% of their time simply
handling information by searching for it, retrieving it, waiting for copies of drawings,
and then archiving new data. HQMS removes this dead time entirely. The designer
no longer has to search for released design schematics or other related data, it's
there on demand.
A third time saving factor given by HQMS is the elimination of processes which lead
to "reinventing the wheel." The amount of time designers spend solving problems
that have already been solved stands as a tedious issue. Often, reinventing the
wheel may be considered a faster solution than to actually track down design elements
that could be utilized again. With HQMS, the identification, re-use and modification
of already existing similar design elements become a routine part of the corporate
environment.
Control of Projects
The reason that product development projects are almost invariably late is not that
they are badly planned in the first place, but that they routinely go out of control.
Why? Because the immense volume of data generated by the project rapidly snowballs
beyond the scope of traditional project management techniques. The greater the competitive
time pressures, the greater the scope for inconsistency, and likelihood of rework.
HQMS will enable engineers and Project Managers to retain control of the project
by ensuring that the data on which it is based is firmly controlled. Product structure,
change management, configuration control and traceability are key benefits of HQMS.
Through the HQMS system, project control can also be further enhanced by utilizing
the built in automatic data release and electronic sign-off procedures. As a result,
it is impossible for a scheduled task to be ignored, buried or forgotten.
Speed to Market
Speed to market is just one of the major benefits of the HQMS system. Three primary
factors serve to place limits on the speed in which products can be brought to market.
The first factor is the time it takes to perform tasks, such as engineering design
schematics, and tooling. Another factor is the time wasted between tasks. An example
of this would be a scenario in which a released design schematic sits in a production
engineer's inbox waiting for its turn to approve. The third factor in this process
would be the amount of time lost if a schematic needs to either be redesigned, or
reworked and then resubmitted for approval.
Data Integrity
The design of the HQMS single centralized vault concept allows users immediate access
to the system for those who need it, while also serving to keep all master documents
and records of historical change absolutely accurate and secure.
Why You'll Love HQMS:
Better use of Creative Team Skills
Designers are often conservative in their approach to problem solving for no other
reason than to avoid time constraint penalties in regard to exploring alternative
solutions. The risks of spending excessive time developing new design techniques
and tools which may, or may not work, would be unacceptable. HQMS opens up the creative
process in three important ways. It keeps track of all documents and test results
relating to a given product change, which minimizes design rework and potential
design flaws. It reduces the risk of failure by sharing that risk with others and
by making data readily available to the right people on demand. HQMS also encourages
team problem solving by allowing individuals to simultaneously share ideas in an
effort to solve any related design issues that may arise.
Better Management of Engineering Change
HQMS will allow employees to create and maintain multiple revisions and versions
of any design in the database. This means that iterations on a design can be created
without the worry that previous versions will be lost or accidentally erased. Every
version and revision has to be 'signed' and 'dated', removing any ambiguity about
current designs and providing a complete audit trail of changes.
Comfortable to Use
Today, many electronic quality management systems vary widely in their levels of
user friendliness. Several existing systems set out to operate within the confines
of generic corporate organizational structures without any consideration in regard
to ease of use. The corporate system should strive to make familiar tasks as user
friendly as possible. In conventional working environments, users have to be skilled
at accessing required information while at the same time they must also be prepared
to accept it in a less than flexible form. HQMS eliminates the struggle of searching
for required data when it is needed on user demand. User definable queries can be
setup in order to allow instantaneous access to even the most common or generic
forms of information.
A Major Step Toward Quality Management
By introducing a coherent set of audited processes to the product development cycle,
HQMS excels at the efforts involved in establishing an environment for ISO9000 compliance
and Total Quality Management. Many of the fundamental principals of TQ, such as
empowerment of the individual' to identify and solve problems are inherent in the
HQMS structure. The formal controls, checks, change management processes and defined
responsibilities also ensure that the HQMS system contributes to conformance with
international quality standards.
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