ARENA - best PLM system
Updated November 10, 2020

ARENA - best PLM system

Kim Khoe | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Arena

We use Arena for the whole company. Most everything is now electronic since switching to Arena. BOMs, specs, design history file documents (test reports, software docs, etc.). The entire company has instant access to the documents. We easily provide our vendors with BOMs, etc for purchases. ECO review is seamless, our ECO turn around time has decreased. In addition, our customers want to approve certain documents and we can easily provide them (via license) access to certain documents. We no longer have to put a package together to send via email or have them come into our office for signature (as we used to with the hard copy/manual system).

Pros

  • BOMs - very organized, you can see changes from previous BOMs (via the redline system). Parts are linked to their sources, where used, etc.
  • Attributes and search - we can call up Design history files for a single customer. During 3rd party audits, our documents are right there, no searching through binders.
  • Training program - with the quiz at the end - we now have that quality requirement of "verification of effectiveness."
  • Customer service is outstanding. Any time I have a question, a response is provided usually within 4 hours!

Cons

  • The ticket process - I have not tried it enough to comment on it too much, but when I did try it, it seemed very tedious.
  • Decreased the labor cost of engineering change orders by 50%
  • Decreased the time for document retrieval for 3rd party submittals by 65% (already in Arena - no need to search binders, scan, email, etc.)
  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
Ease of use and customer service (two things). Arena had/has the best customer service of any vendor we have worked with.
Implementation was easy. Arena took care of everything - it was seamless. They came to our office and "held our hands" through the whole process. It could not have been any easier. We were very apprehensive - but it went so smoothly.

Do you think Arena PLM and QMS delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Arena PLM and QMS's feature set?

Yes

Did Arena PLM and QMS live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Arena PLM and QMS go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Arena PLM and QMS again?

Yes

Arena's customer service is wonderful. Any questions are always answered in a timely manner.
As a medical device manufacturer, Arena's modules work very well with the medical regulatory and quality requirements.
Master control - expensive, very difficult to implement
Ennov - basic - not as powerful as ARENA
RitePro - options are limited, customer service limited
1) Audits
2) Document control organization and access
3) Medical device documents

Arena Support

ProsCons
Quick Resolution
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Immediate help available
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
Quick Initial Response
None
No - Not even sure if it is available. Don't need premium support - the support provided by ARENA is PREMIUM!!!
Yes - I thought it was a bug - but it was actually just an issue that i created.
I had signed up a partner and it was not working. Arena worked with me until I got it correct. Another time was when I wanted to create a DHF in the ARENA system. They hooked me up with their medical device expert and she provided me with a few ways that this could be done at no extra cost.

Using Arena

ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Convenient
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • BOM implementation
  • Quality module
  • change control

Comments

  • Scott Reedy | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Thanks Kim for taking the time to post your review and share your thoughts about Arena. It sounds like you've been very pleased with Arena. Since you also mentioned our new Tickets solution, I will pass your comments to our customer success team in case they can offer some input to help you take advantage of it.
  • Alaine Portnoy | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Hi Kim, thank you for sharing your positive feedback about Arena PLM and the Arena support team. We're always happy to hear this from an experienced customer and we appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge!

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