Join the vast world of Arena
Updated November 10, 2020
Join the vast world of Arena
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Arena
Arena is currently being used across our entire organization. All departments touch the system in some aspects. Arena has been used for training, as well as our change control process. Arena has also addressed the Quality issues for our organization. We currently use it for all deviations, nonconformances, corrective/preventive actions, and OOS. Arena has also helped streamline the evaluation of our metrics. Additionally, our project managers have also used Arena to track the lifecycle of a project and assign various tasks. We also use Arena to mirror our ERP system and make sure all the item numbers match up.
- Streamline our metrics, so we don't need various spreadsheets and easier to pull real-time data.
- The training function has made tracking completion of training easy and being able to set due dates and revise procedures.
- The Quality function has made performing investigations and CAPAs much easier. Everything is now housed in one place, and notifications/reviews are much quicker.
- The initial learning curve may be quite large for individuals who have never used a QMS system; there can be a lot of functions!
- Something to keep in mind for budget-conscious organizations, licenses may be a bit pricey.
- Arena has helped improve Quality by allowing everything to be housed in one place and streamlining the investigation and notification process.
- Arena has improved cost with projects and changes by simplifying the task tracking and approval processes.
- Product Features
- Product Usability
- Product Reputation
The most crucial factor was the product features. Having the versatility and different functions were very important to our organization. We were looking for something to combine all the information and various software we were using into one system (word, excel, etc.). Additionally, we wanted something that had features that could interact with our suppliers and involve the whole organization (training).
The implementation was fair. We had functional interactions with our Arena rep, and he helped with a lot of the questions and transferring of legacy data into the system. The implementation was delayed a bit, but not by a large amount. We were satisfied with the implementation team, and our two administrators who received the training gave positive reviews and have helped get the rest of the organization up to speed. The implementation team was very accommodating and accessible.
I've used a couple of other systems similar to Arena. I would say Arena stacks favorably against them. Arena seems to have a lot more functions and features and can be more powerful if used to its full potential. However, my experience with Arena is still less than I had with the other systems, so my whole rationale is incomplete.
Using Arena
Arena supports our regulatory efforts by allowing us to keep all related documents within the Arena system. Furthermore, if there are any audits (i.e. during our ISO audit) we created a project within Arena to help track the entire audit process including documents that needed to be requested and follow-up action items. Additionally, Arena provides a controlled system where investigations and complaints are also stored and can be pulled easily.
During the work from home order, the majority of our organization began working remotely full time. However, we did have essential personnel working from the office (i.e. Logistics and Laboratory personnel). Arena made collaborating with those individuals easy. Furthermore, anything that needed approval could be readily accessed through Arena. No VPN or anything else is needed since Arena is accessible through the web browser. We didn't notice any decrease in productivity working remotely with Arena.
After initial implementation, our organization continued to expand Arena to more user. This included additional users to complete training and allow access to SOPs. Additionally, we added users for additional approvals for investigations and change control. The expansions all went well. Training the new individuals was fairly simple and everyone was able to get up to speed quickly. We are looking to integrate Arena to our ERP system which has been a more difficult process.
Arena is easily accessible and has many powerful functionalities that you can tailor to your organization's needs.
I personally have not had much interaction with the Arena's customer success team. However, our Quality System Administrator worked more closely with them during implementation and was able to get a lot of assistance and set up during the process. Less communication has been needed since our Arena administrators internally are well equipped to handle any issues and concerns presently.