A great software solution for multi-level quality system document management
Updated November 24, 2020

A great software solution for multi-level quality system document management

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Arena

Arena is currently only being used by one of the operating companies within my greater organization. It is used in the Quality Assurance department to manage Quality Systems including the document control process. Arena is a controlled database and does a great job of enforcing specific privileges when creating or editing electronic records. Quality records and documents often contain sensitive information that only specific personnel should access to read or edit, and Arena aids in solving that administrative problem with relative ease and usability.
  • Enforcing functional approval to permanent changes to Quality System controlled documents. All affected personnel need to give timely notification and approval for document changes.
  • Expediting the progression of a Change Order to a process document change. In the healthcare industry, it is imperative for the time between decisions and changes to be minimized, and Arena accomplishes this well.
  • Requiring electronic signatures for submitting and approving changes. Tracking of user changes is important for both the internal record and external auditing purposes.
  • The use of multiple workspaces can be more seamless. Sometimes related documents are in different workspaces, and so one must toggle between workspaces to cross-reference documents.
  • Navigation of a Change Order can be difficult when saturated with information in Summary, Item, Files, Approvals>Decisions, and History>Status view. A single view can be dense with information and attribute options.
  • By default, Notices at the top are enabled and can be distracting or unnecessary after one gets accustomed to the software. Perhaps a simplified view layout could be an option to more experienced users.
  • The processing time of change orders has decreased by about 10-15%.
  • The overall time for quality system document maintenance has decreased by about 10%.
  • Cloud application reduces hardware and maintenance requirements, and thus reduces IT costs by approximately $50-$100K per year.
  • Price
  • Product Usability
  • Third-party Reviews
The usability was the most critical factor, as this ultimately determines the software's staying power. In trialing the software, users of various levels within the quality organization found the software to be very intuitive and highly capable in completing all necessary functions. Ultimately, this ensured minimal time and cost of training and a unified approach to documentation in the quality management system.
Arena was fairly quick and easy to implement. It was ordered with ample lead time to anticipate any possible delays, and it was implemented and deployed well within the allotted timeframe. The implementation team was very accessible and helpful in addressing any concerns we had in a timely manner. Most inquiries were answered by a member of the Arena team on the same day.

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?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of Arena PLM and QMS go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Arena PLM and QMS again?

Yes

It has been rare when I have needed support, but my issue is always resolved in a fairly timely manner. It sometimes requires more explanation than I had initially expected, but the effort of support staff is always at or above expectations, and the resolution is satisfactory. More customized configurations will typically call for a longer resolution process with generic support staff.
The Arena interface is fairly intuitive, and has very complete functionality. Documents are easily accessed according to prescribed user permissions, and the navigation pane is clearly positioned and sensibly structured. Notifications are sometimes a minor distraction, and document organization and hierarchy display may be difficult to follow at first. After a brief learning curve, perceived usability quickly increases for the typical user.
Arena has the option of Live Online Training, whereas Anylogic does not. Also, Arena is overall easier to use and thus better suited for an organization with users of a wide variety of skill sets and technology aptitude (better for large organizations).
Anylogic carries several benefits over Arena, however, including support for Mac and SaaS platforms (Arena only supports Windows) and more features, better design, and higher quality support.
Arena has great functionality and is fairly intuitive in use. It is best suited for an organization including multiple users of varying access privileges who need to access and edit several electronic documents. It is also ideal for processing change orders quickly and gathering all appropriate approvals prior to implementing document changes.
Arena isn't as well suited in organizations of advanced/experienced users with equivalent privileges cooperating on document maintenance and changes, as the multiple views and density of information could be cumbersome and unnecessary to some users.

Using Arena

Yes, Arena supports audit compliance from several regulatory entities including MDSAP, ISO, and FDA by housing documentation related to Quality Management Systems. Training records, corrective and preventative actions (CAPA), and all product record documents (design history, supplier qualification) are stored in a single repository and linked to ensure closed-loop tracking of all critical quality processes. Arena helps ensure compliance by maintaining one unified system that requires complete documentation for all product lines.
The number and frequency of regular cross-functional meetings has increased since work from home orders went into place. This has spawned more cross functional projects involving team members in different geographic areas and time zones. Arena has been key in maintaining a unified source of information and platform for both uploading and downloading documents that illustrate project goals, milestones, and progress. Arena has facilitated cross-functional collaboration by providing a reliable, comprehensive, and intuitive platform for project documentation.
After applying Arena to the pilot product line and fine-tuning platform configuration, Arena was quickly expanded to all other product lines within the pilot operating company. After about 6 months, Arena was further expanded to included 2 other operating companies within the organization. Overall, the expansion has rendered the Arena platform accessible to more than 5 times as many employees as during initial implementation. The training on the platform and integration with other systems went very well, and minimal technical questions on the platform have arisen from employees. Other operating companies have also expressed interest in migrating all documentation to Arena for simplicity.
Arena is an intuitive platform that allows you to seamlessly integrate all quality records and process documentation in a single system.

I would also mention that the layout of the Quality Management System platform ensures that no steps are skipped or documents missing, and allows continuously customizable user access on both a local and global level.
My experience with customer support has been minimal, but positive. I was not the project lead for the initial implementation of the software, but I had input during the early stages that was quickly and completely addressed by the customer success team. The turnaround time on inquiries is fairly short, and was always adequate for my needs. The team showed care and exerted a good deal of personalized effort towards finding solutions to specific problems or proposing workarounds for various business critical tasks.