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.

Pros

  • 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.

Cons

  • 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.

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

Comments

  • Alaine Portnoy | TrustRadius Reviewer
    Alaine Portnoy
    (Vendor Representative) commented 5 years ago
    Thank you for your review of Arena! We love to see the ROI you've achieved around engineering change processing, quality documentation, and IT cost-savings.

More Reviews of Arena PLM and QMS

  1. Home
  2. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) Software
  3. Arena PLM and QMS Reviews
  4. User Review of Arena PLM and QMS