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Arena PLM Review
November 01, 2021

Arena PLM Review

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

Overall Satisfaction with Arena PLM and QMS

It is being used by the whole organization to ensure document control is tracked for FDA reviews. Specifically, any document that is generated in the process of medical device development must be archived, with a clear paper trail of approvers. Any revisions to such documents must also be archived. Arena serves these purposes well.
  • Document tracking
  • Approver tracking
  • Revision tracking
  • Adding approvers when there is a large number of users is difficult.
  • We should be able to set autofill of document names.
  • Association of change requests to items require a very manual process.
  • Compliance with FDA requirements is key - the system would not be on market without doc control.
  • FDA has these requirements because product quality is important, and ensuring that all design documents meet these requirements also supports product quality.
  • NPD may not be the best tool to use Arena given that rapid iteration of new ideas is required.
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
Note that I did not purchase Arena ALM or QMS.
Arena was deployed well. We have been using the system for years, and there wasn't a significant hitch in the initial onboarding process. There are questions that are raised when major UX changes are implemented, however.

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

Not sure

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?

I wasn't involved with the implementation phase

Would you buy Arena PLM and QMS again?

Yes

I have not evaluated other doc control products. Previously, all tracking was done internally via Windows file system.
Scenario where Arena is well suited: Any application where all documents must be kept track in exhaustive detail, including the establishment of approvers, revision control, and providing a paper trail.
Scenario where Arena is not suited: Any documents that require an extremely rapid turnaround or approval will likely not benefit from a cumbersome process of requiring change administrators to go through multiple approvals and careful formatting management.