Carleton Life Support Systems using NexPrise solution to streamline development process, reduce project cycle time
Carlsbad, CA — January 7, 2004 — Carleton Life Support Systems has selected a solution from provider NexPrise to automate and manage action items related to product development, production and product support processes in a bid to maximize its ability to deliver the right life-support systems at the right time to its customers.
Carleton designs and manufactures life-support systems for the aviation industry. With multiple client projects in progress at any given time, Carleton engineers must track several programs and multiple pieces within these programs.
Using NexPrise Action Item Manager, Carleton is managing and streamlining its design and manufacturing processes, providing documentation of all projects and enabling the process visibility to ensure that programs stay on track.
"The highly complex aviation life-support systems we build and install require meticulous planning and follow-through so that projects stay on schedule," said Tim Phillis, project manager for Carleton. "With NexPrise Action Item Manager, our engineering staff has visibility into all of the actions identified to complete a project, allowing us to serve our customers in the shortest time frame possible."
Prior to implementing NexPrise, Carleton engineers had to manage action items for multiple client orders using spreadsheets and word-processing documents. Lacking a single database to view upcoming assignments, engineers who worked on several programs had to monitor unconnected spreadsheets in order to successfully complete manufacturing tasks.
With NexPrise Action Item Manager, engineers have a common database for all program information, and participants in a project no longer need to consult disparate documents to determine which items need to be completed. Instead, the NexPrise application provides clearly defined action items and automatic notifications, enabling visibility into any or all programs with full drill-down detail.
Using Action Item Manager, Carleton engineers can enforce responses to program action items, and they can initiate approval and rejection processes to ensure that programs are completed in a timely manner. Additionally, since project information can be accessed over the Web, project decision-makers outside of Carleton, such as suppliers and customers, now have access to relevant action items as well.
Other benefits include the ability to create standard and custom reports — showing the real-time status of all action items — and the ability for program managers to redirect or reassign action items instantly, according to NexPrise.
