Paso Robles, CA November 25, 2002 IQMS, a provider of enterprise software for plastics processors and other repetitive manufacturing environments, has released a new suite of software modules designed to let manufacturers manage quality control within the same integrated database as their enterprise resource planning (ERP) system.
IQMS said that IQ Quality is designed to help manufacturers meet quality standards such as ISO and QS. The new solution gives manufacturers real-time access to quality information as it relates to such other areas of the enterprise as inventory, finance and manufacturing.
Manufacturers currently must patch third-party quality management software into their ERP systems, creating interface issues, loss of data and double-entry of data into two and sometimes three or four separate systems, IQMS said.
IQ Quality is integrated into the IQMS' EnterpriseIQ ERP II system. The solution's functionality includes Web-based document control, advanced product quality planning (APQP), corrective action requests, engineering change orders, statistical process control, and part dimension setup and Gage R&R.
The software company said it designed the new solution to speed the flow of quality-related documentation and information through all areas of the manufacturing enterprise and across the entire supply chain, including customers and suppliers. It provides automatic e-mail notification and Web-based approval, offering a structured workflow that creates accountability through the quality process.
The solution provider asserted that IQ Quality can replace the stand-alone software packages currently utilized by manufacturers to manage their quality systems.
Diane Ramaglia, of IQMS customer Tessy Plastics, based in Elbridge, N.Y., said that the IQ Quality module was critical to her company's decision to buy the EnterpriseIQ system. "With other packages we would have to deal with a third party and still work on the interfaces," Ramaglia said.
