They’re BIG! They’re SCARY! And they might be lurking inside your life sciences company right now! These are hair-raising tales of Quality Leaders who were terrorized by rigid, expensive, and complicated electronic quality management systems (eQMS).
The stories all have a happy ending, however. Each expert recognized the limitations of their systems, made a strong case to their C-suite to receive budget approval, and survived by switching to ZenQMS.
Read on…if you dare!
The Horror of the Restrictive eQMS
Agenus, Lexington, Massachusetts
Judy Zahora, Agenus’ Senior Director of Global Quality Systems, was trapped…on an eQMS she hated. Its restrictive platform couldn’t handle both GMP and GCP processes. And while seat license fees were free to grow, knowledge and permissions were not. The situation was dire.
“There’s no regulatory requirement for that level of system restriction. I need a system with flexibility. And I hate counting seat licenses!”
Fortunately, Judy was able to escape from the legacy eQMS that plagued her by switching to ZenQMS.
“My team is much more efficient. Everyone has a basic knowledge of what everyone else does. It’s not locked down with one person. And I love that in less than 30 seconds, I can see my entire company’s training status. Before, it would've been three reports, pulled from a bunch of different places, and it would’ve taken days.”
Read Judy’s full adventure here!
Dawn of the Zombie Support Team
TriRx Pharmaceutical Services, Norwalk, Connecticut
Alone, abandoned, and helpless. That’s not a situation you want to be in, but it’s exactly where Scott Harris found himself. As Vice President of Information Systems at TriRx, he’s in charge of converting captive GMP facilities into stand-alone contract manufacturing sites as quickly as possible. Installing an eQMS at these sites is critical, but impossible to do when you can’t find help.
“A lot of big companies are happy to take your money, but if you ask for something that’s not already in their system, they’re not going to give it to you. They won’t work with you. And there’s no way you can get them up and running and learn how they work in 3 months!”
When Scott discovered ZenQMS, he found the system and the service he was desperate for.
“I continue to put ZenQMS in my sites because the software is so easy to use and their customer service is great. I’ve recommended them to a number of companies because of how impressed I am.”
Scott’s eerie account can be found here
The Curse of the Unconfigurable Workflow
SQ Innovation, Burlington, Massachusetts
Worried. Anxious. Claustrophobic. No, SQ Innovation’s Senior Director of Quality Kirsten Westrate wasn’t wandering through a haunted house. She was dealing with an inflexible eQMS.
“I don’t want to be boxed in. I don’t want to have to work the way the vendor requires me to work within their system, let alone be charged additional implementation fees to make necessary modifications.”
It was a miserable experience that drove her to the end of her rope. “After my first two months, when I could not get a single procedure routed and approved, I got so frustrated that I said, ‘We’re not doing this anymore’.”
Kirsten’s spirits brightened when she found ZenQMS and its configurable platform, unlimited licenses, and compliance with GxP requirements.
“Harnessing the power of the configurable workflow has been tremendous.”
Read about Kirsten’s perilous journey to find a more user-friendly eQMS
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The Tale of the Missing Keyword Search
Fivos Health, Lebanon, New Hampshire
Imagine calling out for help for years and getting no answer. Scary, right? That’s exactly what Fivos’ Quality Manager Mike Seiler experienced with an eQMS that didn’t have the features and functionality he was looking for.
“We asked for a ‘Keyword Search’ from our old system eight years ago and it was never delivered.”
Mike was about to abandon hope when he finally received the news he desperately wanted. He sat in a demo with ZenQMS, saw that it had built-in keyword search functionality, and knew he was in safe hands.
“When I looked at ZenQMS, it was a game changer. It’s a feature that gets used all the time.”
Mike’s thrilling tale can be found here
The Haunted Implementation
Translational Drug Development (TD2), Scottsdale, Arizona
Perhaps the most terrifying scenario a Quality Leader can find themselves in is starting a new job and having to use a complicated, impractical eQMS that wasn’t implemented correctly, together with unhelpful support. That’s exactly what happened to TD2’s Director of Quality Assurance, Phillip Strickland.
“I wasn’t familiar with the eQMS when I got here, but I’m a pretty technical person, I thought I could figure it out. But it was no use. It was a nightmare.”
The nightmare continued when, after switching to ZenQMS, they tried to recover data from their old vendor.
“They weren’t helpful at all, and it was going to cost us $20K for them to export it. But it was our data! Our documents! It was an easy decision to start over with ZenQMS.”
Fortunately Phillip and TD2 are no longer at the mercy of their former eQMS. Efficiency and compliance are up and the need for retraining is down. Read more about Phillip and TD2's path to success here.
If any of these ghastly stories of eQMS disasters sound familiar, or if you want to avoid their wretchedness entirely, book a demo with ZenQMS and turn those tricks into treats!