Projects and Measures

Classical, file based project management tools such as Microsoft Project are powerful but often not really ideal software solutions when it comes to more complex projects in the area of quality management. There is lack of a direct connection between the quality processes managed within the CAQ system and the "external" tool so that this gap needs to be closed by the user personally. This problem was addressed by design when developing the iQ-PROJEKTE software module. It provides a control center for quality projects that gives full access to any relevant quality processes and actions without omitting important elements of general project management such as displaying the project in a GANTT diagram or an option for defining project milestones.

Workflow

The iQ-PROJEKTE module pursues two goals: the planning and administration of projects in the context of quality management and the provision of an integrated mechanism for the cross-module control and monitoring of actions. In iQ-BASIS, projects are structures that can be nested at any depth and that can be used to assign a large number of different objects to such as further projects, actions, documents, audits, FMEAs, production control plans, quality processes, meetings or checklists. Thus, the tool fully supports for special project forms such as APQP.

When planning and performing a project you create the project's content by simply working on a tree representation of the structure. You add, move and delete objects such as those already mentioned. Editing the objects can be done in the corresponding iQ-BASIS modules, and you keep control of the overall progress within your project. Controlling the progress is supported by a graphical tool called GANTT diagram that allows moving project parts by simply dragging and dropping them. The most important details of the element that has been selected in the tree structure are shown on tabs. To make documenting the project flow easier iQ-PROJEKTE provides you with an option for integrating project meetings into the project and store their results. Finally, milestones can be added to help you monitoring the project's progress to its end.

iQ-PROJEKTE also is the container for the actions of any other iQ-BASIS modules. While the actions are most often created in other modules such as in iQ-AUDIT their monitoring and central processing can happen here.

Important Features at a Glance

Projects

Organization

• Creation of projects as central planning instrument in iQ-BASIS
• Storage of all important project data such as dates, resources or explaining information
• Assignment of subprojects that are complete projects by themselves supported by project templates
• Assignment of check lists that can be used directly in a project
• Assignment of any number of actions that can be independent of each other and build entire complex action networks
• Independency of the project status from the implementation status of the actions
• Assignment/storage of documents
• Access to all data in iQ-GL

Planning

• Creation of project structures in a comfortable graphical overview
• Quick adjustment options for project data in user friendly editing forms
• GANTT diagram for visualization of the project

Meetings

• Planning of meetings and their assignment to one or many projects
• Optional assignment of any kind of quality objects
• Generation of invitations
• Support in documenting and protocol creation of meetings

Milestones

• For monitoring special project phases
• Can be defined for any subproject multiple times
• Free text for describing the milestone
• Assignment of any number of quality project
• Optical marking of closed milestones in GANTT diagram
• Optische Kennzeichnung geschlossener Meilensteine im Gantt-Diagramm

Actions

General and basic data

• Overviews over all actions including filtering for responsibilities
• Tracibility of actions to their sources (the organizational elements
• Automatical logging of a change history for actions
• Free texts for describing the action, priorities
• Storage of responsibilities (initiator, responsible, performer) and dates (target start and end)
• Automatical notification of the individual(s) assigned for performance
• Assignment of actions to an action group and a code
• Assignment/storage of documents

Results

• Documentation of any number of action introduction results such as the actual dates, a change request, the required efforts, target and actual values for effectiveness etc.
• Assignment of result codes

Action networks and chains

• Definition of action chains/networks
• Status control in dependence of predecessor action(s)

Monitoring/tracing

• Definition of any number of escalation levels for every single action that specify at which moment depending on which action status a reminder mail will be sent to which person or what else should happen
• Automatic process to react on violated due dates accordingly
• In case of date changes automatic reconfiguration of the escalation scheme
• Dynamic reaction in case of changed responsibilities

Action templates

• Unlimited creation of templates for different kinds of actions
• Escalation strategy definition directly in a template

Schnittstellen zu anderen Modulen

• iQ-GL for a centralized maintenance of all master data that is relevant in other modules, too
• iT-MAIL when it is necessary to send mails automatically (for example as a result of an overdue action)
• iQ-DOKU for further functions in the area of document management
• In general, iQ-PROJEKTE is in a tight cooperation with all the other modules that allow for creating actions. Except for actions that are directly assigned to projects their creation normally is done in the related module such as in the context of a complaint with regard to an equipment for measuring and testing. However, storage and management is handled by iQ-PROJEKTE.