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Intranet Case Study
Engage intranet software ensures Penlon are ISO 13485 compliant
Penlon manufactures and distributes products and systems for anaesthesia, intubation, oxygen therapy and suction. Quality Systems and products are certified to CE and ISO standards, and approved by the CSA, FDA, and other agencies.
Penlon supplies reliable products of the highest quality. In-house design and manufacture gives Penlon total control of quality, precision and cost. Manufacturing systems are certified to ISO 13485:2016. Their systems and facilities are regularly inspected and audited by the FDA, CSA, ANVISA and other regulatory bodies. They consistently meet, and exceed, all the required levels of competence required by each agency.
Location:
UK
Industry:
Manufacturing
Employees:
120
Location:
UK
Industry:
Manufacturing
Employees:
120
The challenge
To develop a group intranet with a Quality Management System that would work to ensure Penlon is ISO 13485 compliant. To bring together 120 employees, including remote workers, across 2 UK sites and 1 US site in one central location. To increase employee engagement, save time and improve efficiencies across the business.
The solution
Penlon have created an innovative, informative and dynamic intranet that sits at the heart of the organisation.
The biggest and most important use of Engage at Penlon is that of the document management system, which Penlon have developed as their Quality Management System (QMS). Safety and quality are non-negotiables in the medical devices industry. Regulatory requirements are increasingly stringent throughout every step of a product’s life cycle, including service and delivery. Increasingly, organisations in the industry are expected to demonstrate their quality management processes and ensure best practice in everything they do. ISO 13485, is an internationally agreed standard that sets out the requirements for a quality management system specific to the medical devices industry.
Using version control, mandatory read (not just read once or read yearly but a cycle of mandatory reads), document bookmarking, change tracking and unique number generation, Penlon can ensure that they are meeting ISO 13485 standards.
Employees have instant access to a ‘jargon buster’ tool which is a glossary of industry terminology as well as past and future planned audit dates which are vital for planning.
“Using Engage, we can ensure a compliant QMS system, that meets and exceeds all requirements of ISO 13485, which is imperative to the business. Not only are we confident that we are compliant, the business is saving lots of time now that the process is no longer manual.”
Tony Serratore
Head of IT
Lots of simple Engage Forms have been created that are saving time and money. A great example of which is a ‘production parts requisition form’. The form, which has replaced costly paper forms, can be completed online, quickly and easily. Details such as supplier numbers, warehouse codes, product codes and prices are all submitted directly to line managers for authorisation.
Other Engage Forms, such as ‘change of personal details’, ‘business card request’ and ‘personal protective equipment request’ are being used daily and are saving time and money for the business.
Engage is integrated with their time and attendance system. Employee profiles display red or green status symbols which clearly show, at a glance, who is in or out of the building. From profiles pages you can also see colleagues line managers and their status. This simple but effective tool saves lots of time when contacting colleagues, particularly for remote workers.
Integration with their central HR system ensures that all job roles, job titles, contact details are always up to date within Engage. Other pages on the intranet are informative, packed full of dynamic and engaging content. They are improving employee engagement as well as bringing together 120 colleagues across 3 sites in one central location. There are specific pages for Health and Safety information including first aid team members, documents and forms. A Social page for company events, raising awareness of charity fundraisers, foodbank collections plus lots more. An IT page that provides easy access via Quicklinks to vital business systems such as the service desk and e-learning.
Via Engage employees can access the holiday booking system. Within the intranet they can clearly see how many days they have available to book and when previous days have been taken.
Kiosks are available on shop floors where employees don’t have access to individual PC’s. The same swipe card, which is used for time and attendance, is used to gain access to Engage from the kiosk. This intuitive way of giving access to Engage is driving more traffic to the intranet, improving engagement as well ensuring that policies and procedures are adhered to.
When you arrive as a visitor at Penlons head office, you are greeted with a welcome message displayed via Engage on a TV screen in reception. Engage delivers a live broadcast of Sky TV, Penlons Twitter feed, local weather, traffic information, local times at global offices and company news with headlines and images scrolling across the screen. This fantastic welcome immediately makes visitors feel connected to the wider organisation.
“We are thrilled with the success of our intranet and are looking forward to future developments within the site.
We have a great QMS system that is vital to the business, it ensures we are compliant and meeting ISO 13485 standards. We have seen improvements across the company since the launch of Engage, including employee engagement, increases in efficiencies and improvements in business processes.
We have looked for fun and intuitive ways to drive traffic to the intranet, such as highlighting employee birthdays and work anniversaries with symbols, dedicating pages to social events and hot topics such as company recycling.
We have balanced this with a business critical QMS system as well as relevant and informative content.”
Tony Serratore
Head of IT
