Case Studies Enhancing Quality and Compliance Processes With a Global, Unified System

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	Enhancing Quality and Compliance Processes With a Global, Unified System

Enhancing Quality and Compliance Processes With a Global, Unified System

Technology Category	Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)
Applicable Industries	Aerospace National Security & Defense Telecommunications
Applicable Functions	Business Operation Product Research & Development Quality Assurance
Use Cases	Regulatory Compliance Monitoring Remote Collaboration
Services	Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services System Integration
Challenge	As a global company with operations in the U.K. and U.S., Filtronic struggled with an internally developed product development tool. Tracking, maintaining, and releasing products was slow and inefficient. Filtronic had design, manufacturing, and quality silos that made it difficult for teams to see the interconnectedness of products, procedures, and documents. Managing compliance, audit actions, and corrective actions required cumbersome manual processes and constant human intervention. In Filtronic’s fast-paced development environment, there was zero tolerance for engineering design roadblocks, part issues, or regulatory compliance delays. In addition to solving these challenges, Filtronic wanted to focus on what they do best by eliminating their reliance on internal IT and engineering resources that were required to keep their homegrown tool afloat. Read More
About Customer	Filtronic is a leading designer and manufacturer of radio frequency (RF), microwave, and mmWave technologies that transmit, receive, and condition radio signals for a range of challenging applications including telecommunications infrastructure, aerospace and defense, space, test and measurement, and critical communications. In the specialized field of RF technology, a leader and problem-solver like Filtronic must constantly look beyond the horizon and push boundaries to get their clients to market faster. Meeting challenging technological needs by developing repeatable, reliable, and compliant components and subsystems is critical to maintain their competitive edge. Read More
Solution	Arena enables Filtronic’s dispersed teams to design, produce, and deliver innovative products quickly while tracking compliance. To be a truly global, one-stop manufacturing shop, Filtronic needed to reduce complexity and better control product design and supporting documentation in a single, unified platform. They selected Arena’s cloud-based PLM solution to streamline their complex product development processes and speed time to market in a highly competitive industry. Arena enables Filtronic to control the complete product record and make it accessible anytime and anywhere. Speed is critical and Rushton said, “if you’re slow—you’re already too late when you sell in fast-moving markets like telecom.” In China, the U.K., and the U.S., Filtronic employees are collaborating in real time with Arena to control and manage all drawings, procedures, and product documentation. Having revision-controlled information in one system gives all impacted teams a structured approach to manage parts, documents, and the entire product record effectively. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management

Functional Applications - Product Lifecycle Management Systems (PLM)

Applicable Industries

Aerospace

National Security & Defense

Telecommunications

Applicable Functions

Business Operation

Product Research & Development

Quality Assurance

Use Cases

Regulatory Compliance Monitoring

Remote Collaboration

Services

Cloud Planning, Design & Implementation Services

System Integration

Challenge

As a global company with operations in the U.K. and U.S., Filtronic struggled with an internally developed product development tool. Tracking, maintaining, and releasing products was slow and inefficient. Filtronic had design, manufacturing, and quality silos that made it difficult for teams to see the interconnectedness of products, procedures, and documents. Managing compliance, audit actions, and corrective actions required cumbersome manual processes and constant human intervention. In Filtronic’s fast-paced development environment, there was zero tolerance for engineering design roadblocks, part issues, or regulatory compliance delays. In addition to solving these challenges, Filtronic wanted to focus on what they do best by eliminating their reliance on internal IT and engineering resources that were required to keep their homegrown tool afloat.

About Customer

Filtronic is a leading designer and manufacturer of radio frequency (RF), microwave, and mmWave technologies that transmit, receive, and condition radio signals for a range of challenging applications including telecommunications infrastructure, aerospace and defense, space, test and measurement, and critical communications. In the specialized field of RF technology, a leader and problem-solver like Filtronic must constantly look beyond the horizon and push boundaries to get their clients to market faster. Meeting challenging technological needs by developing repeatable, reliable, and compliant components and subsystems is critical to maintain their competitive edge.

Solution

Arena enables Filtronic’s dispersed teams to design, produce, and deliver innovative products quickly while tracking compliance. To be a truly global, one-stop manufacturing shop, Filtronic needed to reduce complexity and better control product design and supporting documentation in a single, unified platform. They selected Arena’s cloud-based PLM solution to streamline their complex product development processes and speed time to market in a highly competitive industry. Arena enables Filtronic to control the complete product record and make it accessible anytime and anywhere. Speed is critical and Rushton said, “if you’re slow—you’re already too late when you sell in fast-moving markets like telecom.” In China, the U.K., and the U.S., Filtronic employees are collaborating in real time with Arena to control and manage all drawings, procedures, and product documentation. Having revision-controlled information in one system gives all impacted teams a structured approach to manage parts, documents, and the entire product record effectively.

Impact #1	Arena has been an integral part of Filtronic’s business systems for many years and is used throughout the company. “With Arena, Filtronic can pull all the design, manufacturing, and quality information into a single, unified product record,” said Rushton.
Impact #2	After adopting Arena PLM, Filtronic’s teams were able to easily track requirements, revisions, quality, and compliance. This provided complete visibility of their critical product and quality processes. Arena simplified issue tracking with related corrective actions which reduced time to resolution by 50% and increased customer satisfaction. “Our customers expect high-quality parts and quick responses, and Arena allows us to immediately take action on any issue with a part, which sustains that reputation,” noted Rushton.
Impact #3	With Filtronic’s highly technical work, communication platforms are critical for quality. The improved data integrity and accuracy from controlling information in Arena helps Filtronic achieve substantial time savings. Additional time savings are realized because teams from any location can now access the right information easily and speed review and approvals for engineering changes—which are linked directly to the affected components, subassemblies, and documents in a multilevel bill of materials (BOM). This BOM is the heart of the product record and the best way to see the entire product design from top to bottom while enabling reuse of components and avoiding the creation and release of duplicate components. “With enhanced global collaboration and improved engineering change management processes, it now takes us about half the time to implement an engineering change,” stated Rushton.

Impact #1

Arena has been an integral part of Filtronic’s business systems for many years and is used throughout the company. “With Arena, Filtronic can pull all the design, manufacturing, and quality information into a single, unified product record,” said Rushton.

Impact #2

After adopting Arena PLM, Filtronic’s teams were able to easily track requirements, revisions, quality, and compliance. This provided complete visibility of their critical product and quality processes. Arena simplified issue tracking with related corrective actions which reduced time to resolution by 50% and increased customer satisfaction. “Our customers expect high-quality parts and quick responses, and Arena allows us to immediately take action on any issue with a part, which sustains that reputation,” noted Rushton.

Impact #3

With Filtronic’s highly technical work, communication platforms are critical for quality. The improved data integrity and accuracy from controlling information in Arena helps Filtronic achieve substantial time savings. Additional time savings are realized because teams from any location can now access the right information easily and speed review and approvals for engineering changes—which are linked directly to the affected components, subassemblies, and documents in a multilevel bill of materials (BOM). This BOM is the heart of the product record and the best way to see the entire product design from top to bottom while enabling reuse of components and avoiding the creation and release of duplicate components. “With enhanced global collaboration and improved engineering change management processes, it now takes us about half the time to implement an engineering change,” stated Rushton.

Benefit #1	Cut engineering change cycle time by 50%
Benefit #2	Speed quality resolution by 50%

Benefit #1

Cut engineering change cycle time by 50%

Benefit #2

Speed quality resolution by 50%

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Overview

Enhancing Quality and Compliance Processes With a Global, Unified System

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit