Resideo is a $4.8 billion enterprise provider of comfort and security products for more than 150 million homes worldwide.
With over 13,000 employees dotted across the globe, Resideo's document sets and information streams were predictably diverse and multi-formatted, with different sites storing information in different ways.
The Resideo quality team implemented EQMS by Qualsys in 2018 to achieve two objectives:
1. To unify and harmonise all Resideo documentation for staff to access quickly and easily
2. To use their new electronic documentation system as a springboard to integrate the entire QMS together
We visited Head of Global Quality Carlos de Castro and Global Quality Systems Manager Vikki Quinn at Resideo's Swiss office to talk about their project with Qualsys.
How do we standardise our processes and simplify our ways of work so all our technical documentation, all our processes and instructions, are easily available internally and out in the field?
- Carlos de Castro, Head of Global Quality, Resideo
A single enterprise document system
Multinational organisations such as Resideo face several interacting challenges when operating at scale.
Diverse multi-site information streams produce duplicated and varying versions of documents. Administrative upkeep and duplication of work grows.
By following the processes and procedures detailed within these documents, employees might operate differently across different sites and territories - producing discrepancies in the final products and services provided to customers.
And at the same time, decentralised and differing information points mean staff aren't always sure of how and where to access the latest and most up-to-date documentation they need to do their jobs.
It was clear to the Resideo quality team that a central electronic document system would eliminate each of these issues and drive a simplified, standardised operation.
As a brand new company spun off from American conglomerate and Qualsys customer Honeywell in 2018, Resideo decided to continue along the path of utilising EQMS by Qualsys to drive the direction of the new business.
We had a few sites using legacy Lotus Notes. We had others using internally developed systems. We had others using Excel spreadsheets, and all kinds of things you can imagine.
We would never be able to drive standardisation and simplification like that.
- Carlos de Castro, Head of Global Quality, Resideo
Going paperless
There were 20 different vendors that we looked at. Some dropped out quite quickly because of our language requirements.
The thing which sold EQMS for us was the licensing system. It was unique. There's nobody else out there that has a licensing system the same as Qualsys.
We have unlimited end users so we don't restrict who can use the system. We can open it up to everybody.
- Vikki Quinn, Global Quality Systems Manager, Resideo
It was crucial that Resideo onboarded a multilingual system, suitable for the various territories that the business operates in.
Resideo began their implementation of EQMS with the Document Manager module.
Document Manager was used to build a 'one stop shop' of crucial day-to-day business information, including:
- Work instructions
- Process maps and diagrams
- Product certification information
- Technical specs
Physical storage space and the associated costs of upkeep and administration were eliminated, along with the risk of loss of or damage to documentation.
The Resideo team also harnessed the opportunity to eliminate superfluous, outdated and duplicated documentation during the migration into EQMS, creating a leaner, cleaner and simpler document stack in the process.
Resideo also adopted the mobile document management application, allowing staff to access documentation from mobiles and tablets on the factory floor.
Process simplification. Better cross-collaboration between the sites. Opportunities to document and share lessons learnt.
As we move towards one quality system, one platform for quality documentation, one module for managing internal audits and issues, the opportunity to integrate with our IT projects and initiatives is fantastic.
- Carlos de Castro, Head of Global Quality, Resideo
A new style of auditing and issue resolution
Resideo followed up Document Manager with Audit Manager and Issue Manager, forming an interacting triangle of quality management modules.
Audits can have associated documentation attached, and generate findings and issues to be resolved with the customisable workflows of Issue Manager. CAPA plans, reports and findings can then be fed back into Document Manager for secure storage and info-sharing.
After the success of EQMS across 4 Resideo sites, the team plan to expand usage across the entire business, with 10 more sites going live by the end of 2019.
With deeper integration between modules and expanded employee engagement, Resideo continues to move closer towards a standardised, holistic quality management system.
Our realisation with EQMS was that the system can provide not only documentation management, but a series of other modules and applications that can integrate and move us step-by-step towards an integrated quality management system.
- Carlos de Castro, Head of Global Quality, Resideo
Next steps
Learn more about the tools and features Resideo baked into their electronic QMS by downloading our free modular datasheets:
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