Document and track your design review process before an audit.
Without an automated system for tracking the design review process, engineering teams risk a corrective action during every audit.With CoLab, teams automatically track every step in a design review process and can mark every step Pass/Fail depending on the requirements. This checklist can then be uploaded to PLM as a PDF to appease any auditor.
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How it works
Standardize your design review process – so when audits arise, your team is ready
Design review is often neglected as part of a formal engineering documentation process.
Engineering teams have it as a line item, but when it’s time for an audit or a failure analysis, there’s no individual steps to point to as the failure point.
Instead, teams who use CoLab to run design reviews create a standardized process just by using the tool.
Here’s how it works:
- Design review lead kicks off the review inside CoLab – complete with 2D drawings and 3D models
- Team members access those files in CoLab via secure email link
- Team members can manipulate 3D models and pin comments to problem areas
- Once a review is complete, the design review lead uses those comments to revise the original files
Now, when it’s time for an audit, not only does the engineering team have a standard design review process, they have a single system that captures this automatically.
Speed up the ECO process and appease your ISO requirements
That ECR backlog still piling up? It’s not surprising when engineering teams don’t transfer ECRs to ECOs. Once an ECO is created, the ISO quality process starts. And those processes have strict requirements and stricter deadlines.
The last thing your team needs is a corrective action.
CoLab helps teams tackle that ECR backlog by capturing the ECO feedback that gets lost in emails, meetings, and “Hey you gotta second?”
Using CoLab, engineering teams reduce change cycle time by giving cross-functional teams a faster way to review change requests and action change orders.
So, you can (finally) check off those unactioned change requests lingering in your PLM.
Get critical product data out of email and into a trackable platform
Despite its ease, email is not a secure file-sharing platform. Meaning every file sent via email is a surefire way to fail a documents handling audit.
With CoLab, teams bring all design file sharing into a single platform – so every design decision is traceable.
By pinning comments directly onto models and drawings, responding to design feedback within comment threads and tracking design decisions through to completion – all within CoLab – your critical product decisions no longer live in random inboxes.
Instead, you have a secure, trackable history of design feedback you can search in seconds.
Integrations
You don’t need yet another disconnected software solution. That's why CoLab does two things:
- integrates with your CAD and PLM software to create a connected tech ecosystem.
- it replaces the 5-10 apps you use to complete a single process workflow with 1-2 apps (CoLab + PLM, for example)
Documentation and audits case studies
Engineering teams use CoLab to document and audit their engineering processes nearly every day. Here are a few who want to share their experiences with you:
Seeking ISO 9001 certification, Kraken Robotics knew it would need tighter processes and methods for documenting that process. With CoLab, Kraken has centralized reviews and issue tracking, integrated revision control, and in-context collaboration. After adopting CoLab, the Kraken team successfully achieved ISO 9001 certification in 2021.
“ISO certification focuses on documentation and traceability. CoLab is a big help with that. With CoLab, we document histories of everything automatically just by doing the work. Everything else is stored in a paperless digital record,” says Greg Walsh, Mechanical Team Lead.
To say Schaeffler serves a range of industries would be an understatement. As such, thorough documentation in case of quality or customer audits isn’t just critical, it’s mandatory. With CoLab, that process is no longer time consuming and admin-intensive, it’s automatic.
“One thing that our teams really liked about CoLab: everything was in one location. The whole design discussion happens all in one place, and it makes everything easy to document.” Lewis Bragdon, R&D Business Analyst
“ISO certification focuses on documentation and traceability. CoLab is a big help with that. With CoLab, we document histories of everything automatically just by doing the work. Everything else is stored in a paperless digital record,” says Greg Walsh, Mechanical Team Lead.
FAQs about using CoLab for documentation
How engineering teams use CoLab
Whether you’re discussing a prototype or a production drawing, CoLab makes sure everyone is on the same page. Review designs together, in 3D, and pin feedback directly to a model or drawing.
It shouldn’t be hard to tap into your supplier’s expertise. Whether you need DFM feedback or you’re running a multi-supplier RFQ, CoLab makes it easy to share CAD and drawings, exchange design feedback, and approve revisions.
With CoLab, you can make design expertise your competitive advantage. Run interactive technical evaluations with prospective customers to stand out in RFQs and grow your business.
CoLab helps engineering teams achieve 6, 7, and 8-figure cost reduction targets by giving you a repeatable way to run highly engaging value analysis events with groups of any size.
What’s next?
If you’re ready to see how a DES can transform the way your engineering team works, here’s how the process works with CoLab.
- Every conversation starts with a discovery call. During this call, a technical expert will understand your team’s challenges with design review today
- Then, we’ll tailor a demo to address those challenges. This demo includes you, of course, but also some key members from your team who can speak to your challenges in greater detail and vet CoLab as the solution.
- Finally, we do a workshop with more members of your team. This is the fun part! During this workshop, your team will each have temporary CoLab licenses and participate in a sample design review. You and your team will be guided through key features and use cases right inside the CoLab platform.