MasterControl Adds New Solutions and Enhancements with Release of Version 8.0

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH, USA – March 4, 2009 – MasterControl Inc., a global provider of document, audit, and quality management software solutions, today announced the release of MasterControl Version 8.0™.
“Version 8.0 brings an array of stunning enhancements to existing MasterControl products as well as an assortment of robust new products, all designed to enhance overall functionality and maximize ease of use,” said MasterControl CEO Jonathan Beckstrand. “The enhanced MasterControl solutions can help companies get their products to market faster, reduce overall costs, and increase internal efficiency.”
The new solutions available with the release of MasterControl Version 8.0 include:
• MasterControl Supplier™: MasterControl Supplier gives companies the capability to efficiently manage and approve vendor lists and effectively track supplier quality and supplier status. With MasterControl Supplier, all supplier status and quality information (such as non-conforming material reports) is automatically contained in a single, easy to access location. Goods or services can be added to the “approved to supply” list simply by linking the goods/services to a specific supplier in MasterControl. Suppliers, conversely, can be added the same way. If a part is linked to a supplier that is not approved, the link is disabled until the supplier becomes approved or reapproved. All of this information is easily obtainable via MasterControl’s built-in reporting tool. Other benefits of MasterControl Supplier include:

• Users have a variety of functionality options, such as creating new suppliers in the system, viewing lists of suppliers, searching for suppliers, and importing supplier information
• All goods/services and supplier links operate bi-directionally within MasterControl
• Virtual Folders and analytics reports can be embedded in the Supplier tab, essentially converting the supplier InfoCard into a dashboard
• Users are able to configure templates to choose from based on the type of supplier being added

• MasterControl QMS CAPA Solutions™: MasterControl QMS CAPA solutions are three distinct holistic software solutions designed to automate and effectively manage the CAPA process and integrate it with other quality processes, such as change control, audit, training, nonconformance resolution, and customer complaints. The intelligent MasterControl QMS CAPA system guides users through the CAPA process with the assistance of embedded decision mechanisms. The product includes not only a best-of-breed CAPA methodology but also comes complete with best practices training, services, and consulting. MasterControl QMS CAPA solutions offer more than just data management—they lead companies to faster resolutions by offering guiding mechanisms that result in more effective decision points.

• MasterControl MS Word Integration™: With the MasterControl MS Word Integration, the MasterControl document management solution can be easily accessed via a MasterControl add-on toolbar in Word 2007®. Users can stay in the environment where they are most comfortable and where they work on a daily, if not hourly, basis. The integration allows users to search, access, review, and collaborate on critical documents within MS Word. The seamless integration between MasterControl and Word merges two applications into one thereby streamlining processes that allow users to avoid extra steps while ensuring the proper control over critical documents.

• MasterControl Outlook E-mail Integration™: The MasterControl Outlook E-mail Integration allows everyday and infrequent users alike to access MasterControl tasks from any HTML e-mail client, including Microsoft Outlook®. The interface facilitates vastly improved efficiency by providing quick connections via a familiar tool used by all employees every day. Benefits of the integration include:

• The familiar, modern interface is intuitive and user friendly
• Executives and managers can efficiently complete critical approvals using nothing more than their e-mail
• Users enterprise-wide can perform everyday tasks in a familiar interface without needing an extensive knowledge of MasterControl

• MasterControl SharePoint Connector™: MasterControl offers a seamless, out-of-the-box integration with SharePoint that capitalizes on the benefits of SharePoint while adding truly robust compliance solutions. Rather than forcing users to access disparate solutions, MasterControl connects the two robust systems so processes may be fulfilled within the same platform of customizable, unified solutions. Without leaving SharePoint, users are able to log in to MasterControl and locate important documents or export a document from SharePoint into MasterControl. The SharePoint Connector also ensures that users are working with the most current version of a document. The most recent versions of documents are stored in MasterControl’s secure, centralized repository and are simple to access with a mere click of a mouse. Links to these documents are easily added to the SharePoint library, simplifying access for the SharePoint user. Users can continue to use the SharePoint interface with which they are already familiar and simply enhance its capabilities by adding unparalleled document control and other MasterControl business process functionalities.

• MasterControl Data™: An extension of the MasterControl Process™ platform, MasterControl Data provides a new set of tools that allows administrators to create customized data repositories. The records stored in these repositories can be viewed and maintained by end users within the MasterControl system and can be linked to electronic forms, thereby enabling complex process modeling and simplifying data entry. Benefits of MasterControl Data include:

• Customer, supplier and business partner information can be stored and linked to complaints, audits, and supplier deviations
• Equipment master lists can be maintained from within MasterControl and linked to calibration work orders, maintenance work orders, and batch records

• MasterControl Classes™: MasterControl Classes is an add-on to the MasterControl Training™ solution that helps customers manage classes. For example, users are able to schedule training resources—trainers, locations, and trainees—by creating classes. Administrators can specify the number of slots for various training classes and allow trainees to sign up for them. This helps customers more easily manage fixed classroom resources, such as the number of trainees that can be trained in a common training room.

• MasterControl Taxonomy Organizers™: MasterControl Taxonomy Organizers allows each group within the enterprise to have its own unique taxonomy with the capability to have a single document exist in one or more taxonomies. Critical documents—SOPs, drawings, contracts, clinical documents, or any type of submission documentation—can be automatically categorized and updated by the MasterControl system. MasterControl allows you to take your organizers to the next level—or as many levels as you want. Benefits of Taxonomy Organizers include:

• Easy to use interface similar to Windows Explorer with a folder structure defined by MasterControl “InfoCards” and custom metadata
• Multiple folder structures allow individual users or groups of users to view information in the way that makes the most sense to them.
• Documents are automatically updated in one or more hierarchies as soon as the documents are entered into MasterControl

MasterControl Version 8.0 also brings many enhancements and expanded functionality to existing MasterControl solutions, such as:
• MasterControl Portal™
• New User-friendly Interface: MasterControl 8.0 boasts a streamlined new user interface, including a new but familiar look-and-feel, intuitive module landing pages, home page quick links, and the ability for users to change skins and themes
• Firefox Browser Support and Browser Page Resizing: MasterControl now features support for the Mozilla Firefox web browser. Also, pages in the MasterControl system are dynamically resized as the browser is resized, meaning more content can be viewed with higher resolution settings and larger monitors
• HTML E-mail Integration: Users can directly sign off on straightforward tasks directly from their HTML e-mail client, such as Microsoft Outlook, without needing to access the MasterControl web-based user interface.
• Role Owners and Rights Inheritance: Roles have owners, limiting the visibility of role assignment. Users can grant rights for only the roles they have, which enables greater control over distribution administration
• End-user Password Reset: The administrative burden of managing password resets is reduced since end users can request new passwords once they successfully answer security questions
• Other Portal Enhancements: Other improvements include shorter, user-set expiration times, out of office notification upon login, vault creation from the login page, link to InfoCards from the Publishing queue, filter by nulls in queries, mandatory sign-off meaning option, InfoCard searching from Tracking, longer route step names, and file size display.

• MasterControl Documents™
• Word Integration: Word 2007 users can connect to MasterControl directly from Word to access documents located in their open collaborations, search for documents, check documents in and out, and easily start a new collaboration
• Enhanced Change Control – Multiple Packet Types: Complex change control processes can be streamlined now that MasterControl Documents offers the capability to create multiple packet types in conjunction with a new route step type. The new packet types can be configured both with custom fields and pre-configured fields to capture data about the change control, such as work in process, disposition, etc.
• Revision Indication: The system indicates from the list page and the InfoCard if a later revision of the InfoCard exists. This helps the user who may not have access to the draft vault know that an update is in process
• Taxonomy Organizers: A new type of organizer allows the user to determine desired hierarchies based on metadata fields. These hierarchies are automatically and dynamically maintained without further administrative intervention. In addition, users can now right-click on the InfoCard to perform various actions such as checking out documents or viewing native documents or PDFs

• MasterControl Process™
• HTML Forms: In addition to PDF forms, the Process module supports HTML forms. The form designer can choose which forms technology is most appropriate on a process by process basis. HTML forms can reuse the same keywords, workflows, and reports that already exist in the system
• Data Management: Process designers now have the capability to easily manage lists of data within the system by creating datasets that are managed outside of a form. These datasets can be simple lists or data tables to capture more complex entities such as pieces of equipment
• Launch Retraining: Users with appropriate rights can launch retraining tasks directly from a form. For example, if the result of a CAPA investigation determines that trainees should be retrained, the retraining can be invoked for the affected trainees directly from the CAPA form
• Accidentally Launched Form Cancellation: Users who launch a form can now abort the form if no one has completed any data
• Process Route Detail Report: Process routes can now be defined by detailed reports

• MasterControl Projects™
• Task Highlighting: After editing them in the workspace, recent tasks can be highlighted, so a user won’t lose his or her place when working on large projects.
• Abort In-process Tasks and Modify Route Users: Projects now offers the capability to modify route users and abort in-process tasks directly within Projects.

• MasterControl Training™
• Retraining Launched by Users Other than Supervisors: A new right enables users to launch retraining tasks for users they do not directly supervise

• MasterControl BOM™
• Adding Additional Fields to BOM Workspace: Additional fields can be added to the BOM workspace that will appear in both the workspace and part detail pages.
• BOM Export: MasterControl can export BOMs to Excel spreadsheets and has the ability to export BOMs for use in third party software such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems.
• Mass BOM Importing: BOMs can now be imported in bulk. The enhanced system also offers the capability to upload multiple BOMs from a single import spreadsheet.

• MasterControl PDM Connectors™
• Custom Attribute Mapping: Attributes defined with Pro/INTRALINK® or PDMWorks™ may be mapped to existing fields in PDM systems. Attributes may now be mapped to specific InfoCard fields within MasterControl, including custom fields, allowing users to leverage existing metadata in their PDM system.
• Configuration Support for SolidWorks: Users can now import multiple configurations from PDMWorks™. The system automatically creates separate InfoCard in MasterControl for each configuration in SolidWorks files.

• MasterControl Business Process Library™
• Centralized Data Management: Many drop-down fields can now be easily configured for one of multiple options: static drop-down options, external data sources, or a data structure stored in MasterControl. This change no longer requires customization. For example, a “Product” field on a form can display the products stored in the ERP system and the Equipment Calibration form directly links to the Equipment Master List stored in MasterControl.
• Improved Configuration Management: During installation, templates require much less manual configuration because field properties are automatically detected. Roles associated with Solution Packages are now prefaced with “SP_” which improves navigation on the roles list page.
• MasterControl Complaints HTML™: The new Complaints HTML solution features reportable event decision trees, better alignment with CAPA, and integration with the customer’s complaint database.
• MasterControl CAPA HTML™: MasterControl’s CAPA HTML solution utilizes the PathWise methodology for the investigation and recording of CAPA. It offers refined root cause investigation, detailed task tracking, formalized verification and validation for CAPA implementation, and more flexible forms with expanding fields. The CAPA HTML solution also features new layers with filtering, allowing for an initial review to take place prior to deciding whether or not an event should go to CAPA.

• MasterControl Analytics™
• Improved Process Report Improvements: Process reports are now based on datasets that administrators can configure for each template. Changes to data storage and retrieval have dramatically enhanced Process report performance
• Reporting Across Form Templates: By joining datasets together to create dataset profiles, users can display data from multiple Process templates on the same report
• Filter by Null Values: Users have the option to filter text fields using an “Is Null” or “Is Not Null” operator
• Enhanced Custom Fields Report: The custom field report now includes all the main InfoCard fields so they can be reported on and filtered against. Also, datasets can be can be created for a custom field, allowing the custom field report to filter specific custom field data
• Custom Naming of Aggregate Columns: Users can rename the system-generated aggregate data columns in a report to provide more meaningful, customized names

• MasterControl Copies™
• Multiple Network Printer Support: Users can select the network printer from which selected documents should be printed. The network printers can be configured and filtered by business unit in enterprise configurations

MasterControl’s integrated compliance software solution suite allows companies to meet and exceed FDA requirements, ISO standards, and similar regulatory requirements. MasterControl facilitates compliance management by automating and managing document control, change control, training management, audits, corrective/preventive action (CAPA), customer complaints, nonconformance disposition, deviation handling, electronic batch record (EBR) management, and other GxP processes critical to regulatory compliance.

About MasterControl Inc.
MasterControl Inc. produces software solutions that enable regulated companies to get their products to market faster, while reducing overall costs and increasing internal efficiency. MasterControl securely manages a company’s critical information throughout the entire product lifecycle. Our software is known for being easy to implement, easy to validate and easy to use. MasterControl solutions include quality management, document management, product lifecycle management, audit management, training management, bill of materials, supplier management, submissions management, and more. Supported by a comprehensive array of services based on industry best practices, MasterControl provides our customers with a complete information management solution across the entire enterprise

Contact: Jason Clegg
MasterControl Inc.
800.825.9117
jclegg@mastercontrol.com

This release was published on openPR.