Standardizing Quality processes across a global vegetable seed organization
HM.CLAUSE is a global vegetable seed company active in highly regulated and technically demanding markets. Quality depends on consistent processes, controlled information, traceability and effective collaboration across departments and countries. Icologiq Elements helps HM.CLAUSE harmonize these processes within one connected eQMS while supporting the specific requirements of seed Quality Management.
Case study |
Food & Agriculture · Seeds & Crop Science
The challenge
Back in 2013, the company was looking for a QMS solution that could allow documentation and workflows to be shared between people working in multiple departments to increase efficiency and prevent quality-related problems from happening due to information asymmetry. At the time of the case study, HM. Clause had been a client of Icologiq for 10 years and had worked together with Icologiq on several modules that significantly improved the way Quality was handled by the company.
With the worldwide growth of the company’s workforce, the classic departmental structure and approach to handling information were unsuitable for maintaining consistency in Quality Management practices. At the time of the case study, Matthieu Peney, Project Lead at HM. Clause, explained: “One of our main goals was to make sure that all quality-related information, documents, and processes were standardized because we operate in 20 countries, and we need to have a harmonized way of working, using the same tools in the same way.”
Working with a department-based structure instead of a process-based one gives companies little insight into the processes, especially in highly regulated industries that need to provide strict control evidence to comply with phytosanitary standards. Since many problems can emerge from departmental intersections if information handover is not properly managed, keeping processes under control with well-thought-out, streamlined workflows can be of great help. “We really need to be very careful with seed disease prevention, especially in the production part, to be able to export our seeds with less Quality control testing, which saves time and money,” adds Matthieu.
Working with Icologiq
When the roles in a process are clearly defined, automated, and documented in the same system for everyone to use, people can focus their time on preventing and solving problems instead of spending it trying to find the right document or finding who is accountable in a certain process.
Choosing the right EQMS allows companies to create more visibility about Quality controls and productivity throughout each process and identify where additional resources might be needed. Many companies invest a lot of money and energy in a large number of different software solutions to address each specific need and end up with a complex environment where information is disconnected and not easy to reach. According to Matthieu, “Before Icologiq Elements, HM. Clause had one tool for document management and another for customer complaints. It is great that we can now use one platform that combines all the Quality Management topics. It helps a lot to harmonize all information and processes with a better learning curve for the users.”
When HM. Clause started working with Icologiq, the company was mainly looking for a Document Management system. By working with our team, the company understood that using integrated end-to-end Quality Management Software could reduce the complexity of its operation and improve the level of control. By the time of the case study, the company had expanded to many other modules, improving the daily activities of thousands of collaborators worldwide. “The platform is called Aquarius internally, and I like that everything is integrated. It is great to have everything under one tool, where you can expand modules whenever that is suitable for your business. Also, you can easily manage the platform and all the modules at the global level, so it saves a lot of time to gather the right information,” explains Matthieu.
The results
At the time of the case study, Icologiq Elements allowed users across multiple departments in 20 countries to register and share information that was critical to the success of HM. Clause's operation. Having relevant or even sensitive data properly handled and actions assigned through workflows along each step of the production brings more structure and clarity to Quality processes. “Our collaborators understand that there are rules we must follow, and all the rules are clear in the system. We are able to find the right information in time and at the right place,” adds Matthieu.
At the time of the case study:
5,000+ active documents
approximately 25,000 actions per month
5× growth in active users compared with 2014
We are proud of collaborating with customers like HM. Clause and providing the structure they need to grow their business while supporting their ambitions in Quality Management. Icologiq Elements is an advanced EQMS that helps Quality leaders worldwide develop and deploy their vision to increase the maturity level of Quality within an organization.
