R18LabQMS – V2.9 development release notes
Brainstorming for V2.9 was joined by our first Collaboration Team established in Q3 2023, made up of power users to bring new ideas and perspectives to R18LabQMS by having meetups and discussions whenever possible at industry meetings prior to the annual Statement Of Work (SOW).
The work is now completed and the launch date for V2.9 will be Thursday, August 8th at 9pm EDT. There could be a brief interruption in service for less than 30 minutes.
Infrastructure Upgrades
The application has been upgraded to Rails 7.1 and now runs on Ruby 3.2.
New Features:
Manage Lab
Equipment Procedures can be marked inactive. This feature already existed but was not exposed to the user. Lab managers can now mark an equipment procedure as “Inactive,” similar to users or equipment records. When a procedure is marked as inactive, it is removed from all equipment records.
Inventory
Expanded Listing of Upcoming Procedures In cases where an equipment record has more than one assigned procedure within the same category (i.e., two “Calibration” procedures). The equipment record summary row will now display the upcoming due dates for all of the procedures in the category, not just the first one (chronologically).
Non-Interval Maintenance
This feature allows the user to log ad hoc maintenance reports against an equipment record using a WYSIWYG field and a file upload field. These are listed on a panel within the equipment record’s summary row.
Non-Interval Procedures
Previously, all equipment procedures were required to run on an interval schedule with the next due date calculated from the last known performed data using the stored interval. This new feature allows a lab manager to assign a procedure without an interval. The procedure will not display a “Next Due Date” and will be ignored by listings of upcoming and past due procedures.
Customizable Columns
Users have the ability to reorder columns and toggle, that should now be visible. This feature exposes new columns which were not previously visible.
Expanded Export Features
When exporting a CSV, the user can now select which columns to include. This selection adheres to the user’s selected column sorting and, by default, will exclude columns which they have chosen to hide.
A new PDF export option is now available as well. This file accepts the same customizations as the CSV version.
Quality Manual
Sync Satellite Lab QM to Primary Lab QM
When a primary lab with satellite labs makes a change to one of their QM sections, the satellites will see a new Sync with Primary Lab button adjacent to the same section within their own QM. This will give them the ability to review the change and the option to either ignore it or duplicate it to their QM. Syncing a section will transfer text content and file attachments from the primary lab while effectively duplicating it.
Procedures Performed In-House vs. by Outside Services
All procedures will have a new “Procedure Performed” field with two options: In-House (default) or Outside Service. This will be visible on the completed PDF.
The columns in the PDF export for section 6.1.1 have been significantly reworked to display expanded detail about the last performance of each procedure, including the new “Procedure Performed” field. The PDF will display info about a maximum of two procedures: the most recent non maintenance procedure, and the most recent maintenance procedure.
Evaluations
Technician Training Records
Lab Managers can create a record of training against specific tests. The mechanism for doing so is identical to creating an evaluation record, but the logged data is tracked independently (and displayed as such within the evaluation history view). Recorded training is collected and displayed alongside evaluations as part of QM section 5.5.4.
Assigned Tests for Users.
Lab Managers can now assign specific tests to lab users. These are tests on which the user should expect to be routinely evaluated. Assigned tests can be additionally flagged against one or more standards. The final list of tests for each user is displayed in a new QM section, 5.5.3.
Users
Faster Workflow for Building Org Chart Hierarchy
Previously, the only way to change the org chart hierarchy was to manually drag nodes around on the chart. This was cumbersome for many labs, and nearly impossible for those with exceptionally wide charts. To solve this, a new Supervisor field has been added to the user form.
All users will have a Main Supervisor field, and will appear below the supervisor on the org chart for their lab. This is not a required field, and users with “No Supervisor” selected will appear on the top row of the org chart below the lab name.
If a PLM has multiple labs to manage, they will see a Supervisor field for each lab within the Assign to Labs table with the option to select from the users of that particular lab.
Bug fixes and Improvements
- When selecting measurement standards on the equipment procedure record form, the equipment record’s internal reference ID (if present) will now appear within the option text.
- When creating or editing equipment records, the provided options for Name, Model & Manufacturer are now scoped to the current lab; drastically reducing the number of available options.
- When creating a new IAR, the “Last Updated” dates are now significantly more accurate.
- The Lab Technician role can now download files from the QM.
- The PDF export for completed equipment procedures now displays the next due date for that procedure (if it has one).
- Visual improvements to the historical procedures box
- An issue where some file upload fields didn’t include the tooltip listing valid file types has been resolved.
- Lab Assessors can properly access the Inventory.
V2.9 upgrade, end.
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Training and Customer Service
Getting started happens within the setup process. It’s intuitive and follows the sections that require procedures within the Management and Technical sections. Each section number within the setup process corresponds to AASHTO R18. You can either enter your Procedure Itself for each section or upload a file with the details of the procedure. I always tell labs during a demo that it’s much like a ‘Turbo Tax’ experience as it walks you through each step.
Once you have completed the setup process, or wish to move on to the Dashboard View, just click Save Progress and Exit Setup in the upper right-hand corner. It’s straightforward and intuitive.
Upon exiting the setup process, there will be a dialog box that pops up asking you if you would like to add additional ASTM Quality Standards, and their sub standards, i.e., D3666 (aggregate).
Additional Training needed to jump start the onboarding process:
Virtual Training
We target a specific area for training and limit the time to one hour. An example would be adding Equipment Procedures to your Equipment. There is no charge for virtual training limited to 1 hour.
Onsite Training
We spend one day in your laboratory to review all aspects of your Quality Manual and take a deep dive into R18labQMS implementation. This training is fee based, please inquire.
Resources
Once you work through the setup process, the following links can be found in the lower right-hand corner of the application.
Upcoming Meetings We will be Attending:
AAPT 2024 Annual Meeting & Technical Sessions:
Association of Asphalt Paving Technologists
Celebrates 100 years of Asphalt Innovation!!
September 9-12, 2024 in Chicago, IL
Register NOW! You won’t want to miss this opportunity to celebrate this milestone!
In 2024, AAPT will celebrate our 100 year Anniversary! We will be celebrating this monumental accomplishment the whole year culminating at the Annual Meeting in Chicago.
More Notables
- AASHTO re:source Q&A Podcast with Brian Johnson & Kimberly Swanson
S2 E18: Moving to a Digital Quality Management System
Gary Irvine, from the Asphalt Institute, joins us to discuss the benefits of moving from a paper QMS to a digital system.
- Please check out our most recent promotional R18LabQMS video that debuted on all socials.
For all questions regarding your Quality Management System, whether your lab is accredited or not, please contact us and learn how R18LabQMS can add value to your laboratory.
One last favor to ask, if there is a specific topic of discussion you would like to see in upcoming blogs, please send us a note!
Follow all future R18LabQMS blog posts, click here!
Gary Irvine
R18LabQMS Program Manager