TMS Quality Compliance Software

What it is

TMS Quality Compliance Software is a quality management and compliance suite from Quality Systems Integrators, the trading name of QSI Technologies, Inc. in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania. Training is one module of the suite. The Training Management page describes it as the "base system" of TMS: an "integrated training tracking solution" that centralizes and organizes the whole training process for companies whose staff must be able to prove they are trained, signed off and qualified for the work they do.

The audience is the L&D, quality or compliance team in a regulated business, not a course creator or an individual learner. The industries the site names are food and beverage, pharma and life sciences, general manufacturing, government and public sectors, aerospace and aviation, and automotive. The home page sums up the pitch in one line: "Taking compliance from endless to painless."

Training management in TMS

According to the Training Management page, the module "automatically notifies employees of required training with activity links, alerts and reminders for incomplete or overdue tasks." It also manages the company knowledge, policies and procedures that employees need to understand so that jobs are done in a way that maintains quality and compliance. The page lists what the module covers:

• E-learning with email integration and automatic notification of training.
• E-signatures with a date and time stamp, capturing employee and manager sign-off on training.
• A training dashboard that gives quick visibility into training progress.
• Training matrixes for building action plans toward "a competent cross-trained workforce."
• Training deviations, which compare each employee's skills with the skills the job needs.
• Reports with "an extensive range of training data for gaps, completion and history."
• Integration with TMS Document Management, so training sits next to the controlled procedures it refers to.

The home page adds that "Job Management ensures workers are properly trained for assignments", and that automatic programs alert users to review requirements and overdue tasks. A Training Management spec sheet is offered for download.

Put together, the listed features cover the cycle a quality manager otherwise runs by hand: required training is assigned and announced, reminders chase whatever is incomplete or overdue, employees and managers sign off electronically with a date and time stamp, and the dashboard, the deviations report and the reports on gaps, completion and history show who is qualified for which job. Without a system, that work falls to someone chasing paper, which the home page calls being "a professional paper chaser."

The wider TMS suite

Because training lives inside a full quality system, a buyer gets more than an LMS. The feature menu lists Document Management, Training Management, Forms and Workflow, Quizzing & Certification, and Change Control, with an overview of the whole suite. Quizzing & Certification appears as a module of its own, next to training management.

The home page describes what the suite does for compliance as a whole:

• audit readiness through audit trails and reports;
• document collaboration with approvals and review cycles;
• task action items with automatic notification, routing and escalation;
• training management that "confirms Employees are Qualified and Competent";
• electronic signatures with a date and time stamp, described as "21 CFR Part 11 Compliant";
• secure access to documents based on permissions;
• automated workflows that streamline organizational processes.

It also says the application makes "everyone part of the review process, wherever they are located," and lists "Offers Flexible Deployment Platforms" among its advantages.

The rest of that advantages list reads as a summary of what QSI expects a customer to gain: simpler audit readiness, streamlined IT management, time saved by running a single solution instead of several, better compliance, managed risk, more oversight, higher productivity and a lighter administrative burden. The home page's ROI calculator is pitched the same way, promising impact on "reducing risk of litigation, improving efficiency, saving money, increasing value." QSI also says the software frees employees "to work on more challenging and creative tasks" instead of chasing paperwork.

Compliance coverage, services and support

The compliance menu names Audit Management, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, FDA GxP (GMP, GLP, GCP), FDA FSMA and ISO Standards. The home page frames the product as "Compliance to Industry Standards and Regulations (e.g. FDA, ISO, OSHA, EPA and more)" and points to the company's FDA experience as one of the advantages of TMS. For the regulated industries the site names, the electronic signatures and audit trails are the center of the offer.

QSI sells the software with a set of services: installation, software implementation, TMS training programs for the customer's staff, technical and application support, an annual software maintenance and support agreement, and QSI's validation services. The site does not show prices; it describes the product as affordable ("Easier. Smarter. Affordable.") and offers an ROI calculator and a demo booking instead. Resources include training videos, a compliance checklist, case studies and a guide to the "Top 15 Compliance Problems."

On support, the company says "unparalleled customer service means real live human beings with real time solutions."

What customers say

The home page carries three customer quotes, each with a downloadable case study. Anita Wylds, Special Projects and Quality Assurance Coordinator at Xytex Cryo International, writes: "It fit our budget. The turnaround time is amazing. The training aspect has improved employee morale tremendously." John Gray, Quality Assurance Manager at The Acquisition Management and Integration Center, a division of Langley Air Force Base, says the solution let them "integrate all of our various functions into one centralized system and automate the process from start to finish." Tammy White Barkalow of The IR-4 Project reports: "What used to take three to five days is now done immediately, and we get results instantaneously."

Who it suits

TMS suits a quality or compliance team in a regulated company that needs training records to stand up in an audit: a pharma or life sciences lab, a food manufacturer under FSMA, an aerospace or automotive supplier, or a government body. It suits them best when training is tied to controlled documents and change control, because the suite handles all three together.

It is a compliance system first. Teams looking for a course marketplace, a large off-the-shelf catalog or a polished authoring studio for engaging content will find the emphasis here is on assignment, sign-off and proof rather than on building courses.