MasterControl Quality Excellence Reviews

Pros

MC provides a solid framework for any QMS. You are able to adapt any process into MC with minimal modification. MC is also a fully integrated platform and nothing in the software works in isolation. Training, document control, QEM; all of it works together.

Cons

MasterControl isn't intuitive. There is a lot of training that needs to go into its use, especially if the person is doing more than just accessing SOP and performing training. However, MC does provide A LOT of training resources which takes some of the burden off of admins.

Pros

Easy to use and users are able to find what they’re looking for In real time

Cons

Publishing and search Still needs to be improved we have a lot of problems with publishing documents

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing MasterControl Quality Excellence

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to MasterControl Quality Excellence

Pros

The best feature of MasterControl as a whole is the process module. Process module allows custom electronic form development and allows custom routing for those forms. While it can be improved, it's a great tool, and in my opinion, MasterControl and most customers are not realizing its potential, but we do. 80% of our records are generated in the process module.

Cons

There are a number of factors that all seem to coalesce to create a system that can easily become unmanageable. Those are poor documentation related to best practices that isn't easy to find or well communicated by MasterControl, lackluster support, and an already confusing user platform with a generally poor user experience. There are number of small improvements that could be made that would greatly improve user experience, but MasterControl rarely seems to develop enhancements. I've used several versions over the years, and in most cases, the user experience got worse, not better. Providing clearer/more readily accessible documentation, better support and recommendations for admins during initial setup, and making some small quality of life changes would really go a long way. With that said, that software meets all baseline requirements in satisfactory way.

Pros

Training module features for creating exams and use of classes.

Cons

Defect that happen that cause system not to function correctly. For example, completed training being relaunched.

Pros

1) For the user, it was very easy for the user to complete training. Steps are very intuitive
2) Implemented a document control solution that prohibited certain users from seeing archived versions of the documents.
3) each to find document by searching by datacard elements

Cons

didn't set up data card structure as best that we could.

Pros

The seamless integration between the Documents and Training modules, and the willingness of MasterControl to listen to the users and continue improving the product.

Cons

Performing administrative corrections (e.g. fixing typos) on approved documents can be a little challenging.

Pros

I love that all of MasterControl's modules are connected. Document management, training management, and Quality Event Management all talk to one another and help to streamline our processes. It's also very easy for basic users to learn.

Cons

My biggest complaint has been the lack of flexibility in Quality Event workflows. This is being solved by the new Advanced QEM product, which I'm super excited about.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to MasterControl Quality Excellence

Pros

Quality Excellence is an extremely robust and customizable system that allows the users to create custom workflows for their document control processes. These workflows can be generalized for maximum usage across documents or specialized for an almost hands-off experience in the system.

Cons

The nuance of using the system can have a fairly steep learning curve. Currently, we are still finding little quirks in the system that can't be called generally good or bad. Just the fact that we are still learning different facets of the system tells how much there is to learn when using the system.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to MasterControl Quality Excellence

Pros

Master Control automates a lot of our processes that were manual and paper based. Routing ECN/DCN have been a breeze within the software compared to how we manually did it in the past. The automation has allowed our company to process more changes at a faster rate which has made our customers very happy.

Cons

The only set back is not being able to fully customize everything to my liking. It's rather small and has not caused any significant issues, it's more of a personal preference.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to MasterControl Quality Excellence

Pros

When comparing MasterControl Quality to our previous system, MasterControl is far more user friendly when it comes to searching for documents and overall organization of everything. The design is also more modern and nice to look at.

Cons

There are some areas that are a little bit more difficult to navigate or that aren't as intuitive to users that are not as familiar with technology.

Pros

MasterControl Quality Excellence (Qx) gives us the flexibility as a global organization to configure what we need, as we need it, without needing to edit code or re-validate the system. It allows us to manage compliance and track documents (with revision and access control), training, and quality events. In addition the system is hosted in the cloud, so we do not need to maintain our own infrastructure or IT team solely for the software. By being in the cloud, we receive frequent quarterly upgrades with new features, monthly defect patches, and global 24/7 availability. We also utilize the VxT validation tool, which cuts our quarterly upgrade validation time down to hours, and the customer support team is top-notch.

Cons

There are some quirks to the system that take some learning, but MasterControl has developed an excellent self-study library of courses to help. In addition, the older quality events module presented some configuration limitations that required us to adapt our processes to match MasterControl rather than the other way around. Fortunately, MasterControl's replacement of this module, Advanced Quality Event Management, just launched in 2024 and is alleviating this pain point.

Pros

It's definitely a great quality compliance QMS that helps to control the quality. Everything has a record and cannot be simply removed or revised without a reason or explanation which makes it easy for auditing purposes.

Cons

Ease of use. I think this is the downfall of MasterControl Quality Excellence. The system itself is not intuitive and sleek. It's definitely a system designed based or how an engineer thinks but not so much of a normal everyday user will be using. User Experience (UX) is extremely important as more people are using digital applications and platforms.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

Ease to use and customize, being able to track progress and audit trail

Cons

It took a bit of time to create the base line for migrating all doc from previous platform

Alternatives Considered

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to MasterControl Quality Excellence

Pros

First and foremost, it has a great user interface. Certain elements like the task list and document explorer are accessible and easy to navigate.

Cons

The workflow builder is quite limited. You either have to rely on MasterControl's prefab workflows or try your hand at building your own (which is quite complicated) and forego MasterControl's support on those forms. There is a new platform for building these forms/workflows, and I am hopeful that it delivers a satisfying product.

Pros

MasterControl is a powerful system capable of total quality management if configured correctly. Each of the modules communicate with one another, making everything in the system fully traceable. MasterControl as a company is always innovating and looking for ways to streamline and improve the system.

Cons

We are on a cloud quarterly upgrade schedule. It would be nice if Cloud customers could opt for yearly upgrade to avoid the pains that come with upgrading a large system every three months.

Pros

Applicable throughout our company. Easy to develop forms as work-flows.

Cons

Training does not allow for open-ended review and comment. Exams are limited to multiple choice, true/false, matching, sequencing or numeric answers only.Users can be added to tasks without having roles assigned by a system administrator.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

It routes our documents along a workflow and it allows us to manage training in one platform

Cons

If a user hasn’t had a lot of experience with the system, they easily get lost.

Pros

Master Control is a user friendly, real time data management system.

Cons

There are 2 cons to Master Control (both reports related); running reports is NOT user friendly and report layout is not detailed enough.

Pros

Like that workflows naturally mirror our quality processes

Cons

Wish action item completion dates would automatically populate in capa

Pros

The ability to have all of our documentation in one place is vital. Especially in case of any regulatory audit.

Cons

Bugs in the system create significant problems for end users. These bugs in some cases also eliminate the ability to use or even in some cases access features or utilities that are being paid for and are supposed to be included in the system. In most cases if the issues being seen are not able to be duplicated, there is no root cause which proves in and of itself to be extremely difficult to document and explain in a heavily regulated industry.

Pros

Master Control provides great costumer services. Everything from the kick off to going live is smooth. Very helpful with the new aproaches to the old processes. All questions are answered quickly and in quality. It is very user friendly platform, easy to use and manage.

Cons

As a global service sometimes it is harder to get a new needed for specific company feature added. But not impossible.

Pros

Easy to use, configurable and scalable. Without needing to do too much customization!

Cons

Some features are limiting and she be configurable by admins (I.e. changing user passwords)

Pros

Scalability for a global organization with frequent acquisitions

Cons

License per module per user but have since switched to Qx Complete

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing MasterControl Quality Excellence

Reasons for Switching to MasterControl Quality Excellence

Pros

MasterControl has allowed processes and documentation to be connected across the platform. Meaning I can connect a customer complaint to the CAPA and the CAPA to the SOP and the SOP to the training that satisfied the preventive action developed from the complaint.

Cons

Audit Module could use a makeover. Does not function like the newest features. I know it has the possibility of being great.

Pros

Being able to create form and design the workflow to reflect the real process is such useful tool and help QA and RA departments a lot in my company. Also great job in the annual upgrade! The updates in each year make the Mastercontrol easier for users to use and be able to do more functions in a better way

Cons

There are too many steps and clicks if linking the document to e form is required