Google Forms for ECR's? 1

[lfunk]

Has anyone thought of using Google Forms for cataloguing ECR's? Once the form is set up, anyone can access it from any location and the results are placed into a Google spreadsheet (which can be exported to excel).

I am not trying to advertise, but I have been tasked with upgrading our existing ECR system and thought going paperless would be a good idea. We already use paperless drawings on the shop floor.

 

[drawoh]

lfunk,

I regard ECRs as proprietary information. You need to describe problems in clear language that may not be appropriate for your customers or the press to see. I would not upload anything to a Google service that I was not willing to explain to the outside world.

--
JHG

 

[MintJulep]

We already use paperless drawings on the shop floor.

The system you use for that doesn't have an ECR feature?

 

[lfunk]

drawoh,

My understanding is that the Google Form would exist online in an empty state and only those given access can submit an ECR. Using proper permissions, only the eng dept would be able to view the data.

MintJulep,

We use Vault Basic to publish most current dwf's to a server that can only be viewed by satellite pc's placed at each work area. This is really good for drawing control. It would be nice to use this connectivity to allow shop lead hands to submit ECR's electronically.

Thank-you both for responding.

 

[truckandbus]

Is there a reason you aren't looking at the collaboration software associated with Vault Basic or any other software vendor? Or are you looking at strictly logging ECRs in one environment and then writing ECNs in another?

 

[lfunk]

Actually, our shop deals in low enough volumes that we don't really issue ECN's other than an email to the purchasing dept. The changes just appear on the drawings for the next run. And, since our electronic drawings are always up to date, shop personnel can trust them to be current.

The problem with paper ECR's (our current system) is that the shop personnel stop filling them out because they think the ECR's just go into oblivion. So they develop their own in-process fix which leads to lost time over and over again.

An electronic ECR logging system might bring that assurance that the ECR's are being tracked and dealt with.

Apart from developing my own database and ECR form, Google Forms seem the simplest way to get started. However, I appreciate any suggestions of other [affordable] ways to accomplish this. A proper ERP system would be nice, but not in the budget right now.

 

[MintJulep]

If the people that need to initiate ECR's are not doing so then making a new system is unlikely to change that bad behavior. You need management support to get everyone playing by the rules.

You get that management support by documenting what the costs of the current chaos are, and how following the rules will cut costs.

Drawoh was suggesting that Google will read your ECR's and use the information in accordance with their terms of use. Read and understand them. Get management approval to use any cloudy system.

If you can document that a paying for a controlled ECR system will save money the budget will appear.

 

[truckandbus]

You might want to look into some of the 'nearly free' call center issues management software. Some are web based. They are good as they can brodcast emails whenever a status change occurs.

I look into this for my company maybe 10 years ago but it was shot down for not being sophisticaed enough and wasn't repped by a 'name' software developer but it sounds like your organization might be the right size for such a solution.

 

[drawoh]

...

The problem with paper ECR's (our current system) is that the shop personnel stop filling them out because they think the ECR's just go into oblivion. So they develop their own in-process fix which leads to lost time over and over again.

...

Do you respond promptly to the shop when they enter an ECR? Will you respond promptly to an electronic system? Why does production think ECRs go into oblivion?

--
JHG

 

[lfunk]

To answer MintJulep and drawoh, I believe the breakdown in the ECR system is the fault of our engineering dept. Right now, the paper ECR's are not logged, and I see no evidence that my predecessor did. We are now getting complaints from the shop that former ECR's have not been dealt with, but I have no record of the ECR's ever being written up in the first place.

So, as far as I'm concerned, we are starting from scratch in regard to setting up a proper ECR/ECN system. There seems to be several cloud-based systems dedicated to engineering data. I just have to start somewhere.

Thank-you all

 

[drawoh]

lfunk,

Electronic ECRs are good. It is harder to lose stuff. The cloud is not a good place for ECRs for the reasons I noted above. If you have multiple work sites, an email based ECR system may be necessary. If you all are at one place, consider an intranet application running behind your firewall.

--
JHG

 

[3DDave]

FogBugz from Fog Creek Software might be applicable. The focus of FogBugz is to prevent problems from slipping through the cracks while also making use as simple as possible, including web access and email access. It's developed as an issue tracking module and might fit what you need. I've followed it and the company for more that a decade; the owner, Joel Spolsky, is a well known software developer and well respected.

See

http://www.fogcreek.com/fogbugz/

or

http://help.fogcreek.com/4/fogbugz-in-two-minutes

They even have my favorite tool integrated with it, a Wiki, where other information can be collected that is not usually included in drawings.