Qualit-e – Securely Upload and Share Quality Documents
Qualit-e offers an innovative way to securely upload and share quality documents dramatically reducing time and workload. We did a short interview and a webcast with the founder of Qualit-e Cloud, Nadine Blaettler. You find the interview and the frequently asked questions here. You can view the full webcast (see link a bit below).
The Interview:
Hi Nadine, thank you for speaking to us. What was the motivation for founding the company Qualit-e Cloud?
During the 10 years I worked for a distributor in Switzerland, I saw a steady increase of quality documents needed by our excipient materials customers. Besides these requests, there were also changes on producers side that lead to more and more quality statements updates. For example, many companies set a validity date of only one year to all their documents. Especially for those it became quite a time consuming task, to send out fresh documents to every customer every year.
For some customers the rule 5 kg raw material, 5 kg documents fit quite well. So no matter how much raw material we sold, the organisation and renewal of documents was necessary and took up more and more of our time. That’s when the idea of Qualit-e Cloud popped up in my head. To have a system, where a producer can save lots of hours because they can easily define which documents a customer should have continuous access to, should help numerous producers worldwide.
Two years later, Qualit-e Cloud was born. Winning the CPhI awards for innovation in digitalisation at the very beginning of our journey helped tremendously. In the meantime, we can proudly count worldwide users, ranging from Brazil to South Korea, using Qualit-e Cloud regularly.
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The link will appear here!
How does it work exactly?
The supplier only needs to upload the documents once (or we can offer this as a service also) and define, which documents the customer should have access to. With any new files or changes, the customer will automatically be notified. This obviously reduces the email flood from and to the customer or distributor.
The web portal is like an interconnected system, that means, the customer can have access to different producers with always the same password. For the producers on the other side it is a safe and confidential environment and their customer information or documents can’t be seen by anyone else.
Documents can also be share with distributors, who can then use the same system to share the documents with their customers. Any notification about new or changed files will be sent to all the receivers along the supply chain.
What’s the biggest advantage of Qualit-e Cloud?
See the full answer in the video:
To which companies would you recommend Qualit-e Cloud?
Qualit-e Cloud helps best, if a supplier has a lot of customers for each raw material, and / or a lot of documentation to it (eg. specifications, MSDS, any kind of statements like GMO, BSE, certificates, but also marketing material etc.)
Does a producer need to list all raw materials of their portfolio?
No, they can also start with listing part of their products, lets say, with the best selling products or the ones which cause most work. During time, they can also add products which were only sampled etc.
Could it not be an issue that companies loose close contact to their customers using this digital platform?
In addition, usually there are highly qualified people sending out quality documents to customers. With the time saved, they can much better focus on specific customer needs or spend more time selling.
How can a producer test the system?
There is a free trial option available. I would advise to pick 1-2 products which are sold to 1-2 customers, upload the documents about the products and directly share them with those customers. That way it is possible to realise how easy the system is to use and at the same time a supplier can ask for feedback from customers.
Can you offer connections to already existing IT systems?
Yes, we can certainly do that. Especially for large companies it makes sense that we build a REST API for their current ERP /CRM system.
What are you working on now?
We will release our next version which contains some new features, mainly built on existing user feedback. We take this very seriously and whenever a possible idea fits to the general strategy of Qualit-e Cloud, we try to implement it as fast as possible.
FAQs about Qualit-e
What are the major functions of Qualit-e Cloud?
- Once you have uploaded your quality documents to our web portal, you can simply authorise your customers and define, what they have access to.
- For any new or updated document they will receive a notification.
- Our system notifies you, before your documents expire.
- You can also share documents with your distributors, who can then use Qualit-e to share the same documents with their customers.
- Lead generator: a new customer can ask to access your product documents.
- Distribute your most current documents, including marketing information, timely to all of your distributors and customers, without sending emails with heavy attachments.
What kind of quality documents are or can be uploaded to Qualit-e Cloud?
- The system is used to upload specifications, statements (like BSE, allergen, gluten etc.), certificates, product information, marketing brochures, even explanatory movies about your company or products.
From which countries do users access and download quality documents from Qualit-e?
- We already have users accessing Qualit-e Cloud from Brazil up to South Korea, down to Australia. It can be accessed with any browser.
How does Qualit-e Cloud help me to save time?
- You will significantly reduce the email flood to and from your customers.
- Documents only have to be uploaded one time, instead of being sent to hundreds of customers repeatedly.
- Any update can only be uploaded one time, the customers will be notified automatically.
Where is the data center for the solution?
- The servers are in Switzerland in a secure datacentre. The server environment is all set up redundantly.
How do I upload my documents into Qualit-e Cloud?
- You can simply drag and drop them into the right folders. If you don't have time to do it, we can offer as an extra service, to manage, meta tag and organise your documents.
What data protection standards are met? How safe is my data?
- First of all, it is by far more safe than sending emails with attachments. Secondly, the server place is in Switzerland in a secure data centre. It was developed using state of the art software. Upload and download of documents is encrypted and users can only access with a password and if you authorised them to do so.
Can you help me to get most of my customers on the solution?
- Yes, of course we can also help to involve your customers to use Qualit-e Cloud. Especially the younger generation likes to use databases where they can access themselves and don't have to call and ask for documents. We also provide support for questions and offer video tutorials, should there be any questions. But in general, the customer side is really easy to use and doesn't leave many open questions.
Which kind of personnel does usually work with Qualit-e Cloud on the producer side?
- Most of the time these are highly skilled people from the regulatory or sales department who can save many hours with Qualit-e. The saved hours can then be much better used to specifically focus on the customers regulatory needs or even increase sales.