News

New Module Enables Easy Integration of MasterControl Software with Enterprise Applications

SALT LAKE CITY – Nov. 17, 2006 – MasterControl Inc., the leading provider of quality management software solutions for regulated industries, today introduced MasterControl Toolkit™, an application programming interface (API) module that enables the exchange of files and data between MasterControl and other enterprise applications.

Companies typically use a variety of software applications, such as enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer resource management (CRM), and product data management (PDM) applications, to automate their business operations. However, if they are FDA-regulated and/or ISO-certified, they also need a quality management application.

With MasterControl Toolkit, companies can integrate MasterControl's robust quality management solutions (such as training, CAPA, change control, etc.) with their ERP, CRM, and other applications to leverage their existing systems, achieve a more powerful functionality, and increase overall efficiency. By automating basic interactions necessary for different applications to complement each other, MasterControl Toolkit also helps users avoid common mistakes.

In addition, MasterControl offers FDA-regulated companies a continuum of validation products and services that address different levels of software validation needs based on individual risk assessment. This line of products and services make ?continuous validation? possible by dramatically cutting the time, pain, and cost involved in validating a system, reducing the risks of project implementation, and making it easier to validate software upgrades.

Below is a summary of MasterControl Toolkit's features:

• Receiving Data: Other systems can initiate actions in MasterControl, including:

• Log in and log out;
• Push data into and pull data from MasterControl;
• Create a new InfoCard (the MasterControl tool that summarizes information about every document and serves as a placeholder for the document in the database);
• Retrieve InfoCard data from MasterControl;
• Check in and check out an InfoCard for easy tracking of multiple revisions.
• Edit an InfoCard;
• Provide an external link to the main file; and
• Upload a new main file and/or attachments.

• Sending Data: When actions that affect other processes managed by other systems are initiated in MasterControl, it will trigger notification to the other systems. For example, an engineering change order that has been approved in MasterControl will trigger notification to the ERP system that maintains the bill of material to ensure that the BOM is updated. The system administrator will be able to configure the type of data that can be made available through a route trigger. He or she can choose whether the data should be made available via comma separate value (CSV) file or Web service. There are two types of triggers:
  • Document-based trigger: Metadata from the document's InfoCard will be automatically made available to the affected system; and
  • Form-based trigger: Metadata from the document's InfoCard plus form metadata will be made available.

• Web Service : These features are provided using a Web Services model, which allows loosely coupled applications to be created by combining MasterControl components with interfaces to ERP, CRM, or other types of enterprise applications.

About MasterControl
MasterControl Inc. has been at the forefront of providing innovative electronic quality management systems since 1993. Hundreds of companies worldwide use MasterControl to help ensure compliance with FDA regulations such as 21 CFR Parts 11, 210-211, 820, 606; ISO 9000, ISO 13485, ISO 14000, and other ISO standards; and Sarbanes-Oxley Act requirements. In addition to providing off-the-shelf products, MasterControl also offers comprehensive technical and customer support, including product training, implementation, and validation services. For more information, visit www.mastercontrol.com, or call 800-825-9117.