My Favorite Feature in BabtecQ and BabtecQube: Complaints

We have a lot of good functions, of course, but my favorite feature is the complaints management, which starts from the on-premises software BabtecQ and connects to the cloud-based platform BabtecQube. (Read more about on-premises and cloud solutions here).

The module Complaints is one of our first and one of the most widely used modules of the BabtecQ software. This is where deviations are managed and filled with information. We base this on one of the most common methods, the 8D report. 8D stands for eight disciplines that must be gone through, from reporting and creation to the future elimination of the deviation. The goal is to create a solution and an improvement quickly and clearly for the future through a structured process.

This has been working very well with BabtecQ for many, many years. However, the challenge for our users arises when external partners, such as customers or suppliers, are to participate in the complaints process. Since complaints naturally come most frequently from outside the company or are sent to external companies, this is a challenge that quality managers face on a regular basis.

The quality representatives on the customer side who start the complaint process now traditionally have the option of calling or contacting the external contact person, often a supplier, via e-mail. However, the process of their complaint is already stored in their BabtecQ system. They have created a data record there, named and described the product, possibly even provided pictures. It is of course possible to leave the BabtecQ system to send out an e-mail, but this is inconvenient. In the digital world, this creates a media break.

Our thought at this point was: how can we share data sets with external companies in the future and also give them the opportunity to work on them. The answer is the BabtecQube, which is available globally as a cloud platform. Here we can give our supplier access to exactly the data we want to share. So the supplier does not access our possibly secret or sensitive data in its entirety, but only gets access to what we as customers want to share from BabtecQ.

The special advantage about this connection between BabtecQ and BabtecQube in complaints management is that everyone benefits: work is made easier for both customers and suppliers. Our BabtecQ users on the customer side can send the complaint directly from the software to the supplier. And this function also makes life easier for the supplier. This is because he can respond to the complaint quickly and with little effort. This increases the likelihood that the customer will receive a prompt response, which in turn increases customer satisfaction.

What’s also particularly cool is that this function improves transparency within the company itself. This is because the information on the complaint process is no longer in an individual mailbox, but everything is automatically attached to the digital process. Therefore, everyone who has access to the complaint process, whether it’s the quality representative, sales or purchasing, can directly view the status.

I always demonstrate this function in my presentations and our customers and prospects are usually very pleased about it. Most of them know the problem with complaints, that you often don’t hear from the supplier for a long time, that you must constantly remind them or that you receive badly filled out information carriers. BabtecQube helps with all of this, because it offers a guided 8D report with simple masks that can be used intuitively by anyone with even rudimentary experience in the digital world.

I think we can do pioneering work here, because although all companies face this challenge, they hardly ever rely on a uniform solution without media break. That makes it all the more fun to report on it and to suddenly get our customers and prospects excited about the actually unpopular topic of complaints.

We are breaking new ground here together! Optimizing quality data within a company: we have been providing support in this area since Babtec was founded in 1994, but leaving this closed-off world and going outside with a high focus on data security is something new. By opening the right doors with the BabtecQube, we bring people together in secure ways – even in such data-sensitive topics as complaints management.

The same premise applies to all these people and their companies: avoiding deviations, but also discovering and processing them sensibly as well as effectively, is a seal of quality. This also has something to do with a good failure culture, which can be promoted across companies with the BabtecQube. Of course, we all want to avoid deviations or failures, but if they do happen, they should be dealt with openly, trigger corrective actions and lead to optimized processes for the future. We are committed to an equal quality dialog at eye level, especially with such functions as a complaint management system geared to collaboration. And this is also appreciated, through the use of this function on the part of our software customers and through a high level of acceptance of the BabtecQube on the part of suppliers. After all, both parties are interested in ensuring that the customer-supplier relationship remains intact for future business relations. (Please also read the case study of Babtec user WILD GmbH, in which Head of Quality Management Emmerich Kriegl reports on his experiences with complaints in BabtecQube).

In principle, to the BabtecQube applies the same as to any other community-building platform: the more who use it, the greater the benefit for all. We want to create a central point where everyone involved in quality can communicate with each other – regardless of whether they use the on-premises software BabtecQ. A platform for quality-honest collaboration in a quality community is the goal.

Name: Maximilian Wittgenstein

Job: Sales Consultant

At Babtec since: 2008

Education / Studies: Apprenticeship as IT system administrator

Motto: Inspire with Quality!