Complaints Management: Steps for performing common tasks
Things you need to know
- there are two types of users:
- Standard Users, who can all log complaints
- Complaint Administrators, who can accept complaints and manage and close them
- there are two main set-up functions – in Admin, which is available only to the Super Admin, and in Set-Up, available to all Complaint Administrators, including the Super Admin
- the module has been populated with content so that a complaint can be logged immediately; the set-up content can of course be changed as well as added to
- all notifications are sent by email and listed on the Complaints tab, or the CAR or PAR tab, of the Summary page
- you can download the full user manual by logging in to your isoTracker demo account and clicking the Help button at the top right.
Admin: Creating users
To add a user:
- click Admin at the top right and choose Manage Users
- click Create New User
- enter a username and password, both with at least six alphanumeric characters (the password is case sensitive)
- enter the user’s details, including first name, last name and email address (each user’s email address MUST be unique and must differ from the Super Admin’s address).
To make that user a complaint administrator, which means that they can accept, manage, and close complaints:
- click Complaints in the Administrator box on the left and move it to the box on the right.
- click Submit & New at the bottom of the page.
- repeat to add additional users.
Admin: Creating a database of customers
To speed up complaint registration, you can load a pre-existing list of customers, either individually or in bulk.
To add a new customer:
- click Admin at the top right and then click Customers
- choose Add Customers
- enter the customer’s details, including entries in all mandatory fields
- click Submit.
You can customize the default fields for entering customer details using the Settings section. You can also reorder and deactivate certain fields by using the Add Fields section. Note that you can delete customers only if they haven’t registered complaints. This list can be easily searched when logging a complaint.
The process for adding a supplier or an employee is similar.
Admin: Creating a database of products
The products section has already been set-up with three extra fields – Category (text box), Size (drop-down list), and Lot No (Blank Field). Note that a Blank Field can only be entered on the New Complaints page. You can change those fields if a complaint about a product has not been logged. If you find that you cannot change them, please email us with what you want and we will make the changes.
To add a new product:
- click Admin at the top right and then click Products
- choose Add Products
- enter the product’s details in the relevant fields
- click Submit.
The process for adding a process is similar.
Admin: Changing the name of the Complaints module
To change the name of the Complaints module:
- click Admin at the top right and then click Modules
- click the pen icon on the left of the word Complaints
- enter a new name for the module in the text box that opens
- click Save.
Log out of your isoTracker account and then log back in, and you’ll see that all references to Complaints have been changed.
Set-up: Customizing the module
As previously mentioned, the module has been populated with content. Using the Set-Up section, you can customize existing, default settings.
To access the Set-Up section, click the Complaints icon and then choose Set-Up at the top.
The section includes settings such as the following:
- Fields > Fixed Fields: you can change the listed field names
- Fields > New Fields: there are currently two additional fields – Risk and Cost; you can add additional fields to this list, up to a total of 10
- Number: you can create additional numbering systems
- Responsibility > Assigned Users: determine users (other than complaint administrators) who have the right to be assigned complaints and to manage them
- Responsibility > Final Review Users: determine who has the right to close complaints
- Type: add to the list of complaint types, which are searchable
- Status: change the name of the statuses to terms familiar to you
- Severity Scale: the scale is set as 1 to 3 but the upper end of the scale can be increased; you can also determine which end of the scale is least and most severe.
Logging a complaint
To log a complaint:
- click the Complaints icon and then click New Complaints
- select the default Number on the right
- in the From field, select Customer from the From drop-down list, enter the search term (for example, ISO) in the Quick Search box, and click Find
- in the search results, choose the appropriate result by clicking Click Here to Select under the Select column (make sure that the fields are listed on the boxes that appear below; at this point, you can also click Add New Customer and add the details of a new customer)
- select Product from the About drop-down list, enter the search term (for example, Produ) in the Quick Search box, and click Find
- select the appropriate result by clicking the relevant Click Here to Select link
- select a type and severity; for example, you might select Delivery Shortage from the Type drop-down list and select 2 from the Severity drop-down list
- enter the details of the complaint in the Details text box
- in the Documents object, click the Upload button and attach up to five external documents
- wait for the documents to be uploaded and then click Submit at the bottom of the page.
Accepting and assigning a logged complaint
A notification and email will be sent to you to confirm that a complaint has been logged.
To accept and assign a complaint:
- click the Summary icon at the bottom of the page
- open the Complaints tab, then the Logged Complaint notification and click the relevant complaint number
- on the Properties page, scroll to the Notes section and select Accepted from the Status drop-down list
- keep Super Admin in the Assign Administrator drop-down list
- see that below is listed the complainants email address and then click the link Choose Email link which opens a listing of email templates for the current stage in the complaint workflow
- click Click Here to Edit for the Accepted 1 email template, make changes to it, and then click Submit
- click Submit at the bottom of the Notes object.
The page refreshes and the status of the complaint changes to Accepted. Below the Documents object, the following new objects appear:
- Emails: click the maroon view icon to see the email that was just sent to the complainant. Use this object to send further emails to the complainant, either by selecting a pre-created template or creating a new email from scratch
- Investigation: use to send Investigation notifications that require a reply to internal users
- Non-Conformance Record: create one or more non-conformances relating to this complaint
- Root Cause: create one or more root causes and associate them to a non-conformance
- Corrective Action: record the action required, implement it, check for effectiveness, and then close it
- Final Review: send the complaint for final review, as part of a two-step sign-off process.
Note that these objects can be used in any order or not used at all, with a complaint going directly to Final Review.
Recording the action taken for a corrective action
To record a non-conformance:
- click the + icon on the Non-Conformance Record object header
- select an importance level – for example, Minor – from the Importance drop-down list
- enter the details of the non-conformance and click the Submit
The non-conformance is listed and assigned a unique number.
Recording a root cause
To record a root cause:
- click the + icon on the Root Cause object header
- enter the details of the root cause, move the number of the just recorded non-conformance in the Related NCRs section to the right, and click the Submit
The root cause is listed and assigned a unique number.
You can add multiple non-conformances and/or root causes. However, make sure that each non-conformance is related to a root cause, and vice versa.
Recording a required corrective action
To record the corrective action required to correct a non-conformance and associated root cause:
- click the + sign on the Corrective Action object header
- click the Choose a Non-Conformance Record link, select a non-conformance from the pop-up list, and click Submit
- click the Choose a Root Cause link, select a root cause from the pop-up list, and click Submit
- set a target date and time and enter the details of the action required
- click Submit.
The corrective action is recorded and assigned a unique number. Related non-conformances and root causes display above it.
Recording the action taken for a corrective action
To record a corrective action that has been taken:
- open the Action Taken section by the clicking the + sign on the left
- select a completion date in the Completed By text box and enter a name
- enter the details of the action taken
- click Submit.
You can then record the effectiveness of the action taken by opening the Effectiveness section, entering the relevant details, and clicking Submit. To close the corrective action, click the big red Close button.
An alternative method for recording and closing a corrective action
A more collaborative method for recording, implementing, and checking the effectiveness of a corrective action involves sending notifications to users and then copying their replies into the relevant sections.
To do this:
- in the Corrective Action object, click the + sign next to Send a Corrective Action Notification
- select a user and click Add
- set the date and time by which a reply is required, and click Done
- enter the details of the corrective action in the Action Required text box
- click Submit.
A user who has been sent a corrective action notification can access it by opening the CAR tab on their Summary page, opening the Audit Notes listing, and clicking the relevant number. Then the user can click the Submit Reply option that appears above the relevant post, enter the details of the reply, select a completion date, attach documents if required, and click Submit.
As the trainer, you’ll receive an Audit Replies notification on the CAR tab of your Summary page. Click that link to view the details of the reply.
Above the reply will be an Accept/Reject button. If you’re not satisfied with a reply, click that button, select Rejected from the Action drop-down list, type in the action required, and select a new reply due date. If you are satisfied with a reply, you can select Accepted or do nothing.
Three buttons display next to the Reply Sent date:
- Copy to AR: to copy the contents of the reply to the Action Required section
- Copy to AT: to copy the contents of the reply, along with the date of completion and completed by information, to the Action Taken section
- Copy to E: to copy the contents of the reply to the Effectiveness section.
Multiple notifications can be sent to multiple users to cover all the steps of the resolution process. They can also be spaced out by selecting different required reply dates, which are then followed up with reminders. Note that this alternative method is probably more complicated but it is more cooperative and inclusive.
Signing off a complaint
The closure of a complaint is a two-step process. The first step is Final Review and the second step is the sign-off.
To send a complaint to Final Review:
- on the complaint’s properties page, scroll down to the Final Review object and click the + sign
- if a corrective action has not been closed, you will get a pop-up box telling you that the corrective action record was not closed; click the Cancel button
- open the corrective action object and click the red Close button (it then changes to a big green Open button)
- return to the Final Review object and select the appropriate administrator from the Send To drop-down list (these have been identified on the Final Review Users tab of the Responsibility section in Set-Up)
- enter your final review comment and click Submit.
The final reviewer will automatically receive an email and a Final Review notification will appear on the Complaints tab of their Summary page.
To perform a final review of a complaint:
- click the Final Review link and the relevant complaint number
- scroll down to the Final Review object and click the View icon
- select Sign Off from the Status drop-down list (if you did not close the corrective action when you sent the complaint to Final Review, you’ll get the same pop-up box as before; follow the same instructions as described above)
- enter a sign-off comment and click Submit.
The signed-off complaint is removed from the Action Required list but is still accessible from the All Complaints page, which is available to all complaint administrators.
Reactivating a complaint
Complaint administrators and the Super Admin can choose to reactivate a signed-off complaint and view all objects associated with it.
To do this:
- click the All Complaints icon and then click the Properties icon in the Action column of the relevant complaint
- scroll down to the Notes object and open it by clicking the green view icon
- select Reactivate from the Status drop-down list
- assign the reactivated complaint to a user in the Assign Administrator drop-down list
- click Submit.
The assigned administrator will receive a Reactivated Complaints notification on the Complaints tab of their Summary page. The complaint is now reopened and can be operated as before by the assigned administrator, the Super Admin, and other complaint administrators.
Walk-throughs
- Document Control: Steps for performing common tasks
- Complaints Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Audits Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Non-Conformance Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Training Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Risk Management: Steps for performing common tasks
Complaints Management: Steps for performing common tasks
Things you need to know
- there are two types of users:
- Standard Users, who can all log complaints
- Complaint Administrators, who can accept complaints and manage and close them
- there are two main set-up functions – in Admin, which is available only to the Super Admin, and in Set-Up, available to all Complaint Administrators, including the Super Admin
- the module has been populated with content so that a complaint can be logged immediately; the set-up content can of course be changed as well as added to
- all notifications are sent by email and listed on the Complaints tab, or the CAR or PAR tab, of the Summary page
- you can download the full user manual by logging in to your isoTracker demo account and clicking the Help button at the top right.
Admin: Creating users
To add a user:
- click Admin at the top right and choose Manage Users
- click Create New User
- enter a username and password, both with at least six alphanumeric characters (the password is case sensitive)
- enter the user’s details, including first name, last name and email address (each user’s email address MUST be unique and must differ from the Super Admin’s address).
To make that user a complaint administrator, which means that they can accept, manage, and close complaints:
- click Complaints in the Administrator box on the left and move it to the box on the right.
- click Submit & New at the bottom of the page.
- repeat to add additional users.
Admin: Creating a database of customers
To speed up complaint registration, you can load a pre-existing list of customers, either individually or in bulk.
To add a new customer:
- click Admin at the top right and then click Customers
- choose Add Customers
- enter the customer’s details, including entries in all mandatory fields
- click Submit.
You can customize the default fields for entering customer details using the Settings section. You can also reorder and deactivate certain fields by using the Add Fields section. Note that you can delete customers only if they haven’t registered complaints. This list can be easily searched when logging a complaint.
The process for adding a supplier or an employee is similar.
Admin: Creating a database of products
The products section has already been set-up with three extra fields – Category (text box), Size (drop-down list), and Lot No (Blank Field). Note that a Blank Field can only be entered on the New Complaints page. You can change those fields if a complaint about a product has not been logged. If you find that you cannot change them, please email us with what you want and we will make the changes.
To add a new product:
- click Admin at the top right and then click Products
- choose Add Products
- enter the product’s details in the relevant fields
- click Submit.
The process for adding a process is similar.
Admin: Changing the name of the Complaints module
To change the name of the Complaints module:
- click Admin at the top right and then click Modules
- click the pen icon on the left of the word Complaints
- enter a new name for the module in the text box that opens
- click Save.
Log out of your isoTracker account and then log back in, and you’ll see that all references to Complaints have been changed.
Set-up: Customizing the module
As previously mentioned, the module has been populated with content. Using the Set-Up section, you can customize existing, default settings.
To access the Set-Up section, click the Complaints icon and then choose Set-Up at the top.
The section includes settings such as the following:
- Fields > Fixed Fields: you can change the listed field names
- Fields > New Fields: there are currently two additional fields – Risk and Cost; you can add additional fields to this list, up to a total of 10
- Number: you can create additional numbering systems
- Responsibility > Assigned Users: determine users (other than complaint administrators) who have the right to be assigned complaints and to manage them
- Responsibility > Final Review Users: determine who has the right to close complaints
- Type: add to the list of complaint types, which are searchable
- Status: change the name of the statuses to terms familiar to you
- Severity Scale: the scale is set as 1 to 3 but the upper end of the scale can be increased; you can also determine which end of the scale is least and most severe.
Logging a complaint
To log a complaint:
- click the Complaints icon and then click New Complaints
- select the default Number on the right
- in the From field, select Customer from the From drop-down list, enter the search term (for example, ISO) in the Quick Search box, and click Find
- in the search results, choose the appropriate result by clicking Click Here to Select under the Select column (make sure that the fields are listed on the boxes that appear below; at this point, you can also click Add New Customer and add the details of a new customer)
- select Product from the About drop-down list, enter the search term (for example, Produ) in the Quick Search box, and click Find
- select the appropriate result by clicking the relevant Click Here to Select link
- select a type and severity; for example, you might select Delivery Shortage from the Type drop-down list and select 2 from the Severity drop-down list
- enter the details of the complaint in the Details text box
- in the Documents object, click the Upload button and attach up to five external documents
- wait for the documents to be uploaded and then click Submit at the bottom of the page.
Accepting and assigning a logged complaint
A notification and email will be sent to you to confirm that a complaint has been logged.
To accept and assign a complaint:
- click the Summary icon at the bottom of the page
- open the Complaints tab, then the Logged Complaint notification and click the relevant complaint number
- on the Properties page, scroll to the Notes section and select Accepted from the Status drop-down list
- keep Super Admin in the Assign Administrator drop-down list
- see that below is listed the complainants email address and then click the link Choose Email link which opens a listing of email templates for the current stage in the complaint workflow
- click Click Here to Edit for the Accepted 1 email template, make changes to it, and then click Submit
- click Submit at the bottom of the Notes object.
The page refreshes and the status of the complaint changes to Accepted. Below the Documents object, the following new objects appear:
- Emails: click the maroon view icon to see the email that was just sent to the complainant. Use this object to send further emails to the complainant, either by selecting a pre-created template or creating a new email from scratch
- Investigation: use to send Investigation notifications that require a reply to internal users
- Non-Conformance Record: create one or more non-conformances relating to this complaint
- Root Cause: create one or more root causes and associate them to a non-conformance
- Corrective Action: record the action required, implement it, check for effectiveness, and then close it
- Final Review: send the complaint for final review, as part of a two-step sign-off process.
Note that these objects can be used in any order or not used at all, with a complaint going directly to Final Review.
Recording the action taken for a corrective action
To record a non-conformance:
- click the + icon on the Non-Conformance Record object header
- select an importance level – for example, Minor – from the Importance drop-down list
- enter the details of the non-conformance and click the Submit
The non-conformance is listed and assigned a unique number.
Recording a root cause
To record a root cause:
- click the + icon on the Root Cause object header
- enter the details of the root cause, move the number of the just recorded non-conformance in the Related NCRs section to the right, and click the Submit
The root cause is listed and assigned a unique number.
You can add multiple non-conformances and/or root causes. However, make sure that each non-conformance is related to a root cause, and vice versa.
Recording a required corrective action
To record the corrective action required to correct a non-conformance and associated root cause:
- click the + sign on the Corrective Action object header
- click the Choose a Non-Conformance Record link, select a non-conformance from the pop-up list, and click Submit
- click the Choose a Root Cause link, select a root cause from the pop-up list, and click Submit
- set a target date and time and enter the details of the action required
- click Submit.
The corrective action is recorded and assigned a unique number. Related non-conformances and root causes display above it.
Recording the action taken for a corrective action
To record a corrective action that has been taken:
- open the Action Taken section by the clicking the + sign on the left
- select a completion date in the Completed By text box and enter a name
- enter the details of the action taken
- click Submit.
You can then record the effectiveness of the action taken by opening the Effectiveness section, entering the relevant details, and clicking Submit. To close the corrective action, click the big red Close button.
An alternative method for recording and closing a corrective action
A more collaborative method for recording, implementing, and checking the effectiveness of a corrective action involves sending notifications to users and then copying their replies into the relevant sections.
To do this:
- in the Corrective Action object, click the + sign next to Send a Corrective Action Notification
- select a user and click Add
- set the date and time by which a reply is required, and click Done
- enter the details of the corrective action in the Action Required text box
- click Submit.
A user who has been sent a corrective action notification can access it by opening the CAR tab on their Summary page, opening the Audit Notes listing, and clicking the relevant number. Then the user can click the Submit Reply option that appears above the relevant post, enter the details of the reply, select a completion date, attach documents if required, and click Submit.
As the trainer, you’ll receive an Audit Replies notification on the CAR tab of your Summary page. Click that link to view the details of the reply.
Above the reply will be an Accept/Reject button. If you’re not satisfied with a reply, click that button, select Rejected from the Action drop-down list, type in the action required, and select a new reply due date. If you are satisfied with a reply, you can select Accepted or do nothing.
Three buttons display next to the Reply Sent date:
- Copy to AR: to copy the contents of the reply to the Action Required section
- Copy to AT: to copy the contents of the reply, along with the date of completion and completed by information, to the Action Taken section
- Copy to E: to copy the contents of the reply to the Effectiveness section.
Multiple notifications can be sent to multiple users to cover all the steps of the resolution process. They can also be spaced out by selecting different required reply dates, which are then followed up with reminders. Note that this alternative method is probably more complicated but it is more cooperative and inclusive.
Signing off a complaint
The closure of a complaint is a two-step process. The first step is Final Review and the second step is the sign-off.
To send a complaint to Final Review:
- on the complaint’s properties page, scroll down to the Final Review object and click the + sign
- if a corrective action has not been closed, you will get a pop-up box telling you that the corrective action record was not closed; click the Cancel button
- open the corrective action object and click the red Close button (it then changes to a big green Open button)
- return to the Final Review object and select the appropriate administrator from the Send To drop-down list (these have been identified on the Final Review Users tab of the Responsibility section in Set-Up)
- enter your final review comment and click Submit.
The final reviewer will automatically receive an email and a Final Review notification will appear on the Complaints tab of their Summary page.
To perform a final review of a complaint:
- click the Final Review link and the relevant complaint number
- scroll down to the Final Review object and click the View icon
- select Sign Off from the Status drop-down list (if you did not close the corrective action when you sent the complaint to Final Review, you’ll get the same pop-up box as before; follow the same instructions as described above)
- enter a sign-off comment and click Submit.
The signed-off complaint is removed from the Action Required list but is still accessible from the All Complaints page, which is available to all complaint administrators.
Reactivating a complaint
Complaint administrators and the Super Admin can choose to reactivate a signed-off complaint and view all objects associated with it.
To do this:
- click the All Complaints icon and then click the Properties icon in the Action column of the relevant complaint
- scroll down to the Notes object and open it by clicking the green view icon
- select Reactivate from the Status drop-down list
- assign the reactivated complaint to a user in the Assign Administrator drop-down list
- click Submit.
The assigned administrator will receive a Reactivated Complaints notification on the Complaints tab of their Summary page. The complaint is now reopened and can be operated as before by the assigned administrator, the Super Admin, and other complaint administrators.
Walk-throughs
- Document Control: Steps for performing common tasks
- Complaints Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Audits Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Non-Conformance Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Training Management: Steps for performing common tasks
- Risk Management: Steps for performing common tasks