Show what was valid in March
The auditor wants the SOP as it stood in March, who approved it and proof that people were trained on it. In VisualQMS, a complete quality management system, all of it is kept with the document, and CAPA, deviations and audits can join later.
- Keep Word, Excel and Microsoft 365
- Your document numbers come with you
- Documents first, modules later
A spreadsheet and a folder tree will run a quality system for a while. Then the team grows, or an audit gets close. Two people edit two copies they both call current, and the sign-off that made a procedure official sits in an inbox nobody can search.
The push to move usually comes from outside. The last audit was a scramble, a customer found the error before you did, or a new contract asks for proof of a controlled QMS. Your controlled documents then live in VisualQMS, and people still reach the ones they need through Microsoft Teams or SharePoint. If you are still comparing systems, start with the buyer's guide to choosing a QMS.
Four things an audit finds on a shared drive
Running quality on files and folders brings ordinary problems. Each one becomes an audit problem the day someone looks closely.
Evidence pieced together by hand
Before each audit you gather the evidence from inboxes and spreadsheets. Showing which revision was valid on a given date is harder still.
Two copies, both called current
SOP_final, SOP_final_v2, SOP_final_v7-USE-THIS. People save local copies, so the obsolete procedure circulates beside the approved one.
Approvals that live in an inbox
The sign-off that made a revision official sits in someone's email. When the auditor asks to see it, you go looking for the message.
Training tracked by hand
A read-and-understood list in a spreadsheet has no due dates and no escalation. The gap shows up when an audit finds it.
Your people keep editing in Word and Excel
Moving to VisualQMS changes everything around a document and leaves the editing where it was. Authorised people click edit and work in Word, Excel or PowerPoint, and documents can still be reached from Teams or SharePoint.
One current version
Every controlled document has a working version and a published one. People doing the work see the latest published version.
Approval kept with the document
A revision goes to its reviewers and approvers before it is published. Each review is recorded, and an overdue one is escalated.
A history of every change
Each change to a document or its details is saved as a new version. You can show what changed and when.
Training that follows the document
When a new version is published, a training rule asks the people it concerns to read and acknowledge it. If someone is overdue, their manager is told.
Find the procedure from the process activity
Each activity on the process map links to its documents and the standards it answers to. A link to an approved document opens the latest approved version.
Answer the auditor from the requirement
Tag your procedures and process maps with the requirements they answer. The Compliance view then lists them under each requirement of your standard, together with the internal audits.
On a shared drive, that list is a spreadsheet someone keeps up to date by hand.
Internal audits listed too. The audits linked to a requirement show under it with the documents and activities, so the question after "how do you meet it?", which is "when did you last check?", is answered in the same place.
Move only what you still use
-
Step 1: Begin with your documents
Controlled documents usually come first and the process maps, so editing and approval get going early. The maps can start simple and gain detail later.
-
Step 2: Tidy up before you move
Decide which kinds of document you have and what you want recorded about each, and leave behind what nobody uses. If the files sit in network folders, list them in an Excel sheet with those details to keep track of the migration.
-
Step 3: Bring the documents across
Your existing document numbers can stay, and the details are added in bulk from Excel templates. From then on people find a document by what it is, whichever folder it used to sit in.
-
Step 4: Put approvals and training on the document
The review and approval workflow replaces the email sign-off, starting from an example flow or your own. Training rules then ask the right people to acknowledge each newly published version.
-
Step 5: Add modules when you need them
CAPA, change requests, internal audit and non conformances can join at the start or later, and they link to what is already there. We help you implement it.
Questions teams ask before they move
Do we lose Microsoft 365 or SharePoint?
No, you keep using them. Your controlled documents move into VisualQMS, and relevant documents can be made available through Microsoft Teams or SharePoint. VisualQMS is tightly integrated with Microsoft 365: people with the right permissions open documents for editing or read-only from Microsoft Office, VisualQMS or Microsoft Teams, and co-author through OneDrive.
What happens to our existing files?
They are migrated into VisualQMS, which is built on the M‑Files platform. Existing document numbering can be reused, metadata is added in bulk with Excel migration templates, and for large volumes an automatic import can be configured. It's a good moment to clean up, so only useful content comes across.
Can the review and approval flow follow our own procedure?
Yes. Reviews can run in parallel or in sequence, rules decide whether one approval is enough or all approvers must sign, and extra steps can be added. Each review is documented in a record routed to the designated person and escalated if it is overdue. With full version management, nobody needs to keep copies of their own.
How does training follow a document?
Training rules assign read-and-understood training by role, department, country or any other detail about the employee. When a new version is published, a rule can create new training records, and an overdue record notifies the employee's manager.
How long does it take?
Four things decide how long it takes: which modules you start with; whether you include the process maps, and how far you take them; how many documents you move in before go-live, and how much tidying they need; and how much you want tailored. You aren't required to use every module: controlled documents usually come first, and the rest can be added later. Book a demo, and we'll go through your scope with you.
Is it more locked-down than a shared drive?
It's more controlled: a revision goes through review and approval before ordinary users see it, and what each person sees is based on their role and access rights. A document can, for example, become read-only once it is sent for approval. M‑Files saves each change to content and metadata as a new version.
Where do we start?
Typically with controlled documents and the process maps, so the editing and approval of documents gets going. From there you add the modules you need, such as CAPA, change requests or internal audit. Training management is one of the core modules.