CIS Software Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. Administrators can create user types and control page access and record permissions for each type. This can separate administrators, managers, employees, auditors, customers, suppliers and other groups.

Yes. Page access and add, edit and delete permissions are controlled separately. A user type can be given access to a page while the related records remain read-only.

Yes. One database table can have several user controls. Each control can show different fields, forms, grids, filters and actions, allowing an originator, reviewer and approver to work with the same record through different views.

Yes. CIS includes allowed-IP settings that can be used when an organization wants to limit access to approved network addresses.

Yes. Assigned audit actions, training, calibration, D8 steps and other dated responsibilities can appear on the responsible user’s To-Do List.

Yes. Scheduled audits, training, calibrations, meetings, follow-ups and other dated activities can appear on the Master Calendar. Users can also choose calendar and email preferences.

Yes. Administrators can configure home-page content and calendars, and users can receive information relevant to their role, including tasks and KPIs when configured.

Yes. For tables configured with Track Changes, CIS records the creator, creation date, last editor and last update date. Track DB History can also show automatic database actions.

Yes. Standard processes can send notifications for events such as planned audits, assigned actions, overdue corrective actions, training, calibration, supplier re-evaluation and inspection results. Email templates can be customized to suit the organization.

Yes. Administrators can add, revise, deactivate and organize criteria used in drop-downs and selection lists, subject to the design of the related field.

Yes. Document Management supports a folder hierarchy with access controlled for the appropriate users and user types.

Yes. Documents can be assigned to reviewers and approvers, and their status can be managed through the approval process.

Yes. CIS retains document history and allows authorized users to review previous revisions and the related properties.

CIS links users to the controlled document record rather than a fixed uploaded copy. After a new revision is approved, that link opens the current revision, subject to the user’s document permissions.

Yes. Users can view or print a master document list, a list with revision history and a list of documents pending approval.

Yes. Document permissions can be assigned so that only authorized users can reach particular folders and documents.

Yes. CIS includes an administrative function for completing approval on behalf of all assigned reviewers and the approver when the organization’s procedure permits it.

Yes. Authorized users can use the Undo Revision function. Access to this function can be limited to a selected user type.

Yes. A form can link to a controlled document record. The link continues to open the current approved revision after the document is revised, and the reader’s document permissions still apply.

Yes. CIS can manage internal audits, supplier audits, process audits, daily walk-throughs, safety checks, equipment checks and other questionnaire-based reviews.

Yes. Questions can be copied from existing Word or Excel material, edited, rearranged and grouped into questionnaires for different processes, standards, departments or suppliers.

Yes. Audits can be planned once or on recurring schedules. When a recurring audit is completed, CIS schedules the next audit according to the plan.

Yes. When an audit is planned, CIS can send notifications, add the audit to the calendar and place it on the appropriate To-Do Lists.

Yes. Auditors can work through the questionnaire, enter observations and results, add scores and create actions while the audit is underway.

Yes. Auditors can upload files and photographs against audit questions. A tablet can be used to photograph a condition and upload the image as objective evidence.

Yes. An action can be created from a specific audit question, assigned to one or more responsible people and tracked through completion and verification.

Yes. Scoring is optional. Scores can be entered for individual questions, and CIS calculates an overall average for the audit.

Yes. Audit reports show outstanding actions and update as work progresses. Reports can be filtered, printed and exported where applicable.

Yes. A supplier can be given controlled login access to the Supplier Audit Actions area so it can enter responses, root cause and corrective-action information without gaining access to unrelated areas.

Yes. The auditor can close the immediate action and schedule a future follow-up. CIS can notify the follow-up owner before it is due and show it on the calendar and To-Do List.

Yes. Relevant questions, observations and findings can be added to the Lessons Learned database for future reference.

Yes. The HR and Training module can retain employee information, photographs, certificates, applications, background-check files, licences and other supporting documents. Access should be restricted to authorized personnel.

Yes. When an employee is assigned a position and location, CIS can schedule the training defined for that position.

Yes. Training can be planned for an employee or group, including unique training and recurring yearly training.

Yes. Training can generate advance email reminders, appear on the responsible person’s To-Do List and appear on the Master Calendar.

Yes. The Competency Verification Report lists employees who have not completed the training required for their position and can reschedule the missing training.

Yes. The Current Competency Matrix shows employees and the positions or competencies for which they have been trained, including cross-training.

Yes. The Authorization Matrix can identify employees authorized to perform selected tasks, such as approving an NCR resolution or signing a purchase order.

Yes. CIS can print a signature sheet, then update the training records of all selected attendees together and place the uploaded evidence in each employee’s record.

Yes. Training reports can list completed training by date, hours and cost, including totals. Detailed records and training certificates can also be printed.

Yes. Review dates can be scheduled, reminders sent and supporting checklists or files uploaded to the employee record.

Yes. CIS supports staged incident reporting, witness statements, management review, approvals, supporting files and decisions about OSHA reporting.

Yes. During management review, the reviewer can choose to issue a Corrective Action. CIS then links the incident to a new corrective-action record.

Yes. When monthly man-hours and reportable incidents are maintained, CIS can create an OSHA report for the selected period and location and export the information as CSV.

Yes. CIS can schedule meetings, maintain agenda items, record results and assign follow-up actions.

Yes. Meetings can be planned weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or on other configured schedules.

Yes. A meeting can be cloned to reduce repeated setup for recurring meetings or planning sessions.

Yes. Actions can be assigned with responsibility and follow-up information, and the meeting record retains the results.

Yes. Objectives and projects can be entered with owners, targets, dates, follow-up entries and completion information.

Yes. The objective follow-up and history log records progress over time, supporting management review and evidence of action.

Yes. The Risk and Performance module can record prerequisites, risks, controls, limits, monitoring and corrective action. Reports summarize risk and prerequisite information.

Yes. The Risk and Performance process can be used for HACCP prerequisites, plans, critical limits, monitoring, corrective action, recordkeeping and verification.

Management reports can summarize financial impacts, occurrences, late actions and database history. The available reports include totals and trends drawn from quality and operational records.

Yes. One module manages instruments, equipment, machines, periodic tests and inspections, together with their calibration, maintenance and repair requirements.

Yes. Schedules can be one-time, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, yearly or set for another interval such as 18 or 24 months.

Yes. CIS can send an advance reminder before the due date and a recall notice when calibration becomes due. Due work also appears on the To-Do List and Master Calendar.

Yes. Procedures, certificates, reports and other files can be uploaded to the equipment and calibration records.

Yes. Selected instruments can be updated together with common completion information. For in-house calibration, results can be entered in a spreadsheet and uploaded; a supplier’s combined PDF can also be attached.

Yes. Stickers can be printed for completed calibration and maintenance records.

Yes. Reports can summarize calibration, maintenance and repair costs by instrument or equipment.

Yes. Equipment can be retired without deleting its history. This preserves information that may be needed during a product investigation or recall.

Yes. Maintenance work can be scheduled and logged in the same framework as calibration, with reminders, completion history, materials, labour and cost information.

Yes. The supplier selected for calibration or maintenance can be limited to suppliers approved in Vendor Management.

When the optional AI function is enabled, CIS can suggest a calibration or maintenance procedure. A qualified person should review and approve the suggestion before it is used.

The product database can hold raw materials, components, sub-assemblies and master products, including part numbers, descriptions, prices, suppliers, bills of material, process steps, inspection criteria and inventory settings.

Yes. A master product can list the components, raw materials and sub-assemblies required for one unit, together with the required quantities.

Yes. Master products can include the sequence of production steps and the expected time for each step. CIS uses this information when checking whether a requested due date is feasible.

Yes. Incoming, in-process and final inspection criteria can be defined by product, including measurement type, unit, minimum and maximum values and the quantity or percentage to inspect.

Yes. CIS automatically updates the revision status when product inspection criteria are changed and provides a revision history.

Yes. The inventory module maintains quantities and a transaction history with traceability to job numbers where applicable.

Inventory can be increased through receiving inspection, decreased when materials are released to a job, reduced when finished goods are shipped, or adjusted directly after a count or correction.

Yes. A minimum inventory value can be set for a product, and low quantities are identified for action.

Yes. The Material Shelf-Life Report lists inventory items with expiry dates so that time-sensitive material can be identified.

Yes. Authorized users can make in, out or adjustment transactions and record the reason, preserving the transaction history.

Yes. The Ship from Inventory process shows the available quantity and does not allow a quantity greater than the inventory on hand.

Yes. A job can be released from the product database or from an accepted quotation. CIS assigns a job number, checks the required materials and expected production time, and identifies shortages or timing problems.

Yes. When a job is released, CIS can produce a process card with the required steps and barcodes, using the product structure and production information already in the system.

Yes. Each process step can have a barcode. Scanning it opens the status entry for quantities accepted or rejected, completion date, lot information and operator identification. The barcode can also be entered manually.

Yes. The Production Status Report lists current jobs with the customer, quantity, release date, due date and whether the job is on time or late.

Yes. Sales and Marketing can store prospect and customer information, assigned salesperson, projected close information, contacts, communications, files and follow-up actions.

Yes. Customer-log actions can be assigned to a responsible person with reminders before the due date.

Yes. The Projected Sales Report can show projected close dates, expected yearly revenue, probability and the responsible salesperson.

Yes. The Sales Customer Detailed Activity Report can bring together activities such as NCRs, customer complaints, corrective actions and objectives for review before a customer meeting.

Yes. Quotations can use products, descriptions and prices from the product database, with quantities, options, discounts, taxes, terms and totals.

Yes. The quotation can be built into a job. CIS checks materials and production time, assigns the job number and produces the process card for release.

Yes. Special Requirements can be organized by customer, product, process or service, with text, files, photographs and automatic date stamps for requirements and revisions.

Yes. Selected employees, customers or suppliers can be emailed when the record is updated.

Yes. CIS can provide a public supplier-survey portal. A prospective supplier completes the survey without a CIS login, and selected employees are notified when it is submitted.

Yes. Vendor Management records the approved scope, approval method, approver, review information and re-evaluation date for suppliers.

Yes. CIS can send a reminder before the supplier’s re-evaluation date.

Yes. Supplier log entries can include ISO certificates, agreements, correspondence, photographs, videos and other supporting files.

Yes. Incoming inspection data supports supplier performance reporting, including the Advanced Inspection Supplier Quality Performance Scorecard.

Yes. Purchase orders are created for approved vendors in the system.

Yes. Products can be selected from the product database. CIS can fill in units, pricing and receiving-inspection requirements, while also allowing a unique item to be entered when necessary.

Yes. Purchase orders can be printed and can be sent to the supplier by email when configured.

Yes. The PO number can be selected during incoming inspection, allowing the related products to populate the inspection record.

Yes. Work orders can define the work, responsibility, due date, labour, materials, costs and completion information.

Yes. Work orders can support maintenance and repair work, and their costs can be included in equipment cost reporting.

Yes. Work-order reports include detailed cost and man-hour information.

Yes. CIS maintains NCR and near-miss records with classification, responsibility, cost, description, files, resolution information and reporting.

Yes. Relevant files and pictures can be associated with the record and retained with it.

Yes. Records can be archived and later included or excluded through filters. This keeps historical information while reducing clutter in the active list.

Yes. Customer Feedback records can capture the issue, customer, responsibility, costs, files, resolution and related quality actions.

Yes. Customer Survey functions can collect feedback, and selected employees can be assigned to send or receive survey information.

Yes. CIS can link a nonconformity, near miss or customer-feedback record to a Corrective Action Request so the investigation and action remain traceable to the original issue.

A corrective action can record the problem, immediate correction, investigation of cause, selected root cause, action plan, responsibility, due date, implementation, verification and closure.

Yes. Responsible people receive the initial assignment and update notices, and CIS continues to send late reminders until the action is closed. Additional managers can be copied when configured.

The responsible person enters the investigation and resolution. The Quality Manager or ISO facilitator reviews the evidence, records comments and verification, and closes the action when the result is acceptable.

Yes. Corrective-action records include the investigation of cause and can retain supporting evidence such as a fishbone diagram. The quality of the analysis still depends on the people conducting it.

Yes. The D8 process assigns the major stages to responsible people with separate due dates and completion dates, allowing containment, root cause, corrective action, verification, prevention and closure to be tracked.

Yes. Assigned steps and due dates are reflected on the responsible users’ calendars and To-Do Lists and can be reported when late.

Yes. Lessons from audits and other activities can be stored in a searchable company resource so previous problems and improvements can inform later work.

Yes. CIS includes reports and graphs by dollars, occurrences, location, customer and criteria, depending on the record type and configuration.

Yes. The Advanced Inspection module supports incoming, in-process and final inspection using criteria defined in the product database.

Yes. Inspection criteria can define a quantity or percentage to inspect. CIS creates the required result fields from that setting and the batch quantity.

Yes. Criteria can use minimum and maximum measured values or a pass-fail approach for go/no-go checks.

Yes. Additional criteria can be added to the inspection record when an unplanned check is required.

The inspection code can identify an item as Accepted, Rejected, On Hold or Other. Rejected material can be assigned a disposition such as Scrap, Rework, Use As Is or Return to Supplier.

Yes. Selecting the PO can populate the inspection with the products received, reducing repeated entry.

Yes. Accepted incoming material can be added to inventory, and the inventory transaction is retained.

Yes. Inspection notifications can use configurable email templates for customers or suppliers. The responsible employee is also notified.

Yes. Legacy Inspection supports uploaded inspection reports, files and photographs. Advanced Inspection file handling varies by inspection type and configuration, so the required evidence method should be confirmed during implementation.

Yes. The Legacy Inspection module remains available so organizations can retain and use historical records while adopting Advanced Inspection.

Yes. The Incoming Inspection Performance Dashboard can be filtered by date, supplier, disposition and inspection code, with results available for CSV download.

Yes. Performance can be filtered by date, customer, disposition and inspection code and exported for further analysis.

Yes. Advanced Inspection includes control charts for in-process, final and incoming inspection, with filters for relevant products, customers, suppliers and inspection references.

Yes. Monthly Quality Yield Analysis can be filtered by date, inspection type, customer and product and viewed as a chart or report.

Yes. The Supplier Quality Performance Scorecard uses incoming inspection information and can be filtered by date, supplier and product.

Yes. Advanced Inspection includes reporting for in-process and final rejection dispositions, filterable by date, inspection type, customer and product.

Yes. Advanced Inspection dashboards, reports and charts provide CSV downloads for the filtered data.

Yes. A trained administrator can create a table, define its fields, design its forms and views, create filters, set permissions and place it on the menu without writing application code.

CIS supports common controls such as text boxes, dates, numbers, email addresses, file uploads, drop-down lists, radio buttons, check boxes, multi-select lists and links to records in other tables.

Yes. Fields can be marked required and can use validation patterns, input masks, default values and other display settings. Required fields must be visible to the person completing the form.

Yes. Several forms can use the same record. Earlier fields can be displayed as read-only at a later stage while new review or approval fields remain editable.

Yes. Administrators can prepare a form layout in Word and transfer the resulting table structure into a CIS form template, then insert CIS field tokens.

Yes. Administrators can choose columns, combine several fields in one column, control headings and formatting, define actions and create a separate list view of the same records.

Yes. Administrators can expose suitable fields in a filter bar, and users can narrow the grid to the records they need. Custom date or archive filters may require development support.

Yes. Users can sort ascending or descending using the fields the administrator makes available.

Yes. The Excel or CSV download can contain the fields selected for export and the records remaining after the user’s filters are applied.

Yes. A user control can be configured with selected fields, filters, sorting and export options to create a report-style view without building a separate database.

Yes. A portal can allow a customer, supplier or other visitor to submit a record without a CIS account. Staff then manage the submitted record through a secure internal page.

Yes. Administrators can add Captcha to reduce automated submissions.

Yes. The portal can contain only the fields the visitor should complete, while employees use a separate internal form with approval, risk, status and other fields.

Yes. Standard modules already link related records, such as an NCR to a corrective action. New automated links that create a record and carry fields between databases require TQMS programming support.

Yes, through custom development. Examples include sending a notification, changing a status or creating a related record. These back-end triggers are implemented by TQMS rather than through normal administrator settings.

Yes. APIs, EDI and other system connections can be developed after the required data, direction, security, timing and error handling are defined.

Yes. CIS applications include print functions for selected records and reports, and the browser or printer options can be used to create PDF copies where appropriate.

Yes. Snippets can insert prewritten text into memo fields. They reduce typing and prompt employees to enter the same required details consistently.