Polarion Helps Sterling Medical Devices Streamline Operations and Deliver Better Value to Customers

Challenge

The engineering management team at Sterling Medical Devices had been relying on a range of disparate tools for requirements management, defect tracking, task management and more across their project management lifecycle. With different stakeholders managing each tool and the varying technical skillsets required to operate each, teams operated in silos, which created breaks in the process and project delays.

As experts in designing, developing and delivering medical device innovation to customers for years, Sterling Medical Devices recognized a need to up their game in creating more efficient internal project management processes. Ultimately, they wanted to bring each process element under one user-friendly tool that could be easily accessed across functions, facilitate streamlined collaboration, save time and minimize disparities.

Solution

Sterling Medical Device’s resident process management experts stepped up to the call by implementing Polarion ALM, a browser-based regulatory-compliant project management software program. The team integrated the disparate requirements management processes, defect tracking and task management functions into one intuitive tool—then trained employees across all teams on its proper use.

With Polarion, Sterling Medical Devices can trace artifacts across the entire project lifecycle, collaborate and track progress in real-time, run test cases, link them to software requirements, control user access in compliance with their security protocols and more.

Result

Using one unified solution that manages documentation, generates data-based reports and facilitates project and resource management, Sterling eliminated unnecessary delays, bottlenecks and inefficiencies. As a result, the team now benefits from:

• Better collaboration with improved decision-making: With the ability to seamlessly collaborate on the same document simultaneously, developers, testers, QA team members and engineers benefit from one single source of the truth for a more consistent, efficient and productive partnership. Plus, access to real-time insights and data-based reports enables smarter, quicker decisions that support ongoing process improvements.
• Better time management: Without the time-consuming burden of manipulating complex tools, hunting down information or synthesizing multiple document versions, project stakeholders can now focus more on content and innovation. Plus, one browser-based platform makes it quick and easy for the IT team to perform seamless updates without the time-suck of managing multiple tools or desktop updates.
• Smoother project management processes: Offering seamless traceability, accurate audit trails, visibility into historical actions and the ability to monitor progress in one browser-based tool, the Sterling team now enjoys a highly efficient product development process that supports better client outcomes.
• Better customer collaboration: Polarion’s user-friendly, web-based interface makes it easy for customers to review documents and provide direct feedback that can be incorporated immediately, eliminating the cumbersome back-and-forth of email communication.

Polarion offers a more efficient, integrated approach to Sterling’s project lifecycle management processes—which has ultimately translated to an improved user and customer experience and a better end product for the customer. 

Based on the overwhelming success of the program, Sterling Medical Devices went on to form Sterling PLM. Today, Sterling PLM helps engineering companies worldwide implement proven processes that govern the design and development of their engineered products using Polarion.