Cyberonics, Inc. QAD Data Collection- FDA Validated

Cyberonics, Inc. was founded in 1987 to design, develop and market implantable medical devices for the treatment of epilepsy and other debilitating neurological disorders. Cyberonics is currently focused on epilepsy, the world's second most prevalent neurological disorder.  Over 600,000 individuals in the United States, Europe and Japan suffer from refractory epilepsy characterized by seizures that are not controlled by traditional drug therapies.  The Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Therapy™ is the first new approach to the treatment of epilepsy in over 100 years. The VNS Therapy System uses a surgically implanted medical device that delivers electrical pulsed signals to the vagus nerve in the left side of the neck. This therapy has proven effective in significantly reducing the number and/or intensity of seizures in many people suffering from epilepsy and has the potential for use in the treatment of other inadequately treated, chronic disorders. The VNS Therapy System continues to be the only FDA approved medical device for the treatment of epilepsy.

Productivity Challenges

Cyberonics needed a solution to provide real-time information and traceability for FDA restrictions.

As rapid expansion consumed resources, Cyberonics began researching a way to provide QAD with up-to-date information in real-time. Cyberonics realized that automating data capture for Shipping, Receiving, Inventory and Shop Floor Control would be key in providing a more accurate and productive environment.  In addition, VNS Therapy devices are under tight FDA restrictions, which requires that they track and identify many of the attributes for each device.

The Radley Solution

An automated data collection solution that integrates to their QAD ERP.

Cyberonics selected Radley Corporation over other vendors based on their outstanding track record for providing premier QAD data collection and their extensive list of valued clients. Radley’s data collection solution, Q*ADC, met all of their customer requirements and provides a single platform for data collection. Q*ADC delivers real-time transactions directly from the shop floor to QAD, as well as expanding on MFG/PRO functionality in a non-intrusive fashion.  Radley was also selected for its ease of use and its flexibility to fit Cyberonics specific needs.

Productivity Improvements With the addition of Q*ADC, Cyberonics Inventory and Production Processes now result in a real-time system that is more accurate and increases the productivity of their processes. Cyberonics has realized a substantial reduction in transaction errors, benefiting both internal and external customers. Cyberonics also has seen improvement in their Shipping Processes with faster order fulfillment, enhanced order accuracy and elimination of picking errors. Having this real time inventory status also allows Cyberonics to locate raw material and WIP inventory more efficiently. Cyberonics has seen a major reduction in the time to correct and resolve production issues due to the real time recording of defects and events. Since implementing Q*ADC, Cyberonics has improved response time and increased customer satisfaction.

Cyberonics Material Manager, Jerry Goodwin, notes “We have expanded our use of Radley over the past year to encompass more material transactions and provide a real-time consumption of material in production.  We have been able to improve our inventory accuracy and component issues through the application of Radley.  We have begun to utilize the shipping module, which has improved our sales order pick times and reduced our error rates. We have employed the use of Radley to track and input any potential issues in production using the QAD shop floor control module.  This has enhanced our reporting ability and given the production managers a real-time report on where the problems lie on a daily basis.  This information enables them to make strategic decisions before there is any undue delay.”