Oxford University Press (OUP) had its
origins in the information technology
revolution of the late fifteenth century,
which began with the invention of printing
from movable type. The first book was
printed in Oxford in 1478, only two years
after Caxton set up the first printing press
in England.
OUP is now a department of the University of
Oxford. It furthers the University's
objective of excellence in research,
scholarship, and education by publishing
worldwide. As the world's largest university
press,it publishes more than 4,500 new books
a year, has a presence in over fifty
countries, and employs some 4,800 people
worldwide. It has become familiar to
millions through a diverse publishing
programme that includes scholarly works in
all academic disciplines, bibles, music,
school and college textbooks, children's
books, materials for teaching English as a
foreign language, business books,
dictionaries and reference books, and
journals.
OUP was
interested in integrating its approach to Quality Assurance
across its Corby sites and buildings covering approximately
300 staff with possible future extension to its two Oxford
sites. The company has a distributed, and mobile workforce
who needed access to the system while not at their primary
locations.
OUP were
potentially looking toward certification ISO 9001:2000 but
were interested in broad quality issues beyond simple
certification. Quality documentation and records were
accessed via shared drives on the local area network. Issues
included document security, version control and approval
management.
Paula Hart of
OUP was asked to look for an electronic solution that would
share documentation across all sites electronically. The
chosen solution should allow easy access and searching
across all content. It should manage version control,
archiving, the automation of review/ approval processes and
automatic record generation in order to support compliance
with all standards and regulations. Access to content and
functionality must be tailorable based on individual and/or
group permissions.
The system must
reduce paper, print and distribution costs. The system must
facilitate the standardisation of processes, to deliver
predictable outcomes and reduce risk.
After careful
evaluation Paula settled on EQMS from Qualsys. "EQMS was an
excellent fit with our requirement and Qualsys has put
together a comprehensive project plan to guide us through
implementation to rollout."
Mike Pound,
Managing Director of Qualsys, said, "We are delighted to
welcome Oxford University Press as a customer. The
company has a long-established reputation for the quality of
its products and we will be pleased to contribute towards
maintaining its pre-eminent position." |
