HOLMDEL, N.J., Sept. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Sparta Systems, Inc., the maker of TrackWise(R) and the market leader in enterprise quality and regulatory compliance solutions, announced that Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company, has implemented TrackWise for its Global Change Control system. Based in Denver, CO, Johns Manville is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building insulation, commercial roofing, roof insulation, and specialty products for commercial, industrial, and residential applications.

Johns Manville's change management harmonization is a significant component of the corporation's proactive commitment to create an efficient global operating environment. TrackWise was selected based on its ability to provide a systematic approach to manage change processes affecting multiple areas and locations of the organization. Johns Manville is utilizing TrackWise to efficiently track and manage all related actions and tasks involved in the change process using automated workflows and business rules.

The TrackWise system has been initially deployed to the Engineered Products Group's (EPG) two Waterville, Ohio plants. The remaining fifteen North American and European EPG sites (Germany, Sweden and Slovakia) are scheduled for go-live by the end of the year. The rapid deployment is attributed to the collaborative effort of EPG plant and division personnel.

Jim McCormick, Johns Manville Waterville 01 Plant Manager, noted: "TrackWise software has allowed Plant 01 to digitize our Management of Change process. Notifications, action item tracking and documentation storage have now become automated. The result is a more robust, user friendly process."

Johns Manville's information technology organization played a critical role in the evaluation and selection of TrackWise. Karin Catton, CIO and VP of Information Technology at Johns Manville and Deb Heinzel, Program Manager at Johns Manville, sought a solution that supported Johns Manville's initiative to deliver cost-efficient, and user-friendly technology solutions, which are highly scalable to grow with the company.

Ms. Catton and Ms. Heinzel's past experience in the pharmaceutical industry provided them with insight into the essential components that comprise a dynamic quality management system.

"TrackWise has proven to be easily deployable and supportable," explained Catton. "TrackWise allows us to fulfill our corporate commitment to continually improve technology systems while achieving cost savings. FDA regulated industries such as pharmaceutical have the most stringent regulatory requirements. We believe that Johns Manville will greatly benefit from a solution that is the leader in such heavily regulated industries." Other Johns Manville business groups have begun evaluation of TrackWise for future implementations, based on the success of Johns Manville's TrackWise change control system.

"The configurability of TrackWise, combined with the logically structured, intuitive interface accelerated the speed at which we were able to move from design and development into pilot and go-live," said Heinzel. Catton added, "The iterative development approach to change control proactively creates a high level of user involvement and closes the loop on all open items. The result is a highly effective system to proactively track and trend change. Visualizing real-time trends and initiating any related corrective and preventive actions for adverse trends will uphold Johns Manville's commitment to manufacturing high-quality products."

"We are very pleased to have Johns Manville among our growing list of innovative corporations utilizing TrackWise for global change control," said Ran J. Flam, President and CEO of Sparta Systems. "TrackWise's business rule enforcement will support Johns Manville's progressive initiatives to proactively manage events, thereby reducing quality-related costs and improving customer satisfaction."

About Johns Manville

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company , is a leading manufacturer and marketer of premium-quality building and specialty products. In business since 1858, the Denver-based company has annual sales in excess of $2.5 billion and holds leadership positions in all of the key markets that it serves. Johns Manville employs approximately 8,500 people and operates 43 manufacturing facilities in North America, Europe and China. Additional information can be found at http://www.jm.com/.

About Sparta Systems

Sparta Systems, Inc. is the industry leader for global Quality Management Systems (QMS). Its TrackWise product is a web-based software application used by quality, manufacturing, and regulatory affairs professionals to manage quality and compliance issues across the enterprise. The company has more than 12 years of experience, with over 150 accounts in the life sciences and other regulated and non-regulated industries. Sparta Systems offers its customers a complete solution for global quality management needs, including the onsite support required throughout the project lifecycle. For more information, visit http://www.sparta-systems.com/.

CONTACT: Media, Tracy R. Orlick, +1-732-203-0400 x119, or
tracy.orlick@sparta-systems.com

Web site: http://www.sparta-systems.com/
http://www.jm.com/