SMARTDRAW IN BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT:

Streamlining Procedures in the Food and Drug Administration

The Faulty Malfunction
Nicole Jones works as a Public Health Analyst at the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health in Rockville, Maryland. Her job is to manage the post-market management of medical device issues. If a medical device or product is a source of risk to the public health she and her colleagues work to fix the problem.

"Sometimes we will issue a safety alert, other times we will take regulatory action, said Jones. "We have many different procedures."

Jones needed a fast and easy way to diagram and flowchart these procedures in a way that was easier for others to follow.

"Our new boss really wanted us to streamline these processes, and eliminate unnecessary steps," she said. "She also wanted the diagrams in an electronic form."

One of the computer technicians in her department suggested SmartDraw, so Jones downloaded the free trial.

The Right Tool
Jones found that SmartDraw was a snap to pick up.

"It's very user-friendly, very simple, and very logical," she said. "I barely looked at the tutorials or instructions. I just didn't need to!"

SmartDraw features thousands of symbols and templates, including hundreds for flowcharts and Business Process Management (BPM). Users can drag and drop the symbols onto the page to create professional-looking diagrams in minutes.

SmartDraw also features "automatic connectors," allowing users to simply drop shapes onto connectors to automatically format flowcharts and other diagrams.

"I've never made flowcharts before, but SmartDraw made it so easy," said Jones. "All of the formatting was automatic, so I didn't even have to think about it."

Running Smoothly
Jones now uses SmartDraw on a regular basis to document and update various procedures and processes, including those for safety alerts, mailings, and filings.

"Each diagram only takes me about an hour to complete," she said. "It would probably take me days to make the diagrams with different software!"

Jones is very happy with the polished results, and so are others in her department.

"I've gotten lots of praise from my boss," she said. "We even blew up one of the diagrams and hung it on the wall."

The best part? Jones says she really enjoys using SmartDraw.

"SmartDraw gets the job done so fast," she said. "It couldn't get any better!"