Leveraging application lifecycle management software to develop custom tools and meet industry regulations

Beijing Teamlive Works Technology Co., Ltd. (Teamlive) is a Chinese provider of comprehensive research and development (R&D) management systems for customers in compliance-based industries, including automotive and transportation, aerospace and defense and medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Established in 2011, Teamlive provides customers with cutting-edge technology and services to help them improve business performance while minimizing risk.

Many of Teamlive’s customers work in industries where safety and reliability are a top priority. For example, its automotive customers must meet Automotive Software Process Improvement and Capability Determination (ASPICE) requirements, which evaluates whether an organization can effectively produce software. These companies also must adhere to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26262 functional safety standards to ensure the safety of the driver and passengers in case of mechanical failure or breakdown.

Medical devices and pharmaceuticals customers face similar challenges when meeting United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards in the United States and China. These standards are based on fully adhering to safety, reliability and traceability rules. To help customers meet these standards and improve data traceability, Teamlive focused on developing expertise in Polarion™ ALM software, which is part of the Siemens Xcelerator business platform of software, hardware and services.

Teamlive was recognized in 2018 as a Siemens Expert Partner for specializing in Polarion ALM (application lifecycle management). Siemens Digital Industries Software recognizes partners that demonstrate expertise in its solutions. These Siemens Expert Partners are validated by customers and Siemens for demonstrating their business and technical acumen. The executives at Teamlive believe their Siemens Expert Partner status has been invaluable for earning customers’ trust and promoting the company’s expertise in Polarion software customizations, which provide automated workflows that help customers adhere to regulations such as ASPICE.

Leveraging Polarion ALM for automation and collaboration

A Chinese automotive customer that produces electric drive systems needed to improve its engineering team collaboration and R&D data sharing to resolve the challenge of low productivity. The customer was also unable to adhere to ASPICE standards, which provides certification that a company’s internal processes are well organized and its products meet quality and safety requirements.

The company approached Teamlive due to its success helping other automotive companies that faced similar challenges. Based on consultations with the customer, Teamlive recommended using Polarion ALM to help centralize its R&D management and store data from multiple departments in a central database.

Teamlive provided digitalization training and implemented customizable FusionX, a Polarion add-on, which further helped automate work-flows, define product attributes and create product reports, all built to meet ASPICE standards to simplify compliance certification.

The centralized R&D and FusionX add-on, which is available with Polarion ALM, empowered the customer’s engineering teams to collaborate more quickly and easily compared to its previous decentralized R&D management system. As a result, the team realized a 16 percent reduction in manual work hours in the R&D process.

“Our solution, FusionX for ASPICE, is built inside the Polarion ALM framework and is a practical all-in-one solution,” says Michael Zhou, general manager of Teamlive. “We work hard to solve our customers’ biggest business challenges and transform teams by helping them realize the power of collaboration.”

Improving FDA compliance

A medical equipment firm was unable to meet FDA certification requirements due to its lack of traceability as a result of using manual processes. The customer approached Teamlive, which explained the benefits of implementing Polarion ALM to solve the customer’s work-flow challenges and organize file access permissions. Teamlive configured Polarion ALM to support the customer’s product development and improve traceability while creating a more open, collaborative workflow.

Using Polarion ALM helped the company improve traceability of its certification process and adhere to FDA regulations 66 percent faster. Teamlive also provided the training and ongoing support for the customer’s R&D engineers, which helped improve collaboration between teams.

“Using Polarion is a competitive advantage for us and our future R&D management practice,” says Zhou. “As customers digitalize their operations, we are prepared to help them with their regulatory and compliance challenges and help them expand confidently.”