Quality review system with metadata collection

A quality review system for use in monitoring the operation of a process, comprising:

• one or more data sources configured to collect process operational data within the process during operation of the process;
• an exception detection system coupled to the one or more data sources, including;
• a rules database that stores a plurality of rules, wherein each of the plurality of rules includes logic defining one or more exceptions and indications of process data to be applied to the logic to determine if one or more exceptions exist based on the process data, and a definition of a set of process metadata associated with the one or more exceptions;
• a communication interface communicatively coupled to the one or more data sources, the communication interface configured to receive process data from the one or more data sources at different times during operation of the process and configured to obtain the process metadata associated with the one or more exceptions;
• and
• an exception engine that processes the process data from the one or more data sources using the logic associated with the plurality of rules in the rules database to determine if an exception exists as defined by any of the plurality of rules on a set a process data;
• wherein the exception engine, upon identifying an exception based on one of the plurality of rules, creates an exception record for the determined exception and stores the exception record in an exception record database, and wherein the exception engine stores the process metadata for the exception as part of the exception record;
• and
• a review interface that enables a user to review exceptions stored as the exception records in an exception record database, wherein the review interface accesses the exception record database, presents information to a user via a user interface regarding one or more identified exceptions and provides the user via the user interface with at least some of the process metadata stored for the exception record.

A method of monitoring a process, comprising:

• storing a plurality of rules, wherein each of the plurality of rules includes logic defining one or more exceptions related to the operation of a process and indications of process data to be applied to the logic to determine if one or more exceptions exist based on the process data, and a definition of a set of process metadata associated with the one or more exceptions;
• obtaining, via a communication network, process data from one or more data sources within the process, at different times during operation of the process;
• obtaining, via a communication network, process metadata associated with the one or more exceptions;
• processing the process data from the one or more data sources using the logic associated with the plurality of rules in the rules database to determine if an exception exists as defined by any of the plurality of rules based on the process data;
• upon identifying an exception based on one of the plurality of rules, creating an exception record for the determined exception, storing the exception record in an exception record database, and storing the process metadata for the exception as associated with the exception record in the exception record database;
• and
• enabling a user, via a user interface device, to review the exceptions stored as the exception records in the exception record database, including accessing the exception record database via a communication network, presenting information to a user via the user interface regarding one or more accessed exceptions and providing the user via the user interface with at least some of the process metadata stored for the accessed exception.