Jacob Thompson
Prod Mktg Manager, Sr
In today’s competitive business environment, it’s imperative that your products exhibit unwavering quality.
Enter the quality management system (QMS), a structured solution that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality standards. It helps your business coordinate daily activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements.
But what is a quality management system, exactly? And more importantly, what benefits does it provide?
In the following article, you will learn what a QMS is, how it works, and how you can successfully implement one in your organization.
A quality management system is a formalized framework that includes the procedures, processes, and policies necessary to execute in an organization’s core business area. This system is integrated into every aspect of your business to enhance product or service quality and meet customer expectations.
The aim of a QMS is to help ensure your processes consistently yield products that meet quality standards. QMS standards, such as ISO 9001, offer a framework for establishing and maintaining a systematic approach to quality management. These thresholds are widely recognized and can enhance your company’s credibility in the marketplace.
A quality management system creates a structured approach to managing product quality through a series of interconnected processes and practices.
Some steps involved in a QMS include:
Under the QMS mode, your business should never settle for “good enough.” Instead, strive to continually get better by leveraging customer feedback, conducting audits, and analyzing performance data.
Difference Between ERP and Financials
A financial management solution includes accounting tools, reporting capabilities, and other features to help your business manage its revenue and expenses. However, it won’t address other critical business functions such as HR, customer relationship management, or sales.
Conversely, an ERP system is a true all-in-one solution. It includes the modules and tools necessary to manage all core business processes, from inventory control to sales and everything in between.
While your quality management system should be tailored to the unique needs of your business, it must also include a few key components, such as:
Additionally, you should conduct periodic audits to assess the efficacy of your QMS framework.
Management should review the results of these audits and routinely revisit policies to ensure that they match the organization’s big-picture goals.
When it comes to deploying enterprise resource planning technology, your organization has two primary options: on-premises or cloud-based. Let’s examine the pros and cons of each approach.
Many clients prefer the cloud-based ERP deployment model. With this implementation approach, your ERP system will look and feel like a traditional, on-premises solution. However, your data and applications will be hosted via Epicor's cloud resources. To access your ERP, simply sign into your account using any device with an internet connection.
There is one potential downside to the cloud-based approach: Some highly regulated industries may face compliance issues with storing data, especially customer information, off-premises. However, you can still configure Epicor’s platform to align with your organization’s needs and securely implement whichever modules your industry allows.
The cloud-based deployment approach is more cost-effective than an on-premises implementation, because you do not have to invest in hardware, servers, and other IT infrastructure.
On-premises ERP is deployed at your facility using your servers and other hardware. Your IT staff will be tasked with maintaining the ERP software and all of your new hardware. This approach gives you significant autonomy over how the platform is implemented, configured, and managed.
While this approach allows you greater control over your system, it is less cost-effective than cloud-based ERP. Your upfront investment will be higher, as you have to purchase servers and hardware to support the deployment. Additionally, any time you need more computing or storage resources, you will have to expand your network of servers.
Another consideration is that you and your in-house IT professionals will be responsible for maintaining the platform. This can lead to ongoing IT costs and may require you to expand your tech team.
Quality management systems provide a wide range of benefits. They can help you achieve numerous aims, including the following:
One of the primary benefits of a QMS is quality assurance (QA). These frameworks help your organization adhere to QA thresholds and meet customer requirements consistently.
Establishing a track record of delivering quality products will promote trust and loyalty among your client base. Conversely, falling short of these standards can lead to churn and tarnish your reputation.
A QMS not only focuses on customer satisfaction but also helps ensure your business meets its internal requirements. This includes complying with regulatory standards, achieving business objectives, and improving overall operational efficiency.
For instance, enhancing product quality can reduce the need for rework and cut down on material waste. Both of these outcomes are great for your bottom line.
Each process involved in your day-to-day workflows must be clearly defined and repeatable. Otherwise, QA issues will plague your organization.
A QMS addresses this issue by standardizing practices, reducing variability, and helping ensure product or service delivery consistency.
The QMS framework also includes a mechanism for analyzing business efficiency and finding quality issues that lead to waste.
Once you’ve noted problems in your production processes, you can remedy them and unlock significant cost savings. Reducing waste also promotes sustainability and reduces your company’s environmental impact.
If your company lacks standardized processes or clearly defined workflows, detecting deviations becomes more challenging. Conversely, a quality management system provides an easy-to-understand map of how things should be done.
Having such a map helps you identify and prevent mistakes before they result in major defects. This proactive approach further reduces the need for reworking and makes the goods you produce more consistent.
Audits are a foundational part of the QMS framework. Through regular monitoring and assessments, a QMS can identify areas where your staff may need additional training or support.
Addressing skill deficiencies proactively enables you to cultivate a more talented and well-rounded workforce. Additional training will also benefit team members, helping them improve their performance and expand their capabilities.
Quality management systems give your company clear guidance on what needs to get done, what standards products must meet, and how to achieve those QA goals.
Having a solid strategy aligns employees with the company’s quality objectives and fosters a culture of continuous improvement.
Introducing a QMS to your business model can help put quality assurance challenges behind you while simultaneously enhancing the customer experience.
At first glance, rolling out a quality management system may feel like a daunting task. In reality, the journey is manageable so long as you divide the project into the following steps:
The design phase involves defining the scope of your quality management system. Start simply by asking, “What workflows do I need this framework to govern?” If you operate in manufacturing, your QMS will govern the production process for each SKU you make.
Next, identify the key steps involved in each workflow so that you can establish quality objectives. You want your goals to balance being ambitious but still achievable.
Aiming to reduce the rework rate on all products to zero would be unrealistic, whereas a goal like lowering the defect rate on product “A” by 25% in the next quarter is within reach.
Now, you are ready to create detailed procedures and work instructions. These will include documentation or checklists for all processes to help ensure that workers perform them in accordance with your QA standards.
Spell things out. Don’t leave anything open to interpretation or guesswork. Your team members should know exactly what they have to do and how they are supposed to accomplish it.
Roll out your quality management system across the entire organization. To maximize employee buy-in, train your staff and communicate the underlying objectives of the QMS.
Help ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. It’s a good idea to open the floor for feedback and really listen to what your staff says.
Control mechanisms enable you to monitor and measure the efficacy of your processes. You can implement multiple types of control measures, including internal audits, inspections, and managerial reviews.
Each type of control provides a piece of the puzzle. Don’t just rely on one process. Instead, gather insights from several tactics so you can determine whether your QMS is achieving the desired results.
The measurement phase involves collecting and analyzing process performance data and quality outcomes. Adopting a centralized platform, such as an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, will be valuable for gathering, consolidating, and leveraging performance data.
Generally, process performance and QA are positively correlated. Thus, if a performance metric improves, it should translate to meaningful quality gains as well. If your processes improve but QA outcomes aren’t meeting your set thresholds, it’s time to retool your QMS.
Regular management reviews help gauge the QMS's overall effectiveness. The leadership team needs to examine everything from customer feedback to audit results. After conducting this analysis, you and your team should explore ways to make the QMS more effective and more closely aligned with the company’s goals.
The final stage focuses on continual improvement. When you reach one QA goal, set a new one. Over time, you will make significant quality enhancements while drastically improving the customer experience.
Quality management systems are becoming increasingly integrated into ERPs and other business technologies. By combining QMS frameworks with cloud-based solutions, technology providers make monitoring, analyzing, and improving workflows easier.
Looking ahead, modern QMS technologies will become even more integrated with other management systems and gather data from Internet of Things devices to provide a holistic view of the quality control challenge. This end-to-end approach can help your business achieve better sustainability and compliance.
There’s no denying that a QMS can yield tremendous benefits for your business and its clients. However, choosing the right framework and supporting it with a dynamic technology solution is critical to the success of your initiative. As a leading quality management system provider, our team can offer expert advice to aid your QMS selection and implementation process.
Contact us if you’d like additional insights about QMS technology, including how it can benefit your business.
