What is quality management?

Quality management can be boiled down to a set of business processes that are implemented to bring customer satisfaction to all who interact with a certain business. A business that has an effective Quality Management System (QMS) will be able to translate an organisation’s purpose and goals into policies and resources that ensure that every business affiliate will adhere to a certain quality standard and be able to deliver the best services and products to their customers.

Developing a Quality Management System for your business will take determination and practice as well as an understanding of current standards of quality management. Keep reading to learn more about what quality management exactly is and how to find the best Quality Management System for your business.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT DEFINED AND QMS STANDARDS

Quality management can be defined as the degree to which something meets the expectation of customers or surpasses the expectation of customers. Ideally, you want to find your product in between these two areas in relation to customer satisfaction, and there are a couple of things you want to be aware of when making decisions regarding QMS standards such as:

• Leadership – Employ only the most dedicated talent for your team and optimise your quality production
• Engagement to Audience – Focus on your audience and listen to how they react to the quality of your products and services
• Improve continually – Make sure that the quality of your product continually improves after you learn what your audience likes and dislikes about the quality of your product
• Make Evidence-Based Decisions – Make sure that your improvements are made on reliable source information and watch out for overlooked quality neglect or impulsive unreliable enhancement strategies
• Relationship Management – Maintain a good rapport with your colleagues and employees and work together to solve any QMS issues

As you can see, there are many ways in which you can improve the QMS for your business. You must be able to successfully balance organisational responsibilities with the above principles in mind to optimise your QMS.

THE MAIN COMPONENTS OF QUALITY MANAGEMENT

Quality management can be broken down into four essential components: quality planning, quality improvement, quality control, and quality assurance.

Quality planning= the process of deciding how to meet quality standards that are expected from your product or service design.

Quality improvement= the intentional change of a business process that improves the confidence or reliability of the product or service offered to the customer. 

Quality control= the constant effort to instil the most integrity and reliability in the outcome of your products and services.

Quality assurance= the systematic procedures that are taken to offer the most reliability for your services and builds trust with your customers.

If you invest in these core principles that help provide a solid QMS for your business to stand on, customers are more likely to trust the reliability and effectiveness of the products and services that your business provides.

BENEFITS OF A SUCCESSFUL QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

A QMS that is well designed and purposed for a particular business model will serve many benefits for customers and business owners alike. An effective system builds trust in your customer base and helps the reputability of your brand.

Consider a few benefits that may come from a well-designed QMS below:

• A functional QMS will help a business develop consistency in tasks and processes that are involved with the production of the products and services offered by the business.
• Customer satisfaction will be improved and requests for refunds will be minimised
• Marketing can be significantly increased and good customer reviews may develop warm leads for your products and services
• Open and honest communication ensures that the business can continuously improve products, processes and services.
• Builds an effective and productive business model that is flexible and open to new employees who can easily adapt to your quality business processes

DEVELOP PROPER LEADERSHIP

In order to develop a functional QMS, you must hire good leadership to ensure your business succeeds. Great leaders will be able to establish unity and give your quality control purpose when effectively managed. Creating an atmosphere that encourages leaders to share their opinions and provide better quality control will be essential in determining the functionality of your QMS. Take a look at some of the qualities to look for in a leader:

• Motivates employees to do things the right way and eliminate costs from simple errors
• Creates innovative quality control procedures for other employees to follow
• Assesses customer concerns effectively
• Effectively engages people and optimises quality performance
• Continually improves upon products by reducing costs, eliminating unnecessary waste and improving product consistency
• Makes informative decisions based on evidence

Developing proper leadership for your business QMS is essential for peak quality performance. Invest in the right leadership and you will be on track for developing a solid QMS for your business.

CONSIDER THE COST OF QUALITY

Cost of quality is the way to measure the costs that come when maintaining an effective QMS.  Prevention costs are planned costs that help prevent quality problems from ever occurring. Planning, training and quality assurance practices are all expenses to consider when thinking about your prevention costs.

Appraisal costs are the costs that occur to both manufacturers and the supply chain. This may include verification costs, quality audits and supplier assessment costs. Internal failure costs surface when the manufacturer finds quality failures before the product or service is delivered to customers. This may include reworking suggestions to fix product flaws, excessive waste and manufacturing errors. External failure costs usually occur after the product or service has reached the customer. This may include warranty claims, repairs, returns, or customer complaints that may help improve quality design.

SUMMARY

Quality management is a lucrative system that will help keep your business cost low and optimize your cash flow. Building a brand means building a product or service that people can trust to help better their lives.

Invest in the right tools and set up a QMS that is sure to impress your customers and potential investors. You will be making quality cash in no time!