Quality Management
Overview
Quality assurance should never be overlooked. The process lets you know if you are using your resources correctly. You don't want to cut corners with any part of your product’s quality. Cutting corners could result in lost client faith, shrinking profit margins and eventually, your company’s ability to attract talented employees. Good quality assurance procedures allow both company owners and employees to take pride in their work. Many projects may not met with the degree of success because of a lack of quality at some point in the delivery chain. This lack of quality has been seen at all levels in the implementation process – competent personnel within an implementing agency, a lack of well-trained installation and maintenance technicians or poor hardware quality.
What is a Quality Management System?
A quality management system provides a framework within which an organization operates and against which its performance can be assessed. A quality management system provides an organization with important tools to assist it in improving its internal systems for manufacturing products or providing services.
By providing a mechanism for continual assessment, processes within an organization, be it a manufacturing process or an installation process, can be checked for consistency, quality of results, and success of continual improvement procedures. Furthermore, the quality management system ensures that the documentation necessary to evaluate any portion of the process is available and, more importantly, auditable.
Benefits of a Quality Management System
Working to a quality management system has a number of benefits for the organization, its clients, and suppliers.
A documented quality management system, meeting recognized standards:
§ demonstrates an organization's commitment to quality;
§ helps to have a better focus on business objectives and customer expectations;
§ leads to better quality products and services;
§ indicates consistency and efficiency of work processes;
§ provides a solid foundation for continuous improvement;
§ improves the performance of the organization and hence leads to a more competitive business;
What a Quality Management System Does Not Do
While a quality management system provides many benefits, it is not a quick solution to all problems and does not, in the first instance, guarantee high-quality products.
It is only a means and a tool and cannot take the place of good management and planning.
It is important to be aware of the following:
§ A quality management system, by itself, will not automatically lead to improvements or high-quality products or services
§ Quality management system standards should not be confused with product standards
§ Implementing a formal quality management system may result in a greater administrative burden – it is important not to let this happen
