Quality Management Systems
If an organisation, of any type, is to thrive it must give its customers complete satisfaction. Quality Management Systems (QMS) enable those who utilise them to identify their customer’s expectations and to ensure that their products and services meet them.
In order to ensure that we adopt the right Management System it is important to have a clear understanding of what quality management really is. Firstly the difference between a Management System and a Management Standard – there have been numerous Quality Management Standards and models over the years, BS5750, the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model, Six Sigma, Kaizen and probably the most widely adopted and therefore arguably the most successful, ISO 9000. These Standards etc provide a framework for organisations to build a system by which they may manage their own quality management, a Quality Management System. Standards such as ISO 9001 apply to all types of organisation but the System should be tailored to suite the needs of the singular adopting organisation if it is to be effective. Only in this way can all of the benefits of the System be realised.
Another thing we need to be clear about is what we mean by quality. Is it getting it right first time every time? Exceeding customer expectation? Fit for purpose? Superiority? Conforming to requirements? There are many definitions of quality in business and even quality management practitioners often disagree about what quality really means. Organisations are all different with different needs. Even where they produce the same product or supply the same service there will be differences in their goals, the way in which they achieve these goals or even their whole quality management ethos. Even within one organisation there will be differences over time, otherwise there would be stagnation. Perhaps what you need is a more flexible approach to defining quality, which changes as your organisation changes so that your Quality Management System and its quality objectives are right for your organisation and they are right for now.
It is obvious that if you improve the quality of your ‘widgets’ you will improve customer satisfaction, reputation in the market place and your turnover. If all that you are concerned with is the quality of your widgets though, you will miss out on some other significant advantages offered by effective Systems. Producing great ‘widgets’ doesn’t necessarily mean that you don’t make mistakes. For every ‘widget’ that goes out of the door how many go to waste? How much raw material didn’t make final product? Increased sales means increased turnover but does that mean better profits? To realise all of the benefits of Quality Management Systems you will need to apply it to every process in your organisation, to every aspect of your business.
Organisations need their Quality Management Systems to incorporate principles on which top management can base their decision making processes. The Quality Management Standard ISO 9001, for example, is based on eight such principles as follows:
Customer focus
Identify the needs of the customer and ensure that you meet them or aim to exceed them
Leadership
Effective leadership gives organisations and those within it direction.
Involvement of people
People need to fully understand their roles within the Quality Management System so that they can become involved in it and work towards the organisations quality objectives.
Process approach
Identify all of the activities within he organisation and consider each as a process.
System approach to management
Indentifying, understanding and effectively managing processes and how they inter-relate will help to achieve quality objectives.
Continual improvement
A fundamental requirement of Quality Management Standards, which should also be a permanent quality objective in any System.
Factual approach to decision making
Management should base decisions on their analysis of all available data.
Mutually beneficial supplier relationship
Organisations and their suppliers are interdependent so the development of a mutually beneficial relationship enables both parties to add value to the System.
So, there we have it. A Quality Management Standard provides a framework for the development of your Quality Management System. Your quality objectives need to change to keep pace with progress and promote continual improvement. Even the definition of quality needs to change, sometimes from one process to the other and sometimes it needs to change over time.
Here at Lynwood we are passionate about getting the most out of management systems. They should be more than a certificate on the wall or an appeasement to contractor's demands. It has been proven world wide that the application of management systems brings real benefits.
Lynwood and its consultants have applied Management Standards many times. We have developed bespoke Management Systems for numerous organisations of various types and of all sizes. We are very proud to have been a part of so many success stories. Why not give us a call? We could be a part of yours.
