QM SYSTEMS TAKE CONTROL

Sanjeewaka Kulathunga explains why biz should enforce quality management processes

In today’s globalised business environment, quality management (QM) plays a vital role in gaining a competitive edge over rivals in any market. The quality of products and services is about more than simply meeting customer demands, and includes increasing sales and revenue as well as lowering the costs of production.

More specifically, it helps prevent defects, reduces reworking costs involved and decreases customers’ rejection of products. As a result, QM has become an essential component of business management, and businesses are striving to maintain a high standard of quality for their products and services.

Total quality management (TQM) is a term used to describe a corporate climate in which employees are continually working to improve their performance and remain dedicated to upholding high quality standards.

To implement such principles, businesses may move away from a management driven approach to create a collaborative organisational environment, which seeks and finds value in all employees and stakeholders.

The delivery of goods and services in most businesses nowadays must be certified according to ISO 9001 minimum standards. Goods and services are also reliant on proper processes, and businesses increasingly focus on QM.

It is essential to review quality holistically across various functions now, rather than relegating it to a separate department. Businesses that don’t have internal certification audits and inspections with accreditations such as ISO, Lean, Six Sigma and so on should contract the services of third parties to measure quality standards.

Changes in business models, technological breakthroughs and more demanding consumers around the globe have made QM leaders rethink how long they can rely on conventional quality initiatives.

Quality management is an evolving process and many businesses have integrated it into their procedures as part of the daily routine. It’s closely tied to many general organisational functions including R&D and is quickly becoming an essential feature in business.

Developers can now construct more scalable, adaptable, agile and robust apps using ‘cloud native’ platforms that allow them to keep up with fast changing technology. The advantage of cloud native systems over classic ‘lift and shift’ techniques is that these optimise the cloud’s computing benefits while simplifying operations related to QM.

There is also no need to be concerned about costs related to designing, implementing and upgrading of quality management systems (QMS). Additionally, cloud based solutions enable enterprises of all sizes to keep their quality data management systems and processes connected even when their quality measuring staff are geographically scattered.

Businesses that place a premium on innovation have already migrated to cloud solutions for quality management systems.

Organisations can streamline their decision making on QMS by using AI. Each decision in this paradigm is incorporated into a set of procedures that are guided by information and analytics. Artificial intelligence will assist, contribute to and automate human decision making, through enhanced analytics and simulations.

The use of new technology can dramatically increase overall decision-making skills related to quality initiatives. It’s better to use a next generation solution to transform the existing QM system into a quality decision-making engine.

Statistical control has been used in quality management for almost a century and is a key component of effective QM. AI-based QMS bring a lot of advantages in certain specialised areas from production to marketing but many manufacturers should initially address the fundamental requirements of a total quality management process before becoming enamoured with artificial intelligence.

In the future, the most significant TQM development may be a shift from stand-alone, desktop installed software with an onsite database to a centralised third party cloud application. Due to data security standards however, this can be difficult in some sensitive government regulated industries.

The role of QM in translating policy into methods of working and culture will become more vital as a social need in making ethical decisions. In an effort to establish the proper quality approach, QM leaders will need to adapt their processes to be relative to the pace of change in the global business environment.

Entrepreneurs will need to combine standardisation with agility to reap the benefits of innovation as quickly as possible. In building a quality conscious organisation, corporate leaders will have to devote more time and energy to exercising strategic leadership and quality improvement throughout a business’ culture involving its stakeholders.