Benefits of Quality Management Systems in Business

In the famous words of the designer brand, Gucci family; “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten”. 

In today’s competitive market, consumers are more demanding and selective about how they spend their money than ever before. The customer has everything at their fingertips through the internet and are able to choose from thousands of brands, stores, products, and services. Additionally, customers can view testimonies and feedback provided by other customers. From a business perspective, if your products and services fail to meet customer expectations your brand and revenue will suffer. Customers want to spend money on something that is worth the price and not something that is of poor quality. Allow us to introduce you to the key benefits of quality management systems.

By implementing a sound Quality Management System (QMS), you can ensure your products and/or services are meeting the market’s standards. The benefits of quality management systems not only include ensuring that your company’s products exceed customer expectations but allows you to turn your business prospects into loyal customers (GBS Corporate Training, 2015).

If your business could benefit from QMS implementation or an audit of your existing QMS, get in touch with an HR Consultant from Bramwell partners today for thorough QMS services. Call (07) 3630 5695 or email success@bramwellpartners.com.au today!

Why is Quality Management Important – A Business Owner Perspective

Quality management refers to the process of monitoring and reviewing all tasks and activities to support a business’ desired level of excellence in their products and/or services. The process includes the creating policies, planning procedures, assurance, and control to monitor, assess and continually improve overall quality (Indeed Editorial Team, 2023).

Quality is defined by The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills a requirement. The term requirement refers to a need or expectation that is stated, generally implied or obligatory. Examples of requirements for a business may include:

  • Customer specifications (i.e., reliability, availability, accuracy, and delivery dates),
  • Value for goods and services purchased (i.e., Return On Investment, productivity gains),
  • Various ISO standards relating to Quality (i.e.., ISO 9001, IATF 16949, and ISO 13485),
  • Statutory requirements such as the Food Safety Modernization Act and the Workplace Health & Safety Act.
  • Various industry requirements.

Quality management is considered both a perspective and an approach to increasing customer satisfaction, reducing cycle time, reducing costs, and eliminating errors whilst reworking using a set of defined tools (i.e., root cause analysis, pareto analysis, etc).

Effective quality management is an ongoing process to ensure organizations continue to meet the standards they set based on customer expectations. The importance of quality management in business is emphasised when businesses have a system in place that allows them to adjust as the industry or customer expectations change.

Quality Management – A Cultural Perspective

As stated above, Quality Management doesn’t simply end when you have achieved a particular goal. Successful Quality Management lives in the organization as part of its Culture of Quality. That is, every person experiences and understands the need for dedication to its values (Freeman, 2019).

Who Can Use Quality Management?

Everyone! The importance of quality management in business can be experienced in a number of areas in your business, this includes but not limited to:

  • Administration
  • Accounting
  • Marketing
  • Manufacturing
  • Sales
  • Transport
  • Finance
  • Research
  • Equipment maintenance (GBS Corporate Training, 2015).

Is it Worth It? The Cost of Quality

The Cost of Quality (COQ) is a way of measuring the costs associated with ensuring that a Culture of Quality thrives in a business. COQ also looks at the costs associated with Quality failures. Avoiding these often very costly quality failures perfectly highlights the benefits of quality management systems.

There are four types of Quality-related costs:

Prevention Costs

Planned costs that result from designing and implementing a QMS and preventing Quality problems from arising.

Examples include Quality planning, training, and Quality assurance.

Appraisal Costs

Costs from measuring the effectiveness of a Quality Management System. These apply to both manufacturers and a business’ supply chain.

Examples include QMS verification, Quality audits and supplier assessment.

Internal Failure Costs

Costs associated with product wastage or quality failure of services due to poor processes, excessive scrap, rework to correct errors and the activity required to diagnose the cause of Quality failures.

External Failure Costs

Costs due to defective products or quality failure of services, only discovered once they have reached the customer.

Examples include repairs, warranty claims, returns, and dealing with customer complaints.

The Cost of Poor Quality (COPQ) and its related consequences can be difficult to measure. This may make it difficult to convince executive stakeholders asking “why is quality management important”, despite the fact that mitigating COPQ has real value and is not simply an overwhelming ongoing cost.

However, the primary consequences of COPQ for an organization can be detrimental to the a successful healthy business.  The consequences of poor-quality management on an internal level look like:

  • Excess product and excessive material waste created unnecessarily high operating cost.
  • Product recalls to correct defective or damaged products reducing Company revenue, and,
  • Retesting and analysing processes and procedures to determine point of failure.
  • On an external level, poor-quality management can create:
  • Lawsuits,
  • Interstate, National or International Recalls,
  • Overuse warranties,
  • Complaints,
  • Product returns,
  • Repairs, and
  • Increased field support (Freeman, 2019).

Our 5 Tips to Improve Quality Management in Your Busines

1. Top Management Involvement

Everyone needs to be involved in the QMS! But commitment needs to come from the Business Leader. If Top Management or the Business Leader is not actively involved and engaged with the system, no one else will be. The true benefits of quality management systems in business cannot be uncovered without top down support.

2. Capture ALL Issues

Capture the issues and incidents that occur within the business in a central register so that corrective and preventive actions can be discussed and opportunities for improvement explored. ALL issues means – non-conformances (actual and potential) and potential problems that could arise.

3. Educate everyone on their role within the QMS

Every single person in the business will have an opportunity to contribute to providing quality products and services in your organisation. Educating all those people on how what they do on a daily basis supports the QMS is critical to their engagement with the system.

4. Include QMS as a topic in every meeting

This will ensure that it becomes a part of your daily business practices. There will potentially be actions that will need to be addressed in the QMS at the very least an entry into the Issue Register may be required. The importance of quality management in business will only be uncovered and properly understood trough consistent and results focused discussion around quality control

5. Celebrate your QMS wins

Every year a QMS is audited by a Third-Party Certifier.  Sharing the findings from this audit will help everyone to understand the benefits of quality management systems within the business. When the report comes back with a recommendation for certification or to continue certification share that with your team. Let them know their commitment to the system has been acknowledged.

Looking for QMS Support For Your Business?

At Bramwell Partners we carry out quality management system planning and the implementation process. We understand quality management is an integral part of your long-term business success plan, not just a one-off transaction. We approach every QMS project with focus, commitment, and dedication. Our QMS Consultants will tailor our QMS solutions to suit your business and ensure it meets your strategic growth plans and direction for the future.

Maintain Your Quality with Bramwell Partners

If you are interested in improving your business’ Quality Management System or would like another opinion on whether your business procedures are efficient and legally compliant? If so, please get in touch with Bramwell Partners, the HR Consultants Brisbane businesses trust for their QMS audits and services.
Contact us for a free consultation on (07) 3630 5695 or email success@bramwellpartners.com.au today!

References

Freeman, G (2019 ). What is Quality Management and Why Does it Matter?. Quality Magazine.  Retrieved 16 May 2023, from https://www.qualitymag.com/articles/95237-what-is-quality-management-and-why-does-it-matter

GBS Corporate Training (2015). Why Quality Matters More Than Ever In Business. GBS Corporate Training. Retrieved 16 May 2023, from https://www.gbscorporate.com/blog/why-quality-matters-more-than-ever-in-business#:~:text=Quality%20management%20helps%20companies%20improve,happier%20customers%20and%20higher%20revenue

Indeed Editorial Team (2023). What Is Quality Management? (Definition and Importance). Indeed. Retrieved 16 May 2023, from https://au.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/what-is-quality-management#:~:text=Quality%20management%20refers%20to%20the,assess%20and%20continually%20improve%20quality.