A Quality Management System (QMS) is a framework of policies, processes, and procedures that organizations implement to ensure their products or services consistently satisfy customer expectations and comply with regulatory standards. It is designed to enhance operational efficiency, ensure quality, and support continuous improvement.
QMS stands for Quality Management System, a formalized framework of processes and procedures designed to improve quality, meet customer requirements, and enhance satisfaction. The term QMS often also refers to quality management software, which helps organizations implement practices like Total Quality Management (TQM) and achieve compliance with standards such as ISO 9001.
The elements of a Quality Management System (QMS) typically include:
Quality Management Systems (QMS) can vary depending on industry requirements and specific roles. Some common types include:
Different industries may adopt specific standards tailored to their unique needs, such as:
Don’t confuse the QMS with QMS software.
A QMS is a set of processes and procedures — and many QMS are still based in pen and paper or ad-hoc spreadsheets. But organizations are increasingly digitizing quality management software, also known as eQMS Software.Â
Typical quality management software platforms are workflow-based and provide intelligent routing to move quality-related events through different areas of the business to ensure product or service quality.
Most QMS systems consist of a variety of applications, including:
However, more comprehensive QMS solutions encompass critical processes like supplier quality, quality events, and new product introduction (NPI).
Each designed to accomplish a specific task. For example:
A QMS also enables quality automation, which minimizes human error across repeatable processes and ensures quality throughout product and business life cycles for companies of any size. Quality automation is a dynamic process that deploys highly integrated technology solutions to improve organizational efficiency, reduce costs, deliver higher quality products, and better services across your organization’s business divisions.
Total Quality Management is a management approach businesses can adopt to achieve long-term success through customer satisfaction. Under this approach, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they work.
Quality is defined from the customer’s perspective, and a proactive quality culture leverages QMS tools aimed directly at increasing customer satisfaction, such as, complaint management processes, risk management, compliance tracking.
An engaged workforce is the engine that drives TQM. The QMS helps all employees take ownership of quality by providing data and feedback on how their efforts impact quality.Â
Like many quality philosophies, TQM draws from the process approach aimed at understanding the link between process inputs and finished quality. A QMS supports the process approach by addressing every element of the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.
TQM emphasizes the connection of different functions and process areas into an integrated business system. A fully integrated QMS ties together the full range of quality processes, also moving data to and from other business systems (like ERP and MES).
Companies must have a strategic plan that makes quality a top priority. That means including quality and risk data in management reviews, including quality initiatives in the budget, and communicating results regularly.
The QMS supports continuous improvement, but only if you have a closed-loop process to address issues you find. An automated QMS holds a distinct advantage over manual tracking and follow-up methods.
TQM focuses on making decisions based on performance data. A proactive organization will collect and analyze data on an ongoing basis, using integrated Reporting tools to analyze trends and take action.
The final element of TQM is communication. QMS automation can help here, ​​so that all employees know about updates, policy changes, and new processes. This prevents information silos, and it helps more accurately measure the effectiveness of current policies and procedures. The communication process must include all front-line employees, to whom performance data matters just as much as it does to leadership.
As demand for QMS grows, so does the vendor landscape, complicating decisions over the right choice that ensures a successful implementation and facilitates mission-critical quality initiatives.Â
In fact, research shows 71% of software rollouts fail, are late or are over budget.
To make sure you find the right QMS, make sure you clearly define your needs up front, and consider the following factors in your prospective vendors.
