FAQ: What is a QMS?
What is a QMS?
A quality management system, or QMS, is a program designed to enforce and improve quality throughout a manufacturing or industrial system. Although many QMS systems are still based in pen and paper or ad-hoc spreadsheets, organizations are increasingly turning to quality management software, also known as EQMS.
What is the purpose of a QMS?
Over time, quality has moved from being a cost center to a profit center for manufacturing organizations. Quality management systems evolved as a way for companies to systematize and formalize their approach to quality, automating elements of record-keeping, data analysis, corrective action and supplier quality.
What are the features of QMS software?
Quality management software systems can serve many functions. They can help increase productivity, improve worker safety, distribute training materials, discern the root cause of quality incidents, manage suppliers and intake of raw materials, document efforts to comply with regulations, fulfill audit requests, and more.
How can companies benefit from a quality management system?
Quality management systems help streamline the transition from quality as a cost center to quality as a driver of enhanced financial performance. One key example is that QMS helps connect elements of quality across departments and breaks down data siloes that are a factor in production inefficiency. Customer complaints can help inform the designs of the next version of a product, and sales can use these improvements to sell more units. A QMS serves as an engine for continuous improvement.
What does QMS software do?
Quality management software speeds up many of the otherwise repetitive tasks involved with supporting and promoting quality. For example, it can take a very long time to assemble the documentation required to fulfill an internal or external audit demand. With a QMS, these documents are stored and tagged for automatic retrieval, condensing the task from hours to minutes.
What is EQMS?
EQMS is enterprise QMS—that is, QMS software that’s hosted either on-premises or in the cloud. EQMS can further automate quality within organizations while incorporating advanced technology elements, such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to serve the entire enterprise.
How do companies use QMS management software?
There are many ways to use QMS software, and these largely depend on the kind of company using it. A company in a heavily regulated industry, like life sciences, may use quality management software to comply with regulatory standards, manage audit requests or pursue recalls. Meanwhile, consumer products companies may use QMS to reduce nonconformances or improve productivity.
What are the steps for creating an effective QMS?
First, instead of creating a QMS from scratch, we recommend working with a qualified vendor such as ETQ. That is because homegrown QMS systems tend not to scale with the increasing need for quality. Instead, your best bet is first to understand your need for a QMS, meet with your stakeholders, and then work with your vendor to design a QMS implementation that best fits your needs.
What is QMS documentation?
QMS documentation is all the paperwork needed to make the quality aspect of the business functional. That may include organizational charts, training documents, material safety data sheets, support tickets, blueprints, operating manuals, and more.
What does a QMS do?
When implemented correctly, a QMS can dramatically streamline how quality is managed, implemented and tracked within an organization. Imagine a process that involves writing down on a clipboard and then transposing the written document into Excel. Imagine taking that process and replacing it with a tablet that automatically places results into a searchable database. That is just a fraction of the convenience QMS can offer.
What is an effective QMS?
An effective QMS is one designed for the end-user. Many companies can’t use a one-size-fits-all QMS approach. Instead, they need a system that includes custom modules and integrations that help them navigate their unique processes and application environments.
What does a QMS consist of?
A QMS consists of several applications, each designed to accomplish a specific task. A document management module stores and organizes quality data. A corrective action (CAPA) application helps quality managers direct correct ion of nonconformances of all types. A training management module stores and distributes training data while tracking workers’ progress against the required courses to operate equipment and safely navigate the industrial environment.
What are the 7 quality management principles?
- Engagement of people: Implementing a bottom-up, worker-focused approach to training, safety, and operations
- Customer focus: Designing products and processes to ensure the end-user is both safe and happy
- Leadership: Quality managers must have clear goals and objectives
- Process approach: Design a formalized workflow for each quality management task you encounter
- Improvement: Don’t just rebound from mistakes—make every process better, no matter what
- Evidence-based decision making: Take a scientific approach to quality, safety, training, and management
- Relationship management: Develop healthy, productive, and honest relationships between both customers and vendors
