What is a Quality Management System?

Businesses that thrive are the ones that place their focus on quality assurance measures that exceed industry standards. One of the most commonly used and robust tools for this purpose is what is known as a Quality Management System (QMS). 

A quality management system is a cloud-based Software as a Solution (SaaS) that helps organizations review and document their procedures, processes, and responsibilities that help them achieve predetermined standards. 

Today’s modern QMS solutions are built to adhere to ISO 9001:2015 international standards – which cover the entire system. When used correctly, a QMS can help any organization with multiple phases of operations including:

• Reducing waste
• Lowering expenses and costs
• Improving processes
• Identifying areas of improvement 
• Facilitating training and engaging staff
• Establishing standards, goals, and objectives for quality assurance

What are the Benefits of a QMS?

It takes a lot of effort to achieve quality assurance standards – in any industry. However, it’s arguably more difficult to maintain those standards – especially when changes in supply chain management, shipping, and logistics can cause significant roadblocks.

This is a major reason why proactive business managers often search for software solutions that help ensure they don’t fall out of compliance. 

Today’s modern QMS solutions are built to adhere to ISO 9001:2015 international standards – which cover the entire system. When used correctly, a QMS can help any organization with multiple phases of operations including:

• Reducing waste
• Lowering expenses and costs
• Improving processes
• Identifying areas of improvement 
• Facilitating training and engaging staff
• Establishing standards, goals, and objectives for quality assurance

However, the benefits above are just the tip of the iceberg. A high-quality QMS also can shine in many other ways, such as:

• Permits businesses to meet customer expectations and requirements. Complying with quality assurance standards looks great on paper – but in the end, the quality of your business operations and solutions helps to build customer confidence in your business. 
• Increase word of mouth advertising. When a business goes above and beyond to take care of its customers – it helps to create customer loyalty, which is often a major contributing factor with inspiring them to recommend their service to friends and family. 
• Stimulates growth: Obviously, when your quality assurance programs are monitored and enhanced with a QMS, the business can benefit from increased sales, profitability, and experience growth – while others struggle. 

The Process for Implementing a Quality Management Solution

Just like any other SaaS, implementing a QMS involves following a proven process. A process, that ideally reduces mistakes, downtime, and furthermore, improves opportunities for success. Most logistics companies follow this process as noted below.

Design & Development

Developing any SaaS takes time but with a QMS it’s a bit more complex than other solutions. The key is to design and develop a QMS that helps you review metrics and areas of business that are important to the industry. You want to be able to target certain areas of operation that foster growth and keep your business leagues ahead of the competition.

For manufacturing, this means a QMS configured based on retaining the right raw materials, manufacturing processes, and quality control standards that fit the business model.

Deployment or Implementation

Once the QMS has been developed and customized, the next step is to implement the software within the organization. This typically involves training key users, setting up user accounts, and establishing reporting and metric tools that can be configured for personal preferences. 

Monitor and Adjust Solutions

The overall key to an effective Quality Management System is monitoring and adjusting the software based on a continual review. This helps to create controls and measurements that are always up to date.

While there are many software providers that offer plug-and-play QMS solutions, these platforms are hit and miss with their ability to comply with quality assurance standards for specific industries. Those in logistics have different metrics – such as manufacturers, fulfillment centers, carriers, and distributors. As such, it is recommended to consult with an experienced third-party logistics company – like Redwood Logistics. 

A 3PL like Redwood Logistics can help companies fine-tune and optimize their QMS solutions – based on their industry, quality standards, and other specific factors. If you are thinking about investing in a Quality Management Solution for 2020, contact the experts at Redwood Logistics.