What is a quality management system?
A quality management system (KMS), also known as a quality management system (QMS), is a tool for your organization to analyze, ensure, improve and manage the quality of business operations. A KMS helps your organization to be consistent and efficient and to increase customer satisfaction. The ISO2HANDLE digital KMS helps you meet all ISO standards - including ISO9001 - but also to other standards such as NEN, ISAE, IFS/BRC, HACCP and HKZ.
The ISO2HANDLE management system includes tools for documentation, registration, dashboarding and reporting, automated workflows (records automatically trigger actions and tasks), process management, task management and resource management, risk management and mitigation, and extensive analysis capabilities.
Why do you need a quality management system?
A quality management system helps your organization on its way to continuous improvement or, as we call it, “endless improvement”. A professional digital KMS helps you with:
Quality improvement
A KMS ensures consistency in processes, which translates into a consistent quality of the products or services provided.
Optimizing processes ensures improved business operations and lower costs. This makes your organization more competitive, which is of course an important profit point.
Endless improvement
Wanting and being able to improve is also part of your organization's culture. A culture of continuous improvement is healthy and fun. A digital QMS such as ISO2HANDLE can actively help stimulate that culture. A digital platform makes it easier to involve the entire organization and get actively involved. A quality management system brings your PDCA cycle to life.
Complying with laws and regulations
Sometimes, as an organization, you simply need to be certified to do business. Without ISO9001, ISO27001, NEN7510 or HKZ, you simply won't get to work. But in addition, a certification also shows your customers that you take them seriously. After all, you work in a structured way on product and process improvements and have customer satisfaction is of paramount importance stand.
Certifications increase your reliability and credibility and make you less likely to run legal risks. This also means that the continuity of your organization is better guaranteed.
How does a quality management system work
A good quality management system facilitates the PDCA cycle. Endless improvement consists of going through the Plan-Do-Check-Act improvement circle over and over again.
Document management
The basis of your KMS or QMS is your documentation, which sets out your quality policy and everything that results from it. Of course, it is important that everyone in your organization has access to the documentation that is relevant to them.
Processing registrations
The ability to make and process registrations is essential in your KMS. This can include complaints, deviations, areas for improvement and incidents, for example. But also about building inspections, device inspections and machine calibration. Are there any deviations outside the predetermined bandwidth? Then your registrations should be able to automatically trigger actions, tasks and workflows. This is how you use automation to easily eliminate manual work.
Recurring tasks
Your KMS should automatically alert you when it's time to perform recurring tasks periodically. If you have 75 concrete mixers on the road, it is useful if you automatically get a notification when each car needs to be inspected or inspected.
Risk Management (RI&E)
In addition to quality, you also want to identify your risks and mitigate them where necessary. A strong risk management module is essential for any organization. Want to know more? Watch Your RI&E page.
Analysis, dashboarding and reporting
And finally, in your KMS, you want to be able to see at a glance how your organization stands when it comes to quality management. Analysis, dashboarding and smooth reporting are of course very important and very nice to have.
All in one coherent quality system
The ISO2HANDLE platform for quality and risk management connects all of the above essential functionalities into one coherent system. This digital system is a powerful tool for every quality manager, KAM manager, QHSE manager and risk manager.
The benefits of a quality management system
The use of a digital KMS creates a number of important benefits, such as:
Improved Efficiency and Productivity
A quality management system helps companies streamline processes, increasing efficiency and productivity. By eliminating redundant steps and improving workflow, companies can work faster and more consistently.
Comply with Legislation and Regulations
In many sectors, companies are required to comply with specific standards and regulations. A quality management system helps companies stay compliant and avoid fines or legal complications. ISO 9001, for example, provides guidelines for complying with international quality standards.
Cost savings and returns
An effective quality management system can also lead to significant cost savings. By reducing waste and errors, companies can work more efficiently while improving the quality of their products and services. These cost savings can directly contribute to higher returns and better profit margins.
Increased customer satisfaction
Happy customers are coming back. So you don't have to invest expensive marketing dollars again to make them become customers. Count out your profits.
Managing risks
Another important advantage of a quality management system is to improve risk management. It helps companies identify, evaluate and reduce risks in their processes. This reduces the risk of errors and ensures more stable business operations.
Implementation Examples and Best Practices
Companies around the world have successfully implemented quality management systems and experienced their benefits. For example, General Electric has saved billions of dollars by using Six Sigma, a quality management methodology that focuses on improving business processes. Another example is Toyota, known for its Toyota Production System, a KMS that focuses on continuous improvement and the elimination of waste.
More than 750 organizations and 50,000 users support their KMS with ISO2HANDLE software. Every organization has its own success story. Here are a few examples:
Metaflex Doors Europe
The story of a company that operates in more than 60 countries where more than 5 million people walk through their doors every day. At Metaflex, quality management is a top priority, but there is no quality department. You can read how this is possible in the ISO2HANDLE Metaflex customer story.
Lomans total installer
Lomans is a family business, but one with around 400 employees and its own Academy for BBL programs. After a thorough evaluation of all QMSs in the market, a single system came out that was fully suitable for effectively managing quality, environment and safety. Three guesses which system that was. You can read the background here.
Fiber Foods
How Fiber Foods You can read about creating a transparent and flexible management system with ISO2HANDLE here. Full transparency from farmer to end user, flexibility and agility and flawless traceability play an important role in the organization of the supply chain. ISO2HANDLE supports all these goals with a compact and well-organized KMS.
Conclusion
A quality management system offers companies a structured approach to improving the quality of products, services and processes. It helps companies meet customer expectations, laws and regulations, and improves efficiency, risk management and cost savings.
Whether you're a small company or a multinational, a good quality management system can make the difference between success and failure. By focusing on continuous improvement and customer focus, companies can not only meet their customers' expectations, but also maintain a strong competitive position in an ever-changing market.
Curious about how a quality management system can help your business grow? Then visit our quality management page for more information and practical implementation steps.
By using proven methods and standards such as ISO 9001, companies in every sector can benefit from the benefits of an effective quality management system.
