Quality management systems sprang up over the past few decades in response to increased global competition and to the basic business need for uniformity: It's hard to find suppliers if no one knows what you need. A quality management tool is the solution.
International standards adoption soon coupled with the drive to improve the bottom line. After all, a defective widget doesn't cost your production line less time and effort to make, and it's impossible to sell.
The quality management system (QMS) movement soon went digital. Now the work of a fleet of quality control managers can be done using a quality management software tool that can vary in complexity by industry.
In this quality management tool guide, you'll learn about:
1. Meeting quality management goals in production
2. Compliance and your quality management software tool
3. Risk management as a proxy for quality management systems
4.Quality management systems and the service industry
Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done
Quality management systems for production
Thanks to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), it's now relatively easy to calibrate your company's quality management system to global agreements. Specialized quality management software helps you get your own systems in order for ISO requirements.
I recommend: ISO standards are very important for any export product, like medical equipment, car parts, information technology, electronics and other technical components. Some vendors of ISO-oriented quality management tools include
Master Control,
Sigma Aldrich,
QCSS,
Diversified Data Systems, and
IndySoft. There's more on QMS software for meeting
ISO standards at Business.com.
Building a quality management system for compliance
Beyond ISO, there are many legal hurdles to getting your widget (or service) to market. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, for one, and the raft of new rules regarding financial entities known as Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX). Tracking these requirements is often the task of a quality management system.
I recommend: Quality management tools for services and the food and drug industries can be might specific, but they all work the same way: Getting the rules into the process and forcing your employees to follow them while at work. Training helps but software ensures that things happen the right way. So called "enterprise" quality management systems can be found by
ETQ,
Syntex Solutions,
Policy Tech and
Open Pages. Seem more
SOX compliance and
FDA compliance at Business.com.
Risk management as a quality management tool
Long a significant part of corporate cost control, risk management increasingly comes bundled into compliance and quality management software suites.
I recommend: Generally, the difference is in providing audits. Software that tracks every process, every memo, very instruction and e-mail is a good legal practice, but it also creates the halo effect of quality through oversight. Take a look at quality management systems from
Pentana,
BPS,
SAS, and
Methodware. See also
risk management software for operations at Business.com.
Quality management software for service industries
Of course, the United States long ago moved to service as the mainspring of its economy. Accordingly, a generation of service-oriented quality management tools have arrived.
I recommend: Find a quality management tool to track clients, follow up, suggest cross-sells and otherwise keep your managers on task. Consider offerings from
Aptora,
ESC,
MetricStream, and
Intelex. There's more on the right
quality management software tool at Business.com.
Tips & Tactics
Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide
- For managers, quality management systems is more about personal training than a software quality management tool, yet you can buy software to help with Six Sigma, Lean, and TQM training.
- Buying the right QMS software is tricky. Often, it's better to bring in a quality management consultant to train your process and people, then try to match up with a proven quality management software tool.
- If you plan to export, get started on quality management systems right away. Many international contracts simply require ISO standards, for instance, to even bid.
The official source of Quality Management Systems and Software is
the Quality Management Software page at Business.com
Featured Vendors
Quality Management SoftwareApplication service provider (ASP) offering Adminitrack, an issue and defect tracking web-based application designed quality management teams.
www.adminitrack.com
Corrective Action SoftwareOffers customizable, web-based software for recording, routing, and managing complaints, correction actions, internal/external audits, and feedback.
www.customerexpressions.com
Quality Management Software DirectoryCompare quality management software using Capterra's free, comprehensive directory.
Capterra.com
MASS Group: MES & SPC/SQC Process Control SoftwareSupplies statistical process control software with trending, analysis, production monitoring, X-bar/R, multivariate SPC charting, and MES integration.
www.massgroup.com
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