Implementing a Quality Management System is not a simple task. First, not everyone in the company understands what a QMS is. Second, it requires the contribution of employees at all levels of an organization, including senior management. After all, although it is possible to delegate operational aspects and empower the ones involved, the responsibility and the main engagement has yet to come from the board.
These and other factors end up contributing to several mistakes in the quality processes. Thinking about this, we will present in this article, 5 errors that can happen within a QMS and some possible ways to avoid them. Are you interested? So, keep on reading!
1) Adapt procedures from other organizations
All Quality Management procedures must be strictly planned. Otherwise, some errors can interfere even in the final product or in the service offered to the consumer – which would result in loss of customers and competitiveness. To avoid this type of problem, it is very common for managers to choose to bring quality practices from other institutions to their companies – especially those that have certifications, such as ISO 9001: 2015.
If that’s your case, stop and rethink! Although some procedures have been successful in another organization, it may not be equally successful in your company. Each quality manager must monitor his/her own institution and, based on this observations, create your own quality management procedures.
To do so, he/she must take into account:
- The goals and objectives of the enterprise;
- The context of the company and in which it is inserted;
- The company’s culture;
- The reality of the company’s teams.
2) Not taking document control seriously
Despite the benefits offered by document management, many organizations still use this practice only for documents considered official. This means that other information, such as tasks and procedures, is still handled in a disorganized manner.
So, before focusing only on certain information, have a comprehensive view and give all data the same treatment and organization. For this, the company must invest in some procedures such as:
- Organize, catalog and index documents from all sectors.
- Store all documents and know where each one is. Preferably, create digital versions for printed files.
- Have a backup copy of all files;
- Synchronize information for data access on more than one platform;
3) Fail to document non-conformities
Good Quality Management will necessarily require the identification of non-conformities. It is part of the process!
However, it is not because we are talking about the natural location of a negative point that it should not be documented, on the contrary. The documentation of non-conformities is extremely valuable, as:
- It will guarantee the registration of a history of evolution;
- It will prevent the loss of valuable information that contributes to problem solving;
- It will make it possible to analyze recurring non-conformities and identify their causes;
When documenting non-conformities, quality managers also value the future of the institution, as new managers and / or new members will have unrestricted access to the context in which the Quality Management system was implemented.
So, document and formalize everything!
4) Use random quality management systems
This is an extremely common mistake. This is because there are several quality systems (ISO 9001, QSB, VDA6.3, MSA, etc.) and a large part of the quality professionals tend to think that the more applications and software available, the better.
However, it must be borne in mind that each of these features has its specificities. If they are not complementary and convergent, they will make internal communication more difficult. The tip is: opt for integrated systems.
5) Manage metrics irregularly
Underutilization of metrics leads to a loss of competitive potential in the market. And this kind of irregular and unsatisfactory management is another recurring error.
Executives at large companies use this data in meetings and discussions to argue and make immediate decisions, but more needs to be done. Metrics have the potential to drive improvements.
To use this potential, the quality manager must put the PDCA cycle into action. That is:
- P (Plan): plan
- D (Do): execute what was planned;
- C (Check): check the progress of the execution;
- A (Action): act to correct eventual errors.
Conclusion
For a Quality Management System to achieve the best possible results, the entire process must be perfectly aligned. A single wrong action can potentially undermine the effectiveness of the entire system and put the team’s efforts at a loss.
Have you identified errors in your organization’s QMS? Know that technology can be a great ally to optimize quality actions. Software developed based on ISO 9001: 2015, as the one from Genebra, allows greater integration between the team and the control of processes in a simpler and more intuitive way.
