The Quality Management System, a powerful lever for your company

A company’s performance depends largely on its ability to ensure a sustainable, relevant and present quality policy at all levels of the organization. The quality management system (QMS) is a valuable tool that allows the implementation, management and control of these quality objectives.

We take a look at this standard, its fundamental principles and its interest for companies.

 

 

What is the Quality Management System?

The Quality Management System brings together all the values, actions and strategies to be adopted to ensure the proper implementation of quality objectives within a company or any other organization.

These standards have been designed in such a way that they can be used by any organization, regardless of its sector of activity, its clientele or its country of operation.

Thanks to the rigorous implementation of this standard, the company must be able to improve its performance, productivity, value creation and profitability in a sustainable way.

 

 

The 7 principles of ISO 9000 / 9001

Quality Management Systems are defined by the ISO 9000 / 9001 quality standard, which is based on the following 7 main management principles:

1. Leadership

Any quality approach requires the development of a strategic orientation upstream: this is the role of the company’s managers.

These leaders must ensure that they transmit this vision, and share the company’s values and culture with employees. They are also responsible for creating an environment conducive to achieving the desired objectives, and for making the necessary resources available to staff. They will need to create a supportive environment and close, transparent communication, accompanied by rigorous and benevolent monitoring.

 

2. Staff involvement

Employees are at the heart of any transformation project. Their level of commitment will therefore directly impact their operational efficiency and therefore the entire performance of the company.

It is therefore necessary to encourage, empower, raise awareness and involve the teams on a daily basis. An engaged employee is an employee who understands the meaning of his or her actions, who adheres to a strong vision and who is aware of the importance of his or her involvement. Leaders and managers must therefore ensure that each individual, their role and their added value in the company are valued.

 

3. Customer focus

Customer satisfaction is a prerequisite for a company’s performance and sustainability.

All the company’s actions must be focused on the customer and their needs.

It will therefore be necessary, beforehand, to identify their current expectations, but also to anticipate any future expectations, in order to target the actions and adjustments to be deployed to strengthen customer satisfaction.

This starts with listening carefully to your customers. It is necessary to regularly give a voice to your customers through satisfaction questionnaires, and to rigorously take care of your relationship and customer service. Satisfied, happy, and loyal consumers are true catalysts for a business.

 

4. Continuous improvement

Adopting a continuous improvement approach is essential to preserve or strengthen your competitive advantage and level of performance.

Continuous improvement must be part of the company’s DNA and be present on a daily basis, in each of the actions and decision-making. This posture implies constantly questioning opportunities for improvement.

Continuous improvement can be achieved using several tools and methods, which we have listed in this article.

 

5. A process approach

According to this principle of the Quality Management System, the company must consider its various activities as interdependent and correlated processes.

This allows the company to align its organizational model to achieve desired results and effectively highlight potential corrective actions.

 

6. Managing relations with interested parties

This other notion emphasizes the importance of good communication and mutual understanding with the various external actors of the company: suppliers, service providers, shareholders, investors, business partners, etc. It is therefore essential to take care of the exchanges, to identify their interests and to ensure good collaboration with these different partners.

 

7. Evidence-based decision-making

The latter principle emphasizes the importance of taking a factual approach when making a decision.

Indeed, decision-making in companies is often a vector of uncertainty, hesitation and sometimes provokes ill-advised choices with serious consequences.

To avoid errors, reduce uncertainty, and optimize decision-making, it is therefore necessary to rely on objective and reliable data, such as KPIs (key performance indicators), to be analyzed with the greatest pragmatism.

 

 

Why obtain ISO 9001 certification?

Compliance with these ISO standards allows companies to claim ISO 9000 / 9001 certification.

Obtaining ISO certification, after a rigorous internal audit by the certifier, has a large number of advantages for the certified company. This accreditation makes it possible to:

• Reassure customers about the level of quality provided and promise true quality assurance.
• Access to an international market: this standard, which is often an inherent condition for the signing of certain contracts, is internationally recognized.
• Reduce costs related to strategic errors.
• Raise awareness, empower and involve employees so that they meet quality requirements.
• Demonstrate transparency through clearly established and documented procedures, which allow for the early identification of dysfunctions and areas for improvement.
• Ensure the sustainability of performance improvement.
• Obtaining such ISO certifications also makes it possible to develop a real quality-oriented corporate culture.

In the long term, setting up a Quality System can become a powerful lever for developing the company’s performance.

 

 

Why call on an expert to manage your QMS?

Ensuring the quality approach at each level of your company is a major challenge, often difficult to establish and maintain over time.

Lack of hindsight, resistance to change, or simply lack of time are all obstacles that often discourage companies. Outsourcing the management of your QMS strategy to an expert is then a very favorable alternative.

If you want to adopt these quality principles, and improve the productivity and profitability of your company, the interim manager, a Quality expert, will be your privileged interlocutor.

This trusted partner can help you turn your company around in the face of a difficult context, or support you at any time to implement a Quality Management System in order to develop your business.

 

At WAYDEN, we provide you with experienced profiles, with the know-how, interpersonal skills and leadership necessary to carry out such a project.