What is a Quality Management System? Do You Need One?

How are some businesses able to effortlessly deliver high-quality products and services while continuously improving over time? For some businesses, it seems easy, while others struggle to keep up with basic customer demands. If you’re not one of these “effortless” companies, you’re probably asking yourself what you’re doing wrong. How can you improve your processes to keep up with your competitors?

If these issues remain unresolved in your business, you’re not alone. These are important questions to ask.

Today, maintaining quality isn’t just an option — it’s essential if you want to survive among the competition. Modern customers expect perfection, while regulators demand compliance with their rules. How do other companies manage this? What’s the secret you’re not in on?

The answer is a quality management system (QMS)!

A QMS is the “secret” behind businesses that are able to deliver consistent quality. To put it simply, it’s a framework of policies, processes, and procedures designed to guarantee that everything you do meets a high standard. This applies to both producing goods and providing services.

What a QMS does is help you make your operations simpler and more efficient. Most importantly, it’s there to keep your customers happy. As you can already tell, this system helps businesses meet customer expectations and improve their overall performance. It’s the backbone of any successful company.

If this has sparked your interest and you think your company has room for growth in customer satisfaction and the quality of goods or services, you’re probably asking, “How can we adopt a quality management system”, “Is implementing a QMS hard?”, “Does it require a lot of funds?” and “What steps do we need to take?”

We understand that you have many questions. Today, we’ll answer as many of them as possible.

What is a Quality Management System?

A QMS is a structure that consists of policies, processes, and procedures that are set up to guarantee quality in every aspect of a company’s operations. It’s like a playbook that guides everyone in the company — from top management to frontline employees. It tells them how to maintain quality, reduce errors, and best meet customer expectations.

What a Quality Management System is:

If you’re imagining a QMS as just a stack of documents or instructions, you’re not thinking big enough. A QMS is there to create a standard for every area of the business, including product development, customer service, and internal audits. This way, the whole business can stay organized, and nothing slips through the cracks.

Yes, you might want to have documents that outline these internal rules but to truly integrate a QMS into your company, you need to establish and execute these rules in every part of the organization. How do you do this? We’ll talk about that a little bit later on.

What a Quality Management System is for:

Why would companies invest in a QMS? It sounds like an awful lot of work to get every member of the company to comply with these new regulations, doesn’t it? You’re right, it is an investment of time and resources, but if you take the time to properly implement a QMS, it will pay off over time. There are many benefits of a quality management system:

1. It helps your company meet regulatory requirements. Your QMS will help you stay compliant with industry standards and laws. This means you no longer have to scramble to figure out what’s needed because your QMS has got your back.
2. A QMS can help increase customer satisfaction. When your products or services meet, or ideally exceed, customers’ expectations, these customers will be more likely to stay loyal to your brand. The added benefit is that happy customers are also more likely to share their satisfaction with your products or services with their friends and family — there’s nothing better than free word-of-mouth marketing.
3. With a QMS, you’re able to identify areas where things could be done better. This allows you to innovate and keep improving. Ultimately, this will help you stay competitive.

The 3 Components of a Quality Management System

A quality management system isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution for every business. Instead, it looks different for each company. However, a few components will be part of every QMS.

The three most important components of a QMS are:

1. Risk Management

In business, the unexpected can happen at any time. That’s why it’s important to be prepared. As part of a quality management system, risk management means identifying potential threats to your operations. You then develop strategies to help mitigate them.

Potential threats could include supply chain disruptions, regulatory changes, IT changes, shifts in market demand, and many other things. A well-implemented risk management process allows you to respond proactively. Reducing the impact of these risks in advance might save you lots of money and headaches.

2. Setting Quality Objectives

Every business has goals. But how can you be sure that you’re actually meeting them? Within a QMS, quality objectives are measurable, specific goals. They’re meant to track your progress and flag any areas for improvement.

These goals can look different for every company. Your company might want to reduce customer complaints. Or maybe your weakness is product durability. A goal can then be to improve the manufacturing process. What’s important is that the goals are clear and measurable.

3. Change Management

Over time, markets evolve, and customer needs shift. This means internal processes need to adapt. A good QMS includes a well-structured change management system. This means that your business can easily adapt to both internal and external changes without sacrificing quality.

What could this look like? It might mean introducing new technology or revising a product line to match customer demands. It could also involve simplifying your internal processes to make them more efficient.

When you have a good approach to change management, you can handle these transitions smoothly in a well-coordinated manner. This is important, as change will inevitably happen. If you’re not prepared for it, it can disrupt your company’s processes and quality and lead to major losses in profits.

The 9 Principles of Quality Management

There are nine quality management principles that are outlined by ISO 9001. Don’t worry if these characters mean nothing to you – we’ll explain: ISO 9001 is an internationally recognized standard. It was created to set up a quality management system that helps businesses get better at meeting customer expectations and improving the way they function.

The nine principles are:

1. Customer Focus

We all know the saying “customer is king”. Anyone who has ever run a business or worked in customer service knows that keeping the customer happy is the utmost priority. The first step is understanding customers’ needs and expectations. Then, you can work on meeting them. This can increase customer loyalty and build long-term relationships. Ultimately, it’s the most important factor that drives revenue.

2. Leadership

Strong leadership is about creating a team that works together. Team leaders in a business need to be able to unify their employees so everyone is working towards the same goals. When leadership is effective, everyone should be motivated to hit the company’s QMS objectives.

3. Process Approach

Instead of looking at tasks as isolated activities, the process approach principle sees them as interconnected parts of a whole. When a business manages their tasks as processes, this can save time and make things more efficient. An added benefit is that results become more consistent and predictable.

4. Improvement

If you want to stay competitive, you need to keep improving continuously. A quality management system should create a culture where improvement isn’t just an occasional project, but rather an ongoing effort. Don’t stagnate once the quality seems to be “good enough.”

5. Evidence-Based Decision Making

Should decisions be made by relying on gut feeling or assumptions? No. It may be tempting to make quick decisions based on what feels right, but this is risky. Decisions should be based on data and analysis instead. This means less risks and more results.

6. Engagement of People

Your employees are your most valuable resource. When all of your employees are engaged and motivated, they can contribute to the business’s success with their knowledge, creativity, and initiative. For this to happen, they need to be aware of the quality objectives.

7. Relationship Management

Your business isn’t an isolated solo fighter. Yes, you’re in competition with other business – but it’s still a team effort. Relationships with suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders are important pieces of the success puzzle. Work on building mutually beneficial relationships.

Common Quality Management Standards and Certifications

There are multiple internationally recognized standards and certifications that can help your business become more credible, trustworthy, and therefore more competitive. The three most common ones are:

• ISO 9001: This is the most commonly and widely used quality management standard in the world. It focuses on meeting customer expectations while ensuring compliance with all statutory and regulatory requirements. If your company is certified under ISO 9001, it’s a sign of a high commitment to maintaining quality and reducing errors.
• ISO 9004: This standard goes beyond ISO 9001. In addition to meeting customer expectations, it focuses on the sustained success of a company. It provides guidance on how to improve the overall performance of the company’s QMS, ensuring long-term goals are achieved reliably.
• EFQM Excellence Model: This standard is a way for organizations to measure their current performance. With it, they’re able to identify areas where they are not currently doing well. It helps a company figure out whether they need to improve in their leadership, strategy, or customer outcomes.

How to Implement a Quality Management System

After reading about the many different principles and components that make up a quality management system, you might easily feel overwhelmed and scared to adopt a quality management system in your business.

While it feels like a lot at first, it is definitely worth it. The outcome is better quality services and goods — and therefore increased customer satisfaction and ultimately more revenue. It’s a long-term investment.

When implementing a quality management system, just take it step by step:

1. Planning: First of all, you’ll need to develop a clear plan. Start by setting quality objectives and measurable (!) goals. Then, take a look at the most important processes you want to control and improve. Decide on the scope of the QMS. You’ll need to get leadership buy-in and allocate resources effectively.
2. Risk Assessment: Every quality management system should include a thorough risk assessment. What risks could be detrimental to your quality? These might be related to processes, products, or even external factors. Then, start developing strategies to mitigate these risks.
3. Training: Your employees need to be trained on the new systems – otherwise, implementation will be anything but smooth. Familiarize your employees with the QMS processes, policies, and objectives that you have decided on. If you can’t rely on your employees, then your system will fail.
4. Documentation: Write down procedures, outline work instructions, and note quality standards. This helps you maintain consistency across the whole company.
5. Audits: Regular internal audits will be necessary to check if your QMS is effective. During these audits, you’ll want to identify any non-conformities. Check back in with your documented rules and standards. Is there anything that hasn’t been going smoothly?
6. Continuous Improvement: A quality management system is not a one-time setup. It might (and should) evolve over time. Any changes to the QMS should be based on performance data, customer feedback, and market changes.

How To Achieve Customer Loyalty with a Quality Management System

While a quality management system helps you make internal improvements, these show on the external side in the end as well. What do we mean by that? Having a QMS can play a big role in building trust with your customers. This is because it sends a clear message to your target audience — it says, ”We care about delivering high-quality products or services.” Customers may then feel more confident doing business with you.

This is why having a certification like ISO 9001 goes beyond having a badge to show off. It gives you a significant marketing advantage. New clients will have the peace of mind that they are choosing a reliable company when they see your certification.

Even for your existing customers, this can be a good reinforcement. It communicates to them that your company is continuously improving, which can deepen customer loyalty and prevent them from switching to a competitor. It’s a win from every angle.

But here’s a tip: don’t think of a QMS as a “set it and forget it” solution. It’s not. The real value comes from consistently revisiting and improving your quality processes. Even small tweaks over time can add up to major gains in performance and customer satisfaction.

If you’re interested in learning more about gaining credibility, check out our blog on What is a Quality Seal (& Why Do You Need One)?. If you’re interested in how business awards and certifications can help set you apart from the competition, read our article on Business Awards and Quality Seals: How to Apply in 2024.

If you have any questions about how to implement a QMS in your company, feel free to reach out to us. We’re here to help you become better at satisfying your customers – so they stick around and keep choosing you!