Mobile - the new tool for quality management

As far back as early cavemen, we have seen the fundamentals of quality management (QM) come into play - it just wasn’t called ISO9001. Back then, the principles of QM ensured that weapons were improved, hunting efforts evolved and eating habits were efficient. In this scenario, the family was the client and improvements in quality led to more food, warmer beds and avoiding death at the same time.

As the earliest form of corrective and preventive actions, subsequent learnings were documented on walls as hand paintings, so that future generations could improve and survive. Have the principles really changed much since then?

The primary difference in modern quality management has been through the evolution of more defined systems and deeper processes aligned with fixed accreditation standards. Old quality metrics like “How are the numbers looking?” are being replaced with defined management goals and external measurement techniques that represent a broad range of business objectives at the core:

• To be profitable, stable, sustainable and innovative.
• To eliminate waste of time, money, materials, resources and effort while increasing productivity.
• To make incremental improvements to systems, processes and activities before problems arise - rather than correcting them after the event.
• To create a harmonious and dynamic organisation where every employee participates and is valued.

We have evolved significantly since cave times, but any business seeking to grow and succeed needs to consider quality management as a primary requirement. The difference between cave times and now is that the dinosaur has been replaced by the corporation, where the teeth are pointy and come in the form of ISO9001 audits.

Quality is being driven from the top down as supply chain managers seek to influence and improve commercial outcomes. Without dismissing safety and environmental objectives, customers across the market are pushing to ensure that business is conducted efficiently and for less cost. In addition to these stakeholder benefits, a number of studies have identified significant financial benefits for organisations certified to quality standards.

There are many ways an organisation can strive for quality improvement; through implementation of programs and adherence to international standards including:

• ISO9001
• Lean management
• Six Sigma
• PDCA (plan, do, check, act)
• Industry-based accreditation schemes, such as the Civil Contractors Federation Integrated Management System (CCF IMS)

The QM level your company selects will be driven by the operational needs of your industry or business, but the expectation to carry and maintain a Triple Certification (ISO9001-Quality, AS4801-Safety, ISO14001-Environment) is ever-increasing.

Companies that have opted to carry Triple Certification generally nominate one or more of the following reasons for doing so:

• A desire to win and maintain more business.
• Quality creates a more efficient, effective operation.
• Customer satisfaction and retention is made possible through measurement.
• Good systems and processes enhance marketing and increase profit.
• Having processes improves employee motivation, awareness and morale.
• Continual improvement reduces waste and increases productivity.

So why would a technologist write about quality management? Over the years I’ve learnt that every time a company purchases, leases or builds a new system their primary goal is to improve business outcomes. While this is generally achieved in business silos, quality management organically aims to increase business efficiency holistically across the operation.

As technology improves, it’s clear the parallels between quality and technology are fusing. Such that technology extends the likelihood of automation practices, which have traditionally been difficult to manage within a QM system. Technology enhances many quality elements a paper shuffle can’t such as:

• Non-conformances corrective and preventive actions
• Compliance, audit and risk management
• Corporate risk appetite, hazard analysis and critical control point management

At its core, QM is about record keeping, document management and structured improvement of non-conformance events within business. It’s about management-led improvement supported by third-party testing and audit. Thanks to modern technology, technological advancements in mobile devices and improvements to mobile networks, we have reached a clear tipping point where quality systems can take advantage of technology at every layer of the quality process within business.

SME companies that originally believed that QM was too hard can now use technology to simplify the process. The intersection of technology and QM software has prompted the emergence of a new software category: enterprise quality management software (EQMS).

EQMS software breaks down functional silos created by traditionally implemented stand-alone and targeted solutions. Supporting the proliferation and accessibility of information across supply chain activities and service delivery, it provides a holistic viewpoint for managing the quality of processes and customer service.

This would not be possible if the smartphone revolution had not provided the tools to cost-effectively deploy software to the field. Mobile is a big part of the technology mix for quality automation.

It’s fair to assume that technology will reduce the time to become quality assured, it will remove the obstacles of being quality assured and will evolve rapidly within business to remove further waste and identify areas for improvement. The evidence is emerging that quality and technology will go hand in hand, but the empirical data needs validation given that we are at the initial stage of the mobile revolution.

For companies starting out on the quality journey or expanding existing systems, technology may be the key. Those companies ingrained with paper and running accredited quality frameworks today may find the jump more challenging. However, it’s evident that the use of effective technology may reduce the work effort and provide lucrative returns.

As the SME market realises the potential to gain competitive advantages to evolve with technology, segmentation will take place and many more will take the leap of faith in this direction. I know from experience that the clients will be extremely happy as the quality bar improves. Quality management should immediately change the supply-side capability within the market and may see a shift in the supply chain participants. Remember how trendy it was in the ’80s and ’90s to be quality certified? And that was when paper-based systems were the only tools of the trade! With the massive shift in technology, we are seeing a new reason for the resurgence of QM implementation.

*Courtney Smith is the Founder - Strategy, Product & Market Development at Vertical Matters. A self-described ‘technologist’, he believes implementing technology changes without a business case is pointless - technology must realise improvements or it’s as useless as a lead balloon.