Investing in Quality Management? Nah, that is just overhead and costs. We do QA, that’s enough. Who needs QM?
If you think like that, you might go back to browsing TikTok or want to read on.
You know, having a good QA is a first good step. But it’s just one step out of many. Relying on QA only is like hoping to be able to test some quality into a product. How well will this work? What do you think?
You might say: “Well, if we find some quality issues during QA, then we’ll simply fix them.”. You can do that, but then you’ll always do that. But wouldn’t it be better to prevent or at least reduce the chance to build in issues in the first place?
And that’s where Quality Management comes in. QM is basically about introducing systems and structures to built-in quality, to implement quality measures in each and every step of your value chain. This way your product doesn’t have a different option, that to be high-quality since the system prevents quality issues in the first place.
So let me list a few advantages of having a proper QM. All of those will be discussed in later blog posts in-depth, but here the overview:
- Strengthened competitive position
Having products with higher quality than your competition is an advantage. What would you either buy, if you have the choice between two similar products with different quality characteristics? - Adaptability to changing or emerging market conditions and to environmental and other government regulations
What if your market conditions change? Wouldn’t it be easier to adapt if you would be able to see this change coming? It would give you the chance to be proactive instead of reactive. And what if your processes are well described and easy to adapt if necessary? You would be able to react to change much faster and more controlled. - Higher productivity
First, you need to know what productivity means in your case and how to measure it. But on a high level, if you have proper processes and KPIs in place, you’ll recognize deviations earlier, giving you a proactive chance to correct them, and leading you back faster to the right path. I am sure this will make you more productive than without QM. - Enhanced market image
Will you be rather known as the guy, who delivers fast and high-quality, is reliable and supportive? Or will you be the guy not keeping up his promises due to permanent delays and quality issues? Who of the two will have the better image in the market? - Elimination of defects and waste
As said earlier, QM is primarily about avoiding or preventing quality issues in the first place. The same is true for waste. QM will help you to detect and to eliminate waste, which means identifying and stopping activities, which do not contribute to your success. - Reduced costs and better cost management
You might say: “QM makes me do things I didn’t do before. I have to spend more effort now. How can that reduce costs?”. This is short-sighted since it considers actively done efforts only. But what about the costs of non-quality? Costs you’ll have to spend to correct quality issues? To bring customers back into production after a product failure? Those costs are usually high, unpredictable, and rarely counted. Considering those costs in addition, you’ll find out that QM is actually saving money. - Higher profitability
Before we look into the details of profitability, you would agree that products with better quality will sell better than products with less quality. The market will regulate that for you. More sold units, more profit. As simple as that. - Improved customer focus and satisfaction
As you know, looking into QM will give you the insight that all that matters is the quality perception of your customers. Knowing this might make you want to focus more on your customers. QM gives you the tools for that. - Increased customer loyalty and retention
If you are happy with a product and you need an additional one or a replacement. What will you rather do? Going again with the quality you know? Or trying something different, where you do not know much about the quality? - Increased job security
Sounds like a long shot? Not really. QM gives you transparency, proactivity, reliability, and hence planning security. You have a much better prediction of future profits and costs, which of course will contribute to increased job security. - Improved employee morale
How happy will be your employees if their priorities change very often? If they have to put out fires all the time, deal with customer escalations, urgent bug fixing, or unrealistic deadlines? How happy would you be then? QM will reduce the firefighting significantly, giving your employees more focused time to produce value. - Enhanced shareholder and stakeholder value
Considering all the advantages above, how can this not be in the interest of your shareholders or stakeholders?
Not convinced yet? Fair enough. So far a lot of promises. But let me give you more insights and proof in later posts.
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