What is Quality Management and why it is important for your company?

Quality management is a very comprehensive type of management, being used in a wide range of segments, always aimed at meeting the needs of customers, generating greater value in products and services.

One of these segments, which is extremely important in quality studies, is Lean Manufacturing. But what is this? It is a management philosophy focused on reducing waste and looking for the efficiency of production processes.

The quality management system has been used for a long time and has transformed the way companies excel in the market. Nowadays, it has gained even greater relevance, due to the high number of competitors, who produce the same type of product.

Therefore, in order to achieve a high level of effectiveness and efficiency and to overcome their competitors, organizations must implement these 7 basic principles in their process. These principles shall be regularized in accordance with ISO 9001.

In this article, I will introduce you to the basic principles of quality management. But before that, it is important to emphasize that they will only work if all 7 have interrelated, you must follow all the recommendations in a correct way so that the company can succeed with this philosophy.

Want to know how to jumpstart your career and become a true leader?

Discover the Leadership Development Program for FREE, which prepares you to be a complete leader through personal development, communication techniques, feedback practices and coaching concepts to help you achieve high performance.

Do you know the importance of self-knowledge in shaping a true leader? Knowing your options and weaknesses is fundamental for you to be ahead of a team and be prepared for the most adverse situations.

But after all, what are the basic principles of quality management?

1. Customer focus

Pay close attention to this first principle, since it works with your primary goal, to meet the needs of your client. Nowadays they are increasingly demanding and seek relationships with brands.

What would companies do without customers? That's right, nothing! Therefore, it is necessary to know more about customers to meet their needs. After all, they are the focus of the company's value generation.

But how to identify the real customer need? So, this is the time for the Marketing department to act, take systemic vision, and apply market research to potential customers.

At this stage, it meets, surpasses, and surprises customer needs as a way to create a true bond in search of loyalty.

2. Leadership in management

This principle is extremely important in the management process. For the implementation of Lean Manufacturing, it is important to start with leadership because the leaders from all levels have the power to control an organization.

This idea must be calibrated and channeled through the whole process to be successful in implementation.

Leaders must follow the same path of the whole process. The leader's ideas must meet all employees, always seeking that everyone within the organization strives and commits to achieving the goals.

3. Engagement of people

It is essential for the organization that all employees are competent, trained, and engaged in the process of delivering value, that is, in achieving the goals and objectives of the company. As the quote says: "unity is strength"!

If there is no engagement in the work of the people involved, quality management is compromised and probably will not work. Employees must be 100% connected with the company's mission, values, and corporate strategy.

I will illustrate for your better understanding. Imagine several people inside a boat, but each one is paddling to one side. The boat will not leave the place, will it? Well, to you go forward, everyone has to paddle in the same direction, in a harmonious way.

4. Process Approach

Activities have to be understood and managed as interrelated processes, which function as a coherent system.

With this approach, you will realize consistent and predictable results.

You must know the process, know the mapping, see what can change and where you want to go. Very clear planning of activities is necessary so that you can achieve the goals you have planned.

5. Continuous Improvement

In order to satisfy customers, it is always necessary to seek improvement, identify some fault or some bottleneck. This Continuous Improvement is important in order to manage processes and maintain a high level of production.

We are always looking for training and improvements, whether in professional or personal life, isn't it? So! In the professional environment is the same thing. The search for evolution has to be constant, can not stop.

6. Evidence-based decision making

To produce the desired results every manager needs to make decisions based on analysis and assessments and this data helps a lot in this process. But why this?

The decisions based on facts generate more precision and agility, in addition to generating a lower cost.

When we work with a factual approach and perform actions based on them, the possibility of having a rework is reduced, thus optimizing the time spent in the activity.

7. Relationship management

This principle is characterized by the appropriate interaction and involvement of people throughout the process, with their stakeholders. But who are these stakeholders? They are all people interested in the organization's business.

You must try to maintain a lasting relationship to provide mutual benefits and this good relationship generates the strengthening of the brand and the increase of the turnover.

Some stakeholders directly interfere in the company's process, which is the case of shareholders, suppliers, customers, competitors, and employees.

Each of them directly affects in some way the management of the processes quality, being in the supply of materials, in financial aid, in the loyalty with clients, among others.

It is necessary to create an environment of relationships conducive to a good process, thus achieving the objectives.

"Every effort has its reward."

As the British writer, John Ruskin once said, "quality management is never achieved by chance it is always the result of intelligent effort. "

This phrase sums up the quality management process very well. To achieve significant results for your company, it takes intense work of everyone in the organization, working together on a common pro, and of course, to follow and apply all these principles.

Does Quality Management Really Produce Quality?

Yes, applying the principles correctly and effectively, quality management generates quality!

Nevertheless, we have an article that provides 7 quality tools that will help you out in your research for quality management.

Leverage results with ebook the 7 Quality Tools!
With this eBook, you'll learn how to use tools that will help you improve quality in any company:

• Flowchart

• Control Letters

• Ishikawa diagram

• Check Sheet

• Histogram

• Scatter Graph

• Pareto's chart

In it, you will also find definitions of the concept of Quality in the view of today's gurus. Plus a surprise that we prepared for you. A kit with DMAIC tools, to help you even more at the time of application. Do not miss this opportunity and download this material right now.