Enterprise quality management is one of the best ways a company can ensure it’s pleasing its whole customer base. With so much pressure from the public these days to produce quality products, it is helpful for an organization to observe its own quality control system and find out just how well it is working.
Here is a list of five steps your company can take to measure the value of its enterprise quality management system, based on a recent InfinityQS infographic:
1. Assess industry quality standards
Before you go about adjusting the metrics of your production system, it is important to figure out where you stand in the industry. Compare industry production averages relative to the cost of quality, the effectiveness of equipment, the compliance of products and the length of time it takes to complete shipments. Consider this a manufacturing inventory that you can use as a base to make adjustments.
2. Find out where you are falling short
Once you have your production metrics in a row, now you can compare to see exactly where your company is falling behind. You might find out that your company is not properly utilizing service data in its design program. Or, you might discover that there is no window into the inner workings of your supply chain. In so doing, you can form your improvement list that can be used to take action.
3. Expand your use of enterprise quality management
Aside from the metrics associated with waste reduction and cost savings, enterprise quality management systems can perform a wide variety of functions within an operating facility. Now, every process from the handling of customer complaints to the approval process surrounding part approvals can be fully automated.
4. Chart your progress
If you do not chart your company’s progress along the way, it is impossible to see how far you have improved from the start. This is how you figure out the ROI of your enterprise quality management software over time. It will become apparent during this stage which metrics still need tweaking, and which automation processes have become stable.
5. Keep the process going
It is important to remember that once you get to this stage, the process does not end. Enterprise quality management is a year-round activity—not something that can be spot checked on an occasional basis. The moment you relax and stop measuring and charting your progress, you return to square one in terms of having to start over to gauge production metrics. This is where you take the goals that you have established, and make them even higher.
To see the InfinityQS infographic for yourself, and to learn more about enterprise quality management, please click here.