Why Have a Quality Management System for Service Industry Businesses?
At first glance a Quality Management System (QMS) might appear inappropriate for service industry businesses. There would appear to be a lack of metrics to serve as inputs, as a large portion of the product is not physical.
Customer satisfaction however, is a very tangible item. Think back on a meal at a restaurant or a hotel stay that left you less than satisfied. How likely are you to return to that business?
What is a QMS?
A QMS is a framework that promotes consistent performance in an organization through implementation of policies, processes, and work instructions. Continuous Improvement is achieved in a QMS through a Plan, Do, Check, Act methodology where a plan is implemented, monitored, and then changed as necessary to achieve desired levels of performance.
An effective QMS requires active participation of top management in all of its phases including, establishment of policies and the regular review of internal audits.
ISO 9001:2015
ISO 9001:2015 is an international standard quality management system that is applicable for service industry. It provides a process approach to manage products and services with a customer focus. It can be tailored to address multiple organizational business needs including supply chain quality and regulatory requirements in its context of the organization.
This standard is applicable for organizations of any size and in any number of industrial sectors. Organizations certified to ISO 9001 can achieve a competitive advantage by showing their customer base that they apply quality management principles in the conduct of business.
Every Business Model Incorporates Process
Processes are a part of every employee function. Where those processes can be defined, consistent performance of tasks can be accomplished. When team members have the ability to offer feedback into process improvement they will be less frustrated by imposed systems that aren’t working as well as they should. A frustrated employee is less able to provide a positive experience to a customer and satisfied customers means a successful business.
Buy in by all stakeholders is the backbone of QMS and it provides the inputs for continual improvement. These inputs can then be documented to provide dynamic process development that can evolve as a business grows.
Offsetting Quality Management System Costs
Service Industry businesses often operate with tight margins. The immediate perception for many is that a QMS is an expensive undertaking. While some cost is involved, these costs can often be offset by savings in process efficiency. They of course can also be offset by the increased profitability of a satisfied customer base.
It is important to realize that a QMS is scalable to a business’s size and is built around the context of the organization. This means that a QMS should be built around the specific boundaries, scope, and requirements of a business. This allows for a determination of scope and complexity for a given company’s QMS. When a thorough analysis is made the argument could be made that a service industry business cannot afford to be without quality management.
Achieving the highest possible return on investment is important, regardless of which quality management systems standard you organization implements. Taking advantage of all the features of that standard requires an understanding of Quality Management Systems and the growing number of requirements businesses face in their specific sectors.
CVG Strategy
Our Exemplar Global Lead Auditor Consultants can help you with implementing a quality management system, which will include a risks and opportunities procedure. CVG Strategy has prepared, trained and implemented quality management systems for manufacturing companies in many business sectors.
Our quality strategy allows clients new to Quality Management Systems to rapidly implement a tailored system. That is because everything we do as consultants is processed based. Our Quality Experts have experience with ISO9001:2015, AS9100D, ISO 13485:2016, ISO 27001:2013 and Association of American Railroads (AAR) M-1003 and can readily deliver compliant procedures and work instructions.
We can provide expertise coupled with an outside perspective to assist you in tailoring a QMS that fits your organization’s specific requirements. We have assisted organizations in establishing programs in ISO 27001, ISO 13485, ISO 14971, AS9100, and ISO 9001.
CVG Strategy is a consultancy offering coaching, mentoring, training and program development focused on areas including Business Process Improvement, ITAR and Export Compliance, Cyber Security and Product Test and Evaluation.