With the time and changing trends, businesses have started questioning the value of applications they implement to make everyday job easier. It enables them to identify the changes required in the existing approach, strategy, and tools. For example, if you are managing HR processes, audits, and documentation on different systems. You are likely to miss insights for better decision. And you may end up doing things that don’t even matter for the business growth and success.

This is the reason integrated solutions have gained traction over the time. These solutions help create a closed-loop system that as a result, increases efficiency, reduces cycle time, and most importantly, are easily traceable to make informed business decisions. Beside these, you can rely on integrated Quality Management Software solutions for following reasons:

• Streamline processes and reduce complexity

  Manufacturers who strive to reduce costs and risks associated with quality are concerned with complexity when using a QMS to unify data and standardize processes. An integrated enterprise system like an EQMS, ERP, and Document Management offer operational visibility and control to track, analyze, and manage quality.

  Despite the best efforts of these systems, data isolation can limit their effectiveness. This problem is often exacerbated after a merger or acquisition.

  Different quality processes and systems can easily cause complexity and silo significant-quality data, limiting visibility and standardization across facilities. Quality management systems (QMS) can help address this problem by enabling enterprise-wide integration and accommodating various requirements.

• Reduced errors and expenditures

  Getting a unified view of quality across all manufacturing facilities becomes increasingly difficult when the facilities use different quality processes and QMS solutions. A siloed data environment prevents proactive quality management by hindering historical analysis. In addition, the likelihood of human error increases if none of those systems is automated or integrated with operational systems like ERP or MES. Because of this, the quality information you receive – and the actions you take based on it – may be outdated or simply incorrect.

  It requires investment and organizational buy-in to standardize a single, robust, modernized Quality Management Software. However, the alternative can be even more costly. For example, it is difficult for your enterprise to make strategic purchases if it has several different hardware and software solutions from other vendors.
  

  The advantage of a consolidated system is that you can benefit from discounts and economies of scale. Adding custom add-ons to home-grown quality systems or outdated systems results in a higher IT burden, larger learning curves, and integration challenges. However, an integration-based SaaS solution can still provide faster deployment, increased usability, and scalability, as well as access to continuous updates.

  The lack of integration results in inefficiencies and takes time away from other critical tasks, such as analyzing data. In addition, information interruption can conceal performance issues by causing blind spots. A quality platform that seamlessly integrates operational data provides end-to-end visibility, leading to improved productivity.

  Related Article: Here are Eight Quality Management Trends to Look Out for in 2022!
  

• System integration will increase visibility.

  Quality standardization is becoming easier and easier with enterprise cloud QMS solutions like Qualityze EQMS Suite. By implementing the new method, manufacturers can achieve new levels of operational excellence, coordination, and productivity while maintaining compliance.

  Introducing a cloud-based ecosystem that integrates compatible software from different vendors, can help businesses eliminate fragmentation and friction that impede quality processes and insights. Standardizing around an enterprise-wide quality management system that integrates with ERP, LIMS, and MES systems, combined with automation, offers multiple benefits, including:

  1. Transparency, control, and data integrity needed to comply with or exceed regulations.
  2. The ability to analyze both historical and real-time data to detect and address potential quality issues rapidly reduces costs and recalls.
  3. Savings in validation and configuration.
  4. Reduced costs associated with customized applications.
  5. Streamline reporting, communication, and data collection, which enhances productivity.
  6. Data sharing, aggregation, and analytics within an organization and with partners and suppliers.
  7. A fast, easy, and inexpensive way to scale.

So, what are you waiting for?

Implement an integrated quality management system right away and experience the difference.

Because if you wait for the right time or the good times to implement change, you wait all your life. There is no better time than now. It is the perfect time to review your quality approach and standardize around a single, robust platform if you have recently completed an acquisition or merger.

The following characteristics of a comprehensive, integrated EQMS:

• The ability to integrate multiple enterprise systems and vendors via open standards-based web services facilitates interoperability between enterprise systems and data communication.
• A single platform for information and processes for quality management, integrating data from integrated systems.
• Capturing original data sources, making them instantly accessible and available.
• Capability to schedule critical processes beforehand.
• Cloud storage to ensure security, flexibility, and accessibility.
• Easy traceability of quality data, patterns, and trends to make decisions directly within the system.
• Views of process performance range from high-level to more detailed information about specific corrective actions delivered on a predetermined schedule.
• Compilation and reporting of information in human-readable form, as part 11 of the 21 CFR.
• Alerts and notifications to ensure all the designated tasks and activities are performed on time.

Implementing a quality management system that integrates across all manufacturing sites can help you reduce complexity and optimize quality processes. It would be best to define clear expectations you have from integrated quality management system. It will help you make the right purchase decision. Alternatively, you can get the free demo scheduled for the EQMS solution that best suits your business requirements.

If you really want to invest in a quality management software that can support the integration capabilities, Qualityze EQMS Suite is a suitable solution to consider.

Why Qualityze EQMS is a Reliable Choice?

COVID-19 has already been a compelling factor for businesses to move towards paperless solutions. Paperless offices were not even thought to be possible; however, companies have realized the importance of having virtual platforms to support the new normal. This trend is expanding despite security concerns. 2022 may be the year when digital signatures will replace pen and paper altogether. 

If you are among the businesses who are still not familiar with the idea of digital signatures, this post can be quite insightful for you. Let’s begin with the basics. 

Related Article: Difference between Digital Signatures and Electronic Signatures

So, what is Digital Signature? 

Digital Signatures are electronic versions of signatures. A digital signature authenticates electronic documents as handwritten signatures do for paper documents. 

In digital messages and documents, digital signatures are used to identify users and protect sensitive information. You can easily embed a digital signature in the body of an email. Moreover, it has a much greater level of security than other forms of electronic signature. 

What Are the Uses of a Digital Signature? 

The use of digital signatures increases the quality and transparency of online interactions while building trust between vendors, customers, and stakeholders. Using these help businesses three important goals, including: 

1. Data Integrity 

During data transfer, the integrity of the message is crucial. Data integrity assures the recipient that the message they receive matches the message they sent. However, there is always that risk of messages being altered along the way on the Internet – whether deliberately or by accident, depending on how the messages hop from one node to another. Data integrity measures help mitigate this risk. In addition, they can help you identify tampered messages. 

2. Data Authentication 

Even knowing that the data in a sensitive file is unaltered is not enough when you receive it. Also, it would be best to verify the origin of the e-mail. In other words, the source needs to be authenticated. For example, let’s say you received the design planning for your new product to be released in the next few months. First, check the sender’s identity before responding. You should not reveal this information to unauthorized parties or competitors. 

3. Data Anonymity 

Finally, it would be inappropriate for senders to disown transmissions that they sent in some cases. For example, you would not want a sender to deny sending the report if later found fraudulent. Digital signatures help fix this issue. You can easily identify the sender or user through their digital signatures. 

In addition to the critical uses, digital signature may have multiple benefits. Let’s explore the key benefits below. 

Key Benefits of Using Digital Signatures 

• Time-Savvy 

EQMS software that comprises Digital signature capability like Qualityze EQMS Suite is crucial to mobile signing. The process of obtaining multiple signatures from customers and third parties becomes more efficient and faster. They can also verify signatures instantly because they have access to the internet. A digital signature saves more time than outdated manual methods. 

• Improved Document Control  

It’s a good idea to keep your business documents under your control to avoid letting them fall into the wrong hands. Electronic signatures make document tracking simpler. Tracking your documents as soon as possible is extremely beneficial since you can efficiently send polite, automatic reminders to your recipients who still need to sign a specific document. 

• Increased efficiency 

It was so difficult to sign business documents in the traditional manner, including scanning, printing, and sending via courier. Today, entrepreneurs can improve their business transactions by using modern digital signature solutions. Eliminating the need for courier services, you can create and sign contracts instantly with all parties in the shortest amount of time possible. A digital signature improves efficiency both in multi-transaction and internal contracts. 

• Improved Security 

Increasingly, businesses are embracing digital signatures over traditional manual ways of signing documents. Starting with the fact that business documents should be always kept confidential, you should keep them secure. Secondly, malicious hackers don’t sleep. Their goal is to steal your confidential data to benefit themselves selfishly. Fortunately, digital signatures make signing documents easier and faster. You can mitigate the risks of malicious schemers accessing your documents by using audit trails and digital signatures. 

• Easily auditable 

Digital signatures require document timestamps to identify when they were signed. As a result, impersonators cannot submit electronic records falsely. A digital signature also improves document archiving and e-discovery practices. 

• Positive Reputation  

For an entrepreneur, image is everything. Digital signatures can have an enormously positive effect on your business’ reputation. Also, customers, partners, and vendors will appreciate your efficient and convenient use of advanced technology. 

• Improved Corporate Social Responsibility 

Environmental impact regulations govern modern businesses. Using digital signatures demonstrates that your business is environmentally conscious. You can make a positive impact on the environment by going paperless. 

• Effective time management 

Business is all about time. A company that has not embraced digital signatures wastes so much time managing manual documents. Paper documents signed traditionally can be time-consuming and inefficient. However, digital signatures improve time management skills, enabling companies to prepare and sign contracts efficiently. 

• Improved Customer Experience 

As we already discussed, digital signatures save a lot of time that they generally spend on administrative activities for managing paper-based documents. You can use the saved time to improve customer services and improve their overall experience with the brand. 

Inspections are critical to attaining manufacturing excellence – for products and processes. How well your inspection processes are streamlined can determine business success and customers’ confidence in your brand. Therefore, you should implement the next-generation Inspection Management solution to improve quality control and deliver defect-free products every time. 

Inspecting products for flaws and reducing defects ensures quality control. Product inspections perform a vital role in producing flawless products in manufacturing industries. It is crucial to have quality control operations on your production regardless of how big your manufacturing company is. Product quality is ensured during production, shipping, and distribution. The quality checks performed by reputed manufacturers ensure that their products are of the highest quality. 

Inspections can be broadly classified into two categories, including: 

Product Quality Inspections 

Product quality inspections, an essential part of quality control, are carried out on-site at various stages of the production process and dispatch. Therefore, it is necessary to inspect your products before leaving the manufacturer’s premises to prevent quality problems and supply chain disruptions. 

Inspectors check your product to ensure it meets a range of requirements, including market standards, before shipping. You can select checklists online and customize them to your needs, which allows you to standardize and communicate your quality concerns to all parties involved in the inspection process. Alternatively, there are many inspection management software available that come with pre-defined checklists. 

Several methods exist for conducting product inspections, including pre-shipment, in-line pre-custom clearance inspection, etc. 

Process Quality Inspections 

An in-process inspection takes place at any point throughout the manufacturing process. Each section of the process is checked to comply with industry standards such as ISO 9001. 

During in-process inspections, the quality of the finished product is ensured by ensuring the process is followed before moving on to the next stage. 

In the long run, by resolving a production issue early on, you can save both time and resources. 

Why should you perform equipment inspections in manufacturing? 

Inspections of equipment are not a burden. On the contrary, they provide the opportunity to increase productivity, cut costs, and gain a competitive advantage. 

Safety 

All equipment must undergo safety inspections before being used. A primary objective of safety is to protect employees’ health, but there are other compelling reasons to increase safety by routinely inspecting equipment. 

• The absence from work caused by workplace injuries lowers productivity. 
• Injury claims for workers’ compensation are frequently costly. 
• A regular inspection program protects liability and demonstrates due diligence. 
• If you don’t conduct equipment inspections as the law requires, you can face fines and potential liability. 

Management 

Management utilizes inspections to control costs and make critical decisions. 

• It is important to perform annual inspections to prevent accidents and demonstrate due diligence to protect one’s liability. 
• In the case of equipment downtime, the ability to reliably predict downtime can allow for more accurate budgeting and automated scheduling of equipment to minimize productivity loss. 
• Performing inspections determines the proper maintenance frequency. 
• It is possible to improve equipment procurement by reviewing inspection histories. 

In-Process Inspections: What Do Inspectors Look For? 

The company’s quality inspection team ensures that products meet customer requirements and requirements. 

Specifications can take many forms, including: 

• Is the color of the sample the same as what was specified? 
• Does it meet the specified dimensions? 
• What are the grades and standards of the materials used? 

The company decides whether they can accept the product in question if it is determined it is not up to standard after inspection. 

Among the responsibilities of the appointed inspectors is to make sure that all products meet the necessary criteria, not just one. For example, a couple of defective items indicates a manufacturing issue. 

The inspectors will discover that the production process is faced with a significant issue if some pieces produced are of excellent quality, but some are defective. In such a case, production controls are not well defined. 

When critical issues arise, it is considered best to get to the root of the problem and fix it. 

When inspections uncover problems, what should be done? 

The factories are instructed to rework the manufactured products that have problems and ensure that the problem will not appear in the rest of the order. 

The reworking of faulty batches can be time-consuming and expensive, delaying delivery. Suppose you determine that a defective batch won’t harm the product’s applications and that the deviations shouldn’t harm it. You can probably let it go, or you may need to put in place a procedure to fix it for the remaining batches. 

In any case, it remains a problem and will be addressed in the next batch. It depends on how it is used. 

Fortunately, you have advanced Inspection Management Software to streamline all the inspection-related processes in a streamlined and standardized manner. 

Which Inspection Management Software to Rely On? 

One of the most reliable solution for modern businesses is Qualityze Inspection Management Solution. 

Designing and manufacturing a product relies on an inspection management process that is objective, reliable, and robust. You can ensure consumer satisfaction by monitoring the product’s quality throughout the manufacturing process. The Qualityze Inspection Management tool simplifies and streamlines the inspection process. The software enables you to perform inspections at various levels of the process, such as incoming, production, and pre-shipment. Set up an AQL table or use the preconfigured sample size. Using Qualityze Inspection Management, you can effectively and efficiently do the following:

No matter what’s the size of your company is or how reputed your organization, customer complaints are inevitable. You cannot get rid of or prevent customer complaints, but you can surely turn them into your favor. 

Yes, you heard it right! 

“The first step in exceeding your customer’s expectations is to know those expectations.” – Roy H. Williams. 

And nothing can help you understand the customer expectations than their complaints. When they will share personal experiences “where the product or service disappointed them,” only then you will be able to make significant quality improvements and ensure customer satisfaction. Always remember “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong.”  And, when you do that, you are likely to build a loyal customer base. 

A loyal customer not only comes back or recommends you, but they also insist others to do business with you. However, it is frustrating to deal with complaints at times. Make sure you focus only on the value that complaints or feedbacks drive. 

“Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning.” – Bill Gates 

Realizing the worth of customer complaints is just the first step. The next step requires you to have right strategy and tools to manage customer complaints effectively and efficiently. Fortunately, there are next-generation customer complaints management software available to streamline, standardize, and simplify the complaints processes. 

Before jumping on to the benefits of using a complaints management software and the most reliable solution available in the market, lets quickly understand why managing complaints is important in first place. 

Complaints Management: Why It is Important? 

You cannot overstate how essential complaints handling is for identifying areas of improvement in your organization. Business success relies on responding positively to customer dissatisfaction and making improvements. Properly managing customer complaints is important because: 

Things are not always as they seem. 

It’s straightforward. We all have our own biases. It is common for people to reassure themselves when a situation offers uncertainty for whatever reason. That’s not surprising. We all have instincts for self-preservation. 

It’s always possible to improve. 

When you choose to listen to your customers, accept that there is always space for improvement. There are no perfect businesses. You may find yourself facing an ethical, managerial, or business decision that you never thought you’d have to make one day. Every day, industry practices change, so you need to be on top of them. 

You should never overlook product or service failures if you have a complaint management system that uses monitoring tools such as root-cause investigation tools and Key Performance Indicators. It is easy to find the root cause of complaints because modern complaints management software eliminates the guesswork; what remains is to track down the root cause and then take the necessary actions to improve. 

Related Article: Advanced Reporting and KPI Dashboards: Encourage Better Decision Making

Keeping up with the game is key. 

The final benefit of a modern complaints management system is building trust with your customers. Maintaining solid relationships with your existing customers will make it difficult for your competition to steal your customers. 

It directly translates into a competitive advantage for a business to stay one-step ahead. It will allow you to provide better customer service – so you won’t lose them to your competitors. 

What Are the Benefits of Managing Complaints Using Software? 

A comprehensive complaint handling system benefits your organization in the following four ways: 

1. Optimize efficiency. 

Integrating the right stakeholders and efficiently managing content and data can be challenging with a disconnected system. Additionally, it causes lags in detecting nonconformance and safety issues. The delays can disrupt critical safety processes, cause customer frustration, and cause severe revenue losses if not addressed promptly. 

2. Streamline documentation. 

Managing complaints effectively goes beyond responding to customer complaints. Furthermore, a modern design provides companies with accurate documentation for the investigation process and enables them to relate complaints to corrective measures, supplier quality, and risk reassessment. 

As a result of the lack of an integrated complaint system, data loss and miscommunication are inevitable. Losing a complaint and failing to address it effectively can result in product recalls, additional customer complaints, and overall customer dissatisfaction. 

3. Prevent Recurrence 

In a complaint system with extensive root cause analysis and effective corrective action, the issue is not reoccurred, preventing further customer complaints. 

Businesses must handle complaints quickly and effectively. As a result, complaints can easily pile up and become a time and resource-consuming burden. In addition, when products fail to live up to expectations or quality issues are left unresolved, the company can suffer massive losses, leaving a mark on its brand promise that might take centuries to repair. 

4. Maintain a happy customer base 

Customer satisfaction is the key to an organization’s success. It can take years to build customer loyalty. A complaint from one customer may indicate that other customers are experiencing a similar problem. Thus, responding promptly to a complaint will help you maintain many customer relationships. 

Which is the Most Reliable Complaints Management Software? 

Contact us today to find out more about how we can help you stay ahead of customer and product issues. You can call us on +1-877-207-8616 or write to us at info@qualityze.com. We will get back to you at your earliest convenience. A free demo is also available so that you can see the product in action. 

Quality management is important in almost every industry. It helps organizations to ensure product quality and compliance before it gets delivered to the customers. 

The automotive industry is one that has witnessed more challenges than any other industry.

You must be thinking about why quality management is crucial for making automotive parts and components? And what can quality managers do to improve the processes and controls in their business units to ensure high-quality products?

Significance of Quality Management

Quality management is important for automotive manufacturers and suppliers to deliver products that meet quality and compliance standards. It may seem expensive, at first, to manufacture high-quality products, but it can save you money in the long run. In the automotive industry, products without proper quality management can trigger costly recalls, while a defective product can cause an accident and pose a threat to drivers.

Always remember, “Quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten.”

A closed-loop quality system helps identify issues before a product is marketed to consumers, resulting in a better product release. It also drives a culture of continuous improvements throughout the organization. With the proper quality processes and controls in place, you can ensure that these products comply with industry standards – for some products, like the exhaust and emissions systems, compliance is essential.

Related Articles: Effectively Managing Automotive Quality through Qualityze EQMS

How to Ensure Proper Quality Controls in Automotive Industry?

Ensuring proper quality controls in the automotive industry would require you to;

1. Streamline Supplier Quality-Related Processes

Product quality starts right from the suppliers. You must streamline supplier quality-related processes to ensure that you are doing business with the right people. For this, you can also utilize an advanced supplier quality management solution that can help you with every process, from supplier qualification checks to data integration for improved decision making. The new-age software solutions also help improve collaboration and communication with the suppliers, strengthening the business relationships.

The automotive companies that analyze and streamline their supplier-related processes can adapt to market changes much quickly while achieving operational excellence. Are your supplier processes streamlined yet?

2. Standardize Parts/Components Inspections

Maintaining consistency in the automotive industry can be a challenge due to the wide variety of products, production methods, and testing requirements. A robust Inspection Management software can be of assistance here. With software, you can streamline the incoming, in-process, and outgoing inspection processes. You can also ensure the quality of incoming materials by standardizing sampling plans across different components and products. Make sure you choose a software solution with an intuitive and configurable interface to simplify and streamline inspections.

The automotive companies that standardize the inspection processes are likely to prevent catastrophic events and unnecessary expenses from a product recall. 

3. Establish Effective CAPA Management System

Nonconformances are common in quality management. You must have a well-defined CAPA management process to manage defects and deviations that could impact the product quality. An effective CAPA management solution can help automotive companies to identify the root cause of the problem efficiently and eliminate them so they do not reoccur. The next-generation CAPA management software can be easily integrated with the existing business applications to give you more visibility through the product failure trends and develop an action plan accordingly.

Establishing an effective CAPA management system can help you take a holistic approach to systemic issues.

5. Perform Regular Audits

To maintain quality standards in the automotive industry, companies should implement Audit Management software to perform and manage external and internal audits. It is important to choose a software solution that provides IATF 16949 compliance to make organizations audit-ready. The software should provide you greater flexibility to schedule yearly, half-yearly, quarterly, and ad hoc audits flawlessly in advance. It should be effective to perform online and offline audits within the system.

Make sure the audit management software you chose comes with configurable workflows so you can manage different types of audits without any hassles.

6. Manage Equipment Calibration and Maintenance Schedules

Equipment calibration and maintenance are crucial to measurement and testing during the manufacturing, assembly, and service stages to ensure excellent performance. You can utilize a Calibration/Maintenance Management Solution to schedule regular calibration and maintenance programs for your equipment to provide the required accuracy and precision. In addition, it helps the organization remain compliant while sustaining success. The next-generation cloud-based solutions enable you to standardize the calibration/maintenance process cycle without any hassles.

The automotive companies can significantly improve the overall equipment efficiency, i.e., speed, usability, and quality while reducing the unpredictable and expensive production downtime with regular calibrations and maintenance activities.

7. Provide Best-Practices Training to Your Workforce 

In today’s work environment, training is an essential part of staying on top of all certifications that the organization requires. An effective training management system enables organizations to identify training needs within different departments and monitor the results of all training, including documents read and signed off, assessments, and instructor-led training. An organization can also release certificates based on employee performance.

Automotive companies should emphasize employee competency through effective training programs to ensure that they follow best practices to achieve the organization’s quality objectives.

8. Manage Controlled Documents and their Changes

Automotive companies can rely on a Document Management System to manage all their critical documents from creation to approval, publishing to archiving, and erasing them permanently. With the software solution, you can schedule approvals, archival, and document management well in advance. Users and organizations can work together to review documents. The software also comes with alerts and notifications capability to notify users of the changes done.

9. Report Nonconformance in a Timely and Streamlined Manner

Identifying the nonconformities and product issues during the inspections and quality control process is important to develop an appropriate action plan and maintain product quality. Automotive companies should have a proper system for nonconformance reporting and tracking. They can also utilize nonconformance management software that enables them to document all the nonconformances with the necessary details in a simplified and compliant manner.

Sounds like too much effort. Right?

To get more details about Qualityze Enterprise Quality Management Software, get in touch with our customer success team on 1-877-207-8616 or write to us at info@qualityze.com, and we will be right there for you.

Managing quality problems requires a proactive approach and a standardized CAPA process. More than defining the CAPA process, it is imperative to implement it and perform an effectiveness review. It’s a continuous process. You must have next-generation CAPA management software to streamline CAPA processes in accordance with industry-proven best practices, ensuring effective resolutions every time. 

Quality problems could mean expensive recalls, lawsuits, fines, and reputational damage in any industry. It would be best to have a strong investigation team and an effective CAPA process to address systemic issues timely. The focus should not be only on resolving the problem for one time, and you must also mitigate the root cause to prevent its recurrence in the future. Also, you should perform an effectiveness review for the CAPA implemented to ensure you are getting expected results. 

What exactly is a CAPA process? 

CAPA procedures are driven by critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and administrative control. You must create a defined process for managing corrective actions inside your organization and ensure it is implemented each time a disciplinary action is taken. The organization can now implement preventive measures more readily with a defined process. Feedback loops require assessing whether corrective actions will be sustainable in the long run.  

CAPA allows for easy identification of problems in a company as most critical control points pass continuously through it. A quality auditor or regulatory organization usually looks at the CAPA system to identify any quality system deficiencies. The situation is particularly relevant when it comes to medical devices and biotech. Inspections during such occasions will be based on documents under control in the CAPA system, including but not limited to complaints from customers, quality audit reports, and nonconforming material reports. Establishing quality and regulatory compliance by monitoring your company’s internal operations and preparing risk assessments can help ensure compliance. 

So, How to Ensure Successful CAPAs? 

This post will reveal seven effective steps that ensure CAPA’s success. Let’s directly go to the steps: 

1. Initiate a CAPA with Critical Information 

It is the first step to identify potential or actual problems, nonconformities, or incidents and describe the situation as it exists. If you define a problem, make sure to include the information that triggered the action, the explanation, and any objective evidence that this problem exists. 

2. Evaluate the Problem Identified 

Step 1 describes and documents a problem. In the next step, you must evaluate the issue to determine whether action needs to be taken and to what extent. To quantify and document the risks to the company and customers, you must identify the potential impact of the problem. Although concise, the document should include enough information to understand the problem quickly. 

3. Investigate to Determine Actual Root Cause 

Having a written procedure in place can help ensure that the investigation is complete and nothing is missed while looking for the root cause. A good approach will have a goal for the actions to be taken, the procedure to be followed, the people responsible, and any other resource that will be needed.  

4. Perform Risk Assessment 

This step includes identifying risks associated with the root causes identified in the previous step. It helps you understand the impact of the risks on the product’s overall quality, safety, and compliance. Accordingly, you can prioritize the risks that need to be mitigated first. In this way, you can make a systematic approach towards quality issues that occur anywhere across the organization. 

5. Define and Implement the Action Plan 

Once the problem and its associated risks are identified, the next step requires defining an appropriate action plan and implementing it on time. For specifying an action plan, you need to consider its impact on the ongoing operations, so there is a minimal disturbance. Similarly, you should implement the action plans without impacting the existing processes and workforce productivity. 

6. Perform the Verification and Effectiveness Steps 

The CAPA doesn’t end with the implementation of the action plan. It has much more things to take care of. For example, soon after implementation, you need to perform a verification and effectiveness review of the action plan if it is performed as planned and gives the expected results. The verification and effectiveness review step is critical to identify the long-term success of the action plan so you can proactively manage similar issues in the future. 

7. Resolve the Quality Issues 

Lastly, when you know that your action plan effectively resolves the existing quality problems. Then, you can implement it organization-wide for the similar issues identified. 

Any effective CAPA program depends on the tools used to detect, track, and document discrepancies and nonconformances. Due to the slow response time, the high occurrence rate of errors in manual data entry, and disconnect from other systems of a manual or hybrid QMS, this type has limited ability to help companies follow and document CAPA processes. But having an automated QMS solution gives a manufacturer a powerful tool for reducing liability and losses through CAPA management, which digitalizes production processes and activities. The companies, primarily associated with highly regulated industries, can quickly resolve nonconformances and other discrepancies with the help of a digital CAPA management system, reducing the cost of quality events while minimizing the cost of developing a new product. 

A successful construction project delivery requires proper quality management controls in place. It ensures fewer mistakes and project rework, timely delivery, reduced costs, and improved business relationships. In this blog post, we’ll cover some basics about construction quality management that you should know. We will begin with a quick introduction. 

What is Construction Quality Management? 

Construction quality management is the process of controlling quality on a construction site. It basically ensures that all parts of the project are compliant and safe to use. Inspections are performed both internally and externally. They’ll be testing for things like soil compactibility, concrete stiffness, weld quality, and much more. It is usually performed both during and after work unless it is for a specific material. Before construction begins, it is crucial to check building materials to avoid any incidents. At the same time, final project inspections determine whether or not it meets compliance and its cost-effectiveness. 

What are the Key Challenges in Construction Quality Management? 

Despite all these contractors and teams, however, not every project meets compliance. It is almost impossible to accomplish quality assurance and quality control without quality management systems or policies. It is common for superintendents to overwork themselves since they are responsible for the quality of work. Quality and standards may also differ from job to job due to a change of crew and suppliers. There are no standardized systems & processes for conducting quality control, so quality assurance becomes difficult. An integrated construction management approach improves quality on sites and reduces rework. 

Quality management in construction begins with an understanding of the factors that can influence safety and quality. Those factors include: 

1. Defective and low-standard materials 

Construction quality issues can arise from excess water or sand in concrete mixes, lumber cut from stunted trees, and improperly graded steel. Not only are these materials prone to failure early, but they pose a safety hazard during the construction process as well. For example, worker injuries are common when sparks are generated during cutting or when a structure collapses due to poor support. The only way to guarantee a project is supplied correctly is to buy only from reputable suppliers and have a quality control officer oversee all materials shipments. 

2. Supplier Quality Issues 

Problems with suppliers and vendors can increase costs and lower quality levels even if the materials themselves are not to blame. For example, building supplies that are changed for another brand or material that does not meet the same standards may lead to unhappy customers and time-consuming rework requests. Make sure all suppliers understand the requirements and conduct regular audits to ensure they are staying within them. When a construction project is in the middle of the process, finding new suppliers might seem like a distraction, but it can enhance construction quality.   

3. Poor Subcontractor Management 

A study found that human error accounts for over half of all construction defects. When subcontractors hire employees without the proper skills and cannot train them, they can make mistakes that go unnoticed for years. It would be best to screen subcontractors and other labor providers to ensure they are skilled and capable of catching their own mistakes. Audits of subcontractors are still necessary for contractors and project managers to detect and resolve any problems early. 

4. Lack of documentation of Changes and Practices 

There are times when quality problems are not caused by errors or design changes but rather by the lack of documentation. For example, changing material with different maintenance and replacement periods can lead to improper handling by the maintenance team if all final documents are not updated. You should be able to easily update project documents using a Document Change & Control Management System. There is no reason to delay updating drawings and other related files. 

5. Managing Unexpected Changes 

In the construction process, last-minute changes often cause serious quality issues. For example, at the Kansas City Hyatt Regency in July 1981, a change in the design of the tie rod supports led to a fatal collapse. Make sure you set deadlines by which designs cannot be changed anymore or arrange for extensions. Give yourself enough time to verify any changes to the existing design and test them. 

6. Increased scope 

Most construction projects begin much smaller and simpler than they end up. What makes a primary bridge transform into a multilane highway? Such unplanned growth is known as scope creep. The scope of every project changes over time as new costs, time constraints, and constraints on a particular site are discovered. However, when these changes result in cutting corners to stretch a limited budget and time frame, this is where the problem lies. A well-defined scope of the project ensures that the contractors maintain the same quality throughout the whole project. 

7. Lack of communication between teams 

According to a study, communication problems lead to the most quality issues. A lack of communication leads to the inefficient use of new techniques, faulty materials, and a lack of secondary and tertiary testing to identify current problems. You can significantly improve communication between team members working on a single construction project with an integrated eQMS solution like Qualityze with chatter functionality for enhanced communication. 

8. Intricacy of designs 

A work of high quality is unaffordable if it is too complex. Therefore, complex techniques and unusual features must be minimized whenever possible in projects involving cutting-edge infrastructure and commercial construction. Furthermore, simplified designs offer a better profit margin to the construction company while maintaining the highest quality. 

9. Lack of Proper Process Management 

Using the right construction process management system, you can determine the best intervals for checking the work for errors and omissions. Unfortunately, most construction firms fail to carry out essential checks on their work on time without quality control and assurance management system. If you utilize the right construction quality management system, you can easily and quickly keep track of current projects. 

10. Failure to Perform Regular Audits 

Some contractors continue to use flawed designs or ignore quality problems regardless of the results of their third-party testing and auditing plans. Reports bounce back and forth from the project manager to the lead engineer without a clear workflow for managing the process. Identify the right person who can manage audits, respective follow-ups, and share recommendations for improvements within time to avoid any catastrophic events. 

Related Article: Audit Analysis: Know Why It is Important?

How to Improve Construction Quality Management? 

It is best to implement an organized process for improving construction quality management. The first step to establishing any process is defining objectives and defining accountability in a formalized structure. However, that is just the beginning. Construction Quality Management System should detect and mitigate potential issues at every stage, verify any outcomes, and assess the quality objectives’ effectiveness. While creating a process may seem like a lot of work, it consists of just a few steps. 

Define Quality Requirements 

For a construction quality management process to be effective, it is necessary to research the quality requirements and specifications for each project step. Documentation is needed for distribution and clarification, so it’s more than just knowing the standards. The process may involve clarifying specifications through further documentation. Once you’ve established quality standards and documented them, you can develop your training process. 

A quality management plan and a quality assurance process will form the basis of the quality management process. A quality control plan outlines any unique project requirements, determines quality standards, and how to achieve them. It also guides through the best practices for meeting and exceeding quality standards. The quality assurance process will also identify the inspection requirements, the timing, and the reporting methods, as well as the person responsible for reporting. 

Fulfill Training Requirements 

Setting standards is essential, but training is also crucial. To comply with the construction quality management processes, it is necessary to identify the people responsible for each process and keep them informed about standards and requirements and the procedures to follow. Since they will be responsible for the quality of the project, they should inform their subordinates of the specific standards their team must adhere to. 

Managing and Monitoring Construction Quality Processes

For more information about Qualityze EQMS Suite and getting a free demo scheduled, please contact our customer success team today on 1-877-207-8616 or write to us at info@qualityze.com, and we will be right there for you.

Technological advancements have facilitated a faster, easier way of life. Technology has also improved the accuracy of business, but there are several things about which companies remain skeptical, one of which is electronic signatures. Although many companies prefer handwritten signatures, many business people question the value of electronic signatures/digital signatures and why to adopt them. 

Thus, it is imperative to understand the key differences between digital signatures and electronic signatures before adopting them for business use. However, before discussing the differences between the two, we will firstly look at their definitions. 

What is Electronic Signature? 

The electronic signature is a digital version of a wet ink signature, secure and legally enforceable. It does not incorporate any coding, however. It can be a symbol, image, or process attached to a message or document as a means of recognizing and giving consent to the information contained therein. This is widely used for verifying documents. In general, electronic signature validation is not done by trusted certificate authorities or trust service providers, so it is not usually permitted.  

Related Articles- Electronic Signatures: New Protocol of Verification of Quality Records and Documents

What is Digital Signature? 

With Digital Signature, you can create a secure signature that works with Electronic signatures while relying on Public Key Infrastructure so that you can encrypt documents digitally. You can visualize it as an electronic fingerprint that encrypts and authenticates an individual’s identity. It is used to make sure a document is secure. A digital signature is usually validated by a certificate authority or trust service provider, which is typically legitimate.  

The Key Differences 

The following are the main differences between an electronic signature and a digital signature: 

Reasons You Must Adopt Digital Signature for your Business 

These are five reasons why adding a digital signature to your business is a good idea:

1. Quick turnaround 

The process of signing and returning a document sent via email requires many steps for employees at companies using traditional signatures. Signing any document or contract utilizing this technique is as easy as clicking a button. By replacing paper approval with these codes, you can automate the process and save time. With digital signatures, you can sign off documents almost instantly, anywhere, on any device, be it a phone, tablet, or computer. 

2. Reduced costs 

In the long run, digitalization will save you money, even though it has a cost. Paper documents are no longer necessary with digital signatures. You will get rid of printing and shipping costs. Additionally, there will be reductions in expenses associated with filing, rekeying, archiving, tracking, and processing documents requiring confidentiality. In addition to reducing ecological waste, your organization will also save money due to drastically reducing paper usage by using digital signatures. 

4. Improve security 

In addition, a digital signature ensures document authenticity because it is protected with a tamper-evident seal, which indicates if any of the document’s contents have been altered after signing. Signers can also verify and authenticate their signatures with the provision of PINs, passwords, and codes. 

With digital encryption and audit trails, you can protect yourself and your organization against fraud. 

5. Better customer experience 

Any business understands how important it is to achieve customer satisfaction. However, customer dissatisfaction can lead to negative reviews, which can negatively impact a company. When your customers sign vital documents online, you can guarantee convenience no matter where they are located. They allow your customers to transact with you anywhere, anytime, and efficiently. 

The main reason many companies adopt digital signatures is to keep their customers happy. There is no wait time, no fuss, and no paperwork. 

You can also benefit from digital signatures in several other ways. A digital signature is an example of a small thing that has a huge impact. This is an excellent opportunity for your company; simply upgrade to digital signatures, you won’t regret it. 

Expand your storage space 

Virtual servers connected to your computer network or the cloud eliminate the need for file cabinets filled with paper documents for storing digital files. Using that space for something else allows your office to save space. Furthermore, physical documents use up paper, which is not ideal for the environment. 

In conclusion 

Audit process is important to keep a check on organization processes, ensuring that they meet internal as well as compliance requirements. It basically helps organizations to identify the improvement opportunities that are essential for business growth.  

It is important to keep your audit processes, findings, and action plans documented to demonstrate compliance with industry proven best practices especially during audits and regulatory inspections. And it gets tedious and time-consuming when done manually. It would be best to have a next-generation Audit Management Software Solution in place to streamline end-to-end audit processes.   

A software can make your audit process compliance ready by allowing you to: 

Gather the necessary documents  

Organizations should define how they comply with the standard of these documents. Also, they must accurately reflect what employees do. Doing what you write and writing what you do are two complementary principles. The software allows you to keep all the audit-related processes documented in a consistent and organized manner. 

Review your internal processes first 

 It is essential to perform a self-assessment before the external audit to identify opportunities for improvement. For example, information systems need to be reviewed for cybersecurity to ensure that they do not violate any IT standards. The software allows you to perform internal audits at regular intervals. You can easily find a software that allows you to schedule your internal audits well-in advance. Moreover, it will send your alerts before the audits are due. 

Have an audit trail in place 

An audit trail is a record, whether it be paper or electronic, that shows compliance with a policy. Those companies that don’t manage audit trails well might have difficulties with auditors. Management of audit trails involves security policies and processes. The next-generation software automatically stores all the details regarding the audit records, owners, activities performed, date, and much more so you can quickly trace back the incidents that triggered changes. 

Related Article – Audit Trails : Uncover the Improvement Opportunities

Make training a priority 

It is important to teach staff and employees the policies and procedures they must follow. In addition, people can identify the risks if they receive adequate training about the specific process.  ‍Make sure you invest in a software that can seamlessly integrate with your existing business applications including your training management system. Keeping your staff trained will help drive a culture of quality and excellence. 

Stay on top of things. 

Use the opportunity to review your systems and improve if you learn your competitor has been fined for a particular incident. Also, you need to stay up to date on your organization’s standards and regulations. With the use of software, the reviews and approvals of controlled documents gets faster, easier, and secure. 

Different Types of Audits You Can Manage Using Software 

Your organization may conduct various types of internal audits using the software. Choosing one will largely depend on the objectives and goals you have in mind.  

Follow-up audit. Internal or external audits typically include these audits approximately six months after the audit reports have been issued to determine whether corrective action has been taken on the audit issues previously reported. Follow-up audits evaluate the follow-up action plans based on the past audit recommendations to determine whether corrective actions were implemented and if they are working; or if the situation has changed enough to warrant a change in action.  

Investigative audit. This audit is only conducted when unusual or suspicious activity is reported. This report describes specific aspects of a department’s or individual’s work. During an investigative audit, auditors identify losses, assess control weaknesses, and formulate recommendations for corrective actions.  

Information technology (IT) audit. An IT audit evaluates the controls surrounding your organization’s automated information systems. Information technology audits recommend improvements in internal controls and security inherent in your organization’s information systems, along with an appropriate risk management strategy. IT audits are intended to ensure that assets are safeguarded, that data integrity is maintained, and that IT systems are operating efficiently to achieve business goals.  

Management audit. Performance audits are an independent and objective review of the efficiency and effectiveness of business processes. A business process, organization, or strategy can be reviewed by internal auditors (ideally) without fear of management backlash since internal auditing is an independent activity. A management audit evaluates the structure of your organization, such as how administrative work is divided up and whether you can improve efficiency.  

Integrated audit. An audit that combines two types of audit is a financial audit combined with a financial control audit. 

Benefits of Making Your Audit Process Compliance Ready 

When you align your audit processes with compliance requirements, you can leverage multiple benefits.   

• You can identify gaps. Compliance with the compliance requirements is one of the objectives of the audit. The auditors will report any noncompliance to the organization’s management or the relevant government agency. 
• You can focus on improvement opportunities. By identifying gaps, an organization can take preventive and corrective measures to resolve them. ‍ 
• You can significantly reduce risks. Making your audit process compliance-friendly will help you reduce significant risks. Instead, it will help your organization to take a proactive approach towards risks.  ‍ 
• You can avoid penalties or legal issues. Noncompliance with this law could lead to serious trouble for a company. 

Make Your Audits More Efficient with Qualityze eQMS Suite. 

Quality management plays a significant role in today’s business environment. The quality of products and services is not just about fulfilling client demands but also about improving sales and revenue and reducing costs for organizations; more specifically, it helps prevent defects, reduce rework expenses related to those defects, and reduce customer rejection of products. It is why quality management has become an essential part of business management, and businesses are consciously making efforts to maintain a high level of quality for their products and services. 

In most businesses today, the delivery of goods and services must be certified according to ISO 9001, which ensures a minimum quality standard. And quality goods and services are dependent on the right processes. Businesses are therefore increasingly paying attention to quality management in the modern world. It is now vital to take a holistic view of quality within and across various functions and not simply relegate it to a side department. Third parties can be hired by companies that don’t have internal certification audits and inspections with accreditations like ISO, lean operations, six sigma, etc. 

However, changes in business models, technological advancements, and more demanding customers have made quality management leaders wonder how long they can rely on their current approach. This often leads them to ask, “What will quality management look like in 2022, and what should I do to be ready?” This blog will help managers and leaders to be prepared for the future by outlining the trends that should be on their radar and illustrating how quality management will evolve in 2022 in terms of value, scope, governance, and implementation. 

1. Changes in quality.

Quality management has changed in plenty of ways already and will continue to do so. Many businesses have incorporated it into their daily processes and products – causing it to become a part of everyday life. It is closely related to innovation, as well as many other activities. Project management revolves around it too and goes together with broader outcomes that affect companies’ future. Companies of today and tomorrow will be able to live and breathe quality as a feature. 

Integrating project and quality principles will lead to a more integrated approach to knowledge. By integrating knowledge, each part of the business contributes to the success of the whole – marketing, sales, IT, and project management are no longer separated as distinct parts but work together to pursue the same goals. Every job function and activity within every department is accountable for quality objectives, and training implements them into every task, project, and learning opportunity. 

Related Article: A Guide to Quality Objectives

4. Increased decision intelligence. 

Organizations can improve decision-making by using decision intelligence. In this model, each decision is integrated into a set of processes informed by utilizing intelligence and analytics. With augmented analytics, simulations, and AI, decision intelligence could support, contribute, and automate human decision-making. Leverage the potential of new-age technologies to improve the overall decision-making capability significantly. It would be best to implement the next-generation solution to transform the existing quality management system into a quality decision-making engine. 

5. Improving the quality of suppliers.  

Updating supply chain standards is also a trend to keep an eye on. Poor supplier standards pose a threat to innovation-driven companies. It is getting easier and easier to establish quality standards based on company goals and ISO certifications. Thus, requirements will be streamlined and stricter to ensure that only suppliers capable of meeting quality management goals and securing approval will be partnered with. 

6. Defining quality standards and job roles.  

Work processes already have quality standards. Furthermore, employees will also have a clear idea of their requirements and the standards that govern their specific jobs, ensuring that every employee is operating within the same framework. These standards will integrate with assessments and training in the workplace, creating new benchmarks for performance. 

7. Growing importance of strategic planning.  

For those companies running quality systems, whether they use ISO or another method, they must prove how their quality systems affect the bottom line. Organizations increasingly require accountability at all levels; therefore, managers running quality strategies should provide concrete examples demonstrating the strategies’ effectiveness. It is also necessary for performance indicators to be linked with solid plans to show progress. Maintaining awareness of quality management changes and opportunities is a good idea – not keeping up with them may result in lost opportunities for improvement. 

8. Enterprises with a distributed workforce. 

The digital-first, remote-first business model of distributed enterprises is designed to make employee experiences more efficient, digitalize touchpoints with clients and partners, and build product experiences. Today, distributed enterprises are better able to serve the needs of remote workers and consumer’s needs, fueling the development of hybrid workplaces and virtual services. 

What would it be like if you experienced Qualityze’s difference? Contact us today to request a demo. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with our customer success team for more information. Call us at 1-877-207-8616 or e-mail us at info@qualityze.com, and we will get right back to you.