Enterprise quality management software (EQMS) can play a vital role in both analyzing and reducing the cost of quality. Companies may use EQMS as a platform for cross-functional communication and collaboration, but also for automating, standardizing, and centralizing quality processes. The software allows executives to make better decisions based on real-time information.
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With that said, at LNS Research, we’re interested in the connection between quality management objectives and EQMS adoption. Below, we’ll dive into our data to see if there are any correlations.
Top quality management objectives
Out of more than 400 quality management survey respondents, 35 percent say that reducing the cost of quality is their company’s top quality management objective (see figure 1). This is significantly larger than the following choices: improve customer experience (19 percent), reduce nonconformances in manufacturing (13 percent), preserve brand equity (11 percent), and better manage operational risks (8 percent).
Given that the cost of quality can be viewed as a holistic business measurement, this is not surprising. Reducing the cost of quality and its many subvariables can drive improvements in customer experience, nonconformances, brand equity, and other quality management objectives. Measuring the cost of quality can also help to grow revenue over time.
Cost of quality and EQMS adoption
Separately, we asked executives about the status of their EQMS adoption. The choices ranged from no plans to current user, initial planning stages, and budget allocated. Interested in finding out the connection between the objective of reducing the cost of quality and current phases of EQMS adoption, we analyzed the two questions together, as shown in figure 2.
Figure 2:here
Based on the data, companies that choose reducing the cost of quality as a top objective are far more likely to currently be using an EQMS or have budget allocated. What’s very interesting is that more than 50 percent of companies having a top quality management objective other than reducing the cost of quality have no plans for implementing an EQMS system.
Driving business performance with EQMS
A majority of executives who choose the cost of quality as a top quality management objective, at the very least, have an EQMS system in mind. This may indicate that these executives have a better understanding of how the cost of quality plays into quality management and EQMS. It may also imply that the surveyed companies are more mature, possibly approaching the point where it makes sense to adopt an EQMS system to help measure the complex cost-of-quality equation.
LNS Research advocates for quality management to be integrated throughout the value chain. Many market-leading companies can attest to the fact that, when leveraged correctly, both EQMS and the cost of quality can bring an enterprise perspective into quality management decisions. To help executives take their quality management initiatives to the next level, LNS Research is launching its inaugural Global Quality Advisory Council. Executives are invited to learn from LNS research, share their insights, and network with other industry leaders.
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