Last month we ventured into a new realm of integrated management systems in the article, “Stop Wasting Everyone’s Time with a Disjointed QMS.” What does it take to implement an integrated management system that cuts across traditional silos such as quality, service, production, environmental, financial, health, and safety?

When traveling the country, the subject of integrated management systems sometimes boils to the surface. I’m always stunned at the lack of understanding of basic management systems—on all levels. At their core, all management systems should work to optimize the individual areas (e.g., sales, manufacturing, environmental) while simultaneously optimizing the system as a whole (the meta system).

In marketing we try to optimize qualified leads per dollar spent. In sales we look to optimize sales per lead (sales input is the output of marketing), in manufacturing we want to optimize meeting demand without waste and produce the appropriate amount of product at the optimum price. And so on up, down, and across the organization it goes.

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