A quality management system ensures acceptable goods and services by overseeing the entire process, from raw materials to packaging. It evolved from checking finished products to long-term viability and service quality.
A quality management system is the process a company undertakes to ensure that it is producing goods and services of acceptable quality. These systems are often cross-organizational, meaning that certain parts of different departments will work together as a whole to oversee an entire process. This wide range is usually due to the scope involved in most quality checks. Everything from raw material sourcing to machinery used to produce goods to packaging make up segments of a product’s final quality.
Quality management is a true 20th century concept. In the past, a single person or small group created a finished product from start to finish. Since the buyer usually knew the product’s producers, low-quality items were generally not sold. With the take-off of industrialized manufacturing, particularly involving interchangeable parts and assembly lines, quality has become more of an issue. When a large group of people and machines create a good, the end product is the cumulative effort of all their various jobs. If a person is not doing well or using a substandard piece, the final good will be of poor quality.
Originally, a quality management system revolved around finished products and nothing else. At this point, the goods were checked to make sure there were no obvious defects or issues with the construction, and that was it. Problems that arose after purchasing the products were often attributed to the user rather than the product itself. While this mentality persisted for several years, more discerning consumers and increased competition gradually eroded this concept.
The first major change in the quality control system revolved around the long-term viability of the product. These ideas basically stated that a product needed to continue to function as intended for a specific period of time. If it failed before then, and there was no evidence of misuse, the product was considered defective and the manufacturer was at fault. This idea was the forerunner of the modern warranties common to most products today.
The second major innovation in the quality management system related to service quality. Originally, these concepts applied only to merchandise and had nothing to do with customer interaction. As the quality management system matured, it began to apply to both marketing and direct interaction with customers, such as through technical support and sales. In these forms, a quality management system revolves around a workforce that provides a baseline level of competence, courtesy, and truthfulness when interacting with customers.
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