When your quality management system is no longer offering any added value to your organisation and is rather resulting in a burden, it is high time to update your quality system. But how can this be determined? What are the signals telling you it’s time to lift your quality management to a higher level?

When your quality management system is no longer offering any added value, the investments in the system are higher than the returns.   

The above situation causes your system to irrevocably drift into a mandatory exercise. That is the time at which a critical review should certainly come up.  

1. Form no longer fits the organisational culture 

Very often, we see quality management systems composed of voluptuous handbooks with long textual procedures. This form is in conflict with the fact that people read much less than they did in the past and are looking to process information increasingly faster.  

In that situation it is definitely appropriate to review your processes and to display these in a different way, for example in the form of organised flowcharts or compelling tutorial videos.  

2. New people rejoin the organisation 

Organisations do not stagnate. Succeeding organisations recruit new employees. These new employees bring creative ideas into the organisation. New ideas lead to new products and new ambitious objectives.  

There comes a time when the existing procedures and instructions are no longer sufficient to achieve the new objectives and are a proper response to the challenges of the future. The internal audits only offer little useful information.   

In that situation, the quality system no longer meets the requirements for the organisation. While the organisation has grown and evolved, the quality system remained in stalemate. An upgrade to the next generation of quality management should be considered.  

3. New markets are tapped into 

In the food industry we often witness that small companies are taken over by major players. In most cases, the existing quality management system continues to be in place for some time but does not meet the demands of the mother company. 

Moreover, new markets usually open up because of the acquisition. These new markets have adjusted requirements and regulations meaning an upgrade of the existing quality system becomes of application.  

Like to know more about the upgrade of a quality management system to a higher level?
Contact Quontinuim.