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

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. 

Related Article: Quality Management Trends and Predictions for 2024

Quality Management Trends

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. 

2. Solutions built on cloud technology are gaining traction. 

Using cloud-native platforms, developers can now build more scalable, flexible, agile, and resilient applications – keeping up with rapid technological change. The benefit of cloud-native platforms over traditional lift-and-shift approaches is that they maximize the benefits of cloud computing and they simplify maintenance. You need not worry about huge implementation, upgrade, and support costs. Moreover, cloud-based solutions enable organizations – big or small – to keep their data systems and processes connected even if their teams are geographically dispersed. Businesses that value innovation has already shifted to cloud solutions. Have you experienced the cloud difference yet? 

3. Knowledge sharing across departments. 

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. 

Related Article: 11 Essential Elements of A Quality Management System

The impact of different trends will be different for other organizations. There will likely have to be a variety of technologies combined with each of the trends at various times in the business growth cycle, owing to the close integration of most of them. Understanding organizations’ short- and long-term business objectives are crucial to selecting the right priorities. 

One solution that stands true to all the quality management requirements even with the growing customer expectations and changing market trends is Qualityze EQMS Suite. It is a next-generation, cloud-based quality management solution that helps streamline key processes with quality objectives and industry best practices. It provides flexibility, security, reliability and performance required for a quality management software. 

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.