Having a quality management system (QMS) isn’t enough. Yes, it keeps the quality of your products, services, and processes in check. But what about the QMS itself?
Is it aligned with your business objectives? Does it achieve your quality goals? On the whole, how effective is your quality management system?
This is where quality control audits come in. They help measure the overall performance of the QMS to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented quality controls. So that your QMS supports quality, compliance, and continuous improvement.
This blog explores the importance of auditing in a quality management system. We’ll also see how QMS software makes quality auditing a breeze.
7 Reasons Why Quality Control Audits Matter
Below are 7 reasons why audits are important in a quality management system:
1. Regulatory audits help verify adherence to standards.
Businesses must audit quality controls to ensure and verify compliance. This includes internal and external standards critical for maintaining the quality, safety, and reliability of the offerings.
International standards, industrial regulations, legal requirements, internal benchmarks of an organization, etc., are some examples.
During auditing, the entire documentation is reviewed to find out discrepancies, if any. This helps build consistency between the laid guidelines and business processes.
For instance, ISO 9001:2015 is crucial for building an effective quality management system. ISO 27001 certification proves your business prioritizes and safeguards customer data. ISO 45001 is fundamental to building a safe and secure workspace for employees.
2. Regular quality audits = better product/ service quality
Quality control audits bring deviations and weaknesses to the surface. That means businesses can identify inconsistencies in their products and services.
Through non-conformance tracking and rigorous inspections, auditors can detect faulty, inconsistent products or poor service quality. In fact, you can perform root cause analysis during a quality audit to understand the reasons behind such defects.
Regular quality auditing prevents potential issues from escalating into massive headaches.
Besides this, organizations can also compare their offerings against industry benchmarks with the help of quality control audits. This allows us to improve product/ service quality while gaining a competitive edge.
3. Quality control audits are a must for enhancing process efficiency.
You must audit quality controls if your business processes are falling apart despite having a QMS. It provides a detailed glance into what’s wrong with your quality management system—poor documentation, inadequate resources, incorrect policies and objectives, etc.
By understanding the performance of your QMS, you can spot bottlenecks responsible for killing productivity. As a result, you can enhance your quality control processes, streamline procedures, and adopt the best practices for your business.
Through audits, you can also discover your strengths and put them to best use. For example, standardizing certain procedures that have created better results than the alternatives.
4. More audits mean less waste.
The math is simple here.
Audits help you identify drawbacks in your QMS. Thus, you can take corrective and preventive actions (CAPA) to right the wrongs.
That means reducing defects, inconsistencies, and deviations from the standard specifications. Which helps eliminate waste and increase profits.
With quality audits, you can minimize reworks, optimize your inventory (avoid overstocks/ understocks), and enhance your production/delivery process.
This, in turn, leads to fewer disruptions and downtimes—both crucial for business success.
5. Auditing paves the way for customer trust and loyalty.
Audits leave a massive positive impact on the customers in two ways.First, the very act of conducting audits is reflective of your commitment to quality standards and customer satisfaction. The fact that your organization has quality control procedures in place is more than enough to win their trust.
You can also disclose quality audit reports publicly to introduce transparency and garner customer loyalty.
Second, auditing can also bring customer-related concerns to your notice. For example, a quality audit that focuses on customer experience can reveal delivery issues, delayed customer support, etc.
6. Auditing creates a culture of proactive quality management.
Quality control audits promote early detection of issues, thus encouraging employees to shift from reactive to proactive quality management.
It’s not just about finding solutions to existing problems but predicting potential weaknesses that could lead to future damage. So, when people in an organization follow this philosophy, they are pushed towards continuous improvement.
Plus, quality audits put data at the nucleus. Working around data analysis and actionable insights further introduces data-driven decision-making rather than mere guesswork.
Thus, audits foster a culture of quality awareness that empowers employees to be accountable and responsible.
7. Audits can strengthen your supply quality management.
One crucial importance of audits is that they help assess a supplier’s capabilities, i.e., whether they fit your bill. So, you can evaluate their material selection, quality processes, and the extent to which they meet necessary regulations.
This way, you can monitor supplier performance at every level and retain the most reliable ones.
Moreover, quality control audits can identify areas for improvement when it comes to supplier quality management. Whether you need to grow your supplier chain, add more third parties, build a stronger contingency plan, or need to improve supplier communication.
How Does QMS Software Help in Quality Auditing?
Quality management system software automates your QMS, resulting in higher efficiency and compliance. It’s a great way to meet all the objectives of a quality audit in a simplified manner.
Here’s a quick glance into the importance of auditing with QMS software:
1. Audit management
QMS software has built-in audit management tools. You can schedule audits, create different audit plans, assign tasks, add auditors, create custom checklists, automate audit workflows, etc.
2. Document control
Role-based access adds confidentiality to document sharing. Thus, you don’t have to worry about storing important documents in a locker.
3. Real-time data analysis
Quality management software collects live evidence automatically. So that all your insights are based on real-time data and live performance metrics.
4. Integrations
You can integrate numerous applications, systems, and tools with QMS software for more functionality and centralization.
5. Compliance management
QMS software ensures compliance with ISO standards, industry-specific regulations, and legal requirements—all automatically and digitally.
Bottomline
The importance of auditing in a QMS lies in its ability to measure the effectiveness of the system in detail. Be it tracking product quality, service delivery, customer relations, supplier management, etc.
It’s like testing your entire business to find loopholes and patching them before they turn into disasters. By conducting regular quality control audits, you can achieve compliance, quality, customer satisfaction, and continuous improvement.
