Software for quality management systems (QMS) helps organizations automate their quality assurance processes. These technologies offer report, document, change, and team training management. With such resources, businesses can benefit from improved accessibility, fast and seamless implementation, and automated workflows for optimal efficiency.
This guide will explore what the QMS software market looks like, the factors driving this market’s growth, and the advantages and challenges of this technology. In addition, we will review two case studies that highlight the importance of adopting QMS software.
What Does the Quality Management Software Market Look Like?
In 2022, the QMS software market was worth $9.37 billion, projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.7% between 2023 and 2030. According to a report by Polaris Market Research, North America holds the greatest market share for QMS software, with the top applications including IT and telecom, consumer goods and retail, and manufacturing. Sectors such as healthcare, transport and logistics, and defense and aerospace also leverage this technology.
The report also highlights that organizations use QMS software for complaint handling, employee training, supplier quality management, document control, and change management. Businesses use this technology to audit and prevent nonconformances in QMS regulations while providing calibration management solutions to maintain quality assurance in smart systems.
What Factors Are Driving the Growth of the QMS Software Market?
The Polaris Market report also confirms the key growth drivers in the QMS market include advancements in technology—organizations are adopting cloud computing, big data, and analytics, which has created more demand for QMS tools. These technologies have also refined the performance of QMS platforms, enabling them to deliver optimized cost-efficacy, flexibility, and scalability.
Another factor contributing to the growth of the QMS software market is the increasingly complicated compliance and management standards. Companies are finding it challenging to stay updated with and manage these processes, which creates more emphasis on the value of QMS tools.
In addition, a third key aspect fueling the growth of QMS tools is the advantages this software offers organizations. Companies have experienced increased efficiency, optimized customer satisfaction, and automation. Next, we will review a few more benefits of investing in QMS software.
Advantages of QM Systems for Organizations
There are many advantages of QMS software for organizations, including easier employee onboarding and training, data-driven decision-making, and optimized revenue. Let’s explore how benefits should leverage these benefits.
Easier Employee Onboarding and Training
Consistent QM systems make worker onboarding and training easier. These systems develop the foundation for how to conduct employee interaction and operations. Because of this, candidates will have a much more defined understanding of the organization’s expectations and how they should perform their responsibilities.
Based on recent data, 88% of workers believe their companies have poor onboarding and training delivery. QM software can help organizations enhance their processes by developing a consistent standard and accessing the data they need to refine their approach. In addition, these technologies can automate training and onboarding, leading to reduced business time and expenses.
Data-Driven Decision-Making
Many QMS software, like Intellect and SimplerQMS, focus on providing automated analytics and reporting capabilities. Organizations can use these insights for more accurate data-driven decision-making. Furthermore, many QMS solutions enable customization, so businesses can track the metrics and analyze the data they need to refine employee training.
QMS software will automatically detect quality inconsistencies in documentation, auditing, employee onboarding, and similar activities. In addition, companies can also store and analyze data related to training, complaints, technology advancements, and suppliers, providing robust analytics for businesses.
Optimized Revenue
QMS software can help companies optimize revenue through automation, analytics, and streamlined capabilities. Because these tools make manual processes, including document management and risk management, much more accurate and efficient, organizations can minimize the expense of mistakes and manual effort.
The cost of poor quality in business operations can equate to 15 to 20% of their sales. QMS technologies allow organizations to minimize this loss by managing every aspect of their quality management operations.
Challenges of QM Systems for Organizations
While there are significant benefits of QMS tools for organizations, there are also several challenges to overcome. It is difficult to find and evaluate the top solutions, as there are many platforms on the market, and businesses must choose one that can scale with them. In addition, companies should implement consistent leadership and drive clear communication to maximize the benefits of these technologies.
Finding the Best Solution
QMS software is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and dedicated tools specialize in delivering quality management for specific industries or activities. Organizations must be strategic in selecting which QMS software to invest in, as migrating to a different solution can be challenging and time-consuming.
The best way to overcome this challenge is for QM specialists to define what the organization requires and use this as criteria for selecting the most suitable platform. In addition, companies should communicate directly with the sales team and request a product demo to determine how to adapt the software to their infrastructures and requirements.
Implementing Consistent Leadership
Consistent leadership is imperative to leverage QMS software. While these technologies can automate QM processes such as risk management and control management, they still require the involvement of consistent leadership.
Directors must ensure managers adhere to the QM system and guide the adoption of QMS software as smoothly as possible. Managers, in turn, should help employees understand their role in the overall QM infrastructure while fulfilling their contributions to document management, employee onboarding and training, and employee performance and engagement tracking.
Driving Clear Communication
Communication is vital for a thriving workplace—research confirms that 39% of employees do not feel there is enough collaboration. In addition, 86% of workers blame company failures on poor communication. This data highlights the importance of communication, not only for day-to-day team interactions but for successful QM.
To ensure the entire workforce fulfills their responsibilities, contributing to data analyzed by QMS software, organizations must refine communication. To start, managers and leaders must understand how their department contributes to the QMS software and what data they need to provide. They should also work closely with employees to set goals based on the overall QMS objectives.
Two Case Studies Paving the Way for QMS Software Adoption
Many businesses have begun adopting QMS software due to the optimized efficiency and accessibility these tools deliver. Here are two case studies as examples of how organizations are taking advantage of this technology for improved performance.
Cortex
Cortex develops and manufactures high-end products for skin care. While this company has fulfilled all its compliance and quality assurance standards, it wanted to find a solution to improve document traceability and optimize its workflows. In addition, Cortex also sought to save resources and time and develop a reliable QMS for its R&D department. As such, Cortex invested in QMS software and achieved the following results:
- Reduced time invested in change management activities by 50%.
- Decreased possibilities and occurrences of human error.
- Evolved document access and traceability from low to high.
- Enabled remote access for documents.
Tenacore
Tenacore specializes in repairing medical devices, and the company faced a major challenge—storing physical documents and spreadsheets was not effective anymore. As such, simple processes such as updating technical manuals and obtaining new documentation were difficult and time-consuming. After adopting QMS software, the company experienced the following outcomes:
- Increased efficiency in document and audit management by 50%.
- Reduced compliance risk.
- Passed its ISO 13485:2016 audit without any nonconformances.
In Closing
Quality management software has become a priority for businesses offering automation for document, change and risk management, employee training and onboarding, and organizational analytics. These capabilities make it easier for companies to deliver consistent training, data-driven decision-making, and optimized revenue.
However, organizations should also prepare to overcome challenges such as finding the best QMS software, implementing consistent leadership, and guiding clear communication among employees. Once businesses have solved these difficulties, they can follow the lead of companies, such as Cortex and Tencore, in leveraging the power of QMS technology.
