What is the Quality Management System?

The quality management system (QMS) is a shaped system that documents procedures, processes, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies with a purpose to meet customer requirements and enhance their satisfaction. The quality management system helps companies to direct, coordinate and regulate their activities in improving business effectiveness and efficiency and meeting customer requirements.

International standards specify requirements to quality management systems that serve some purposes, including:

• improving business processes,
• defining and controlling the production process,
• decreasing waste and reducing costs,
• controlling the product’s identification, design, and quality
• controlling nonconforming products,
• instituting corrective actions in the case of error,
• controlling the packaging and labeling,
• validating business processes and product acceptance,
• engaging the company's staff in the business activities,
• identifying and facilitating personal training opportunities,
• controlling purchasing, documentation and records, and others.

Thus, the quality management system affects every aspect of the company's performance. Meeting customer requirements helps organizations to gain the confidence of their clients; moreover, allows companies to get more customers, make more repeat bargains and have more sales. Meeting requirements of organizations that ensure products and services quality and their compliance with the resources and costs allow companies to increase their profit and create a field for their expansion and growth.

Some general elements all quality management systems should have:

• The quality policy - a document developed by quality experts to describe the acceptable level of quality and specific duties of various departments to ensure the quality of products or services.
• Quality objectives reflect the quality policy, are coherent and align with the general business objectives and used by companies to focus the Quality Policy’s goals into their plans for improvement.
• The quality manual – an official document that details how the quality management system operates.
• Quality analysis – a set of procedures designed to ensure that the product or service satisfies defined quality criteria or customer requirements.
• Improvement opportunities – the strategy or best course of company's action that will most significantly improve the company's performance measurements and quality of its products or services.

The main benefits of the quality management system:

• Reaching customer satisfaction. 
• Increasing reputation. 
• Achieving the project success. 
• Implementing the best practices. 
• Improving business processes.
• Persistency in project activities. 
• Increasing production. 
• Increasing financial performance. 
• Increasing the quality of products. 
• Reducing rework. 
• Improving internal communications between departments and teams. 
• Making evidence-based decisions. 
• Employee engagement. 
• Increasing productivity. 
• Continual improvement.