The past year has taken a toll on companies that have had to shift gears and innovate in order to remain afloat, serve customers and quickly pivot to meet a changing situation. If ever there was a time when a company’s quality needed to light the way, it was this year. Quality management systems (QMS) proved their worth, helping to ensure the safety of plants, the efficiency of factory lines and supply chains and the promise of defect-free products. It’s never a good time, but this year, companies simply could not afford to tarnish their brand reputation, nor pay the hefty cost of noncompliance or product recalls. This is the time when an agile QMS that can keep pace with changes was needed more than ever.
And so quietly, the QMS took its place as one of the essential workers during COVID-19. Many companies turned to their QMS to more easily conduct remote audits, control and manage documents from anywhere, collaborate and communicate with supply chain partners, identify potential problems before they became a reality and standardize safety practices in the plant.