In my previous blog post, A Compelling Case for EQMS, I discussed the shift of the EQMS (Enterprise Quality Management Software) business case from streamlining and slashing the costs of quality control processes to preventing expensive and embarrassing quality failures. According to an LNS Research report, the cost of quality failures increases exponentially as detection occurs closer in the process to the end user. In a world of complex global supply chains, tracking a quality failure to its source can be a lengthy, expensive, resource intensive undertaking.
Three emerging technology trends promise to add value to the preventive potential of EQMS.
The Cloud
Few trends have shaken up legacy computing like the cloud, allowing organizations to delegate everything from infrastructure to software development platforms and entire software deployments to third parties. There can be agility, scalability and cost advantages to cloud computing for many organizations. For the preventive potential of cloud based EQMS, however, one stands out—extending EQMS reach across the global supply chain.
Early implementations of EQMS added value by centralizing and automating quality control processes across an entire enterprise. In an environment of complex global supply chains, Software as a Service (SaaS) based EQMS implementations can make it much easier for organizations to integrate their suppliers and other partner systems into a single EQMS deployment. It is possible to extend internal systems to partners and suppliers, but SaaS providers can make the process quicker, easier and less expensive – and even make the difference between success and failure – by taking over much of the complexity of management, security and integration. Global providers are also more likely to have datacenters closer to suppliers for better performance and reliability, and the experience and security infrastructure to make sure connections and sensitive data aren’t compromised.
Mobility
EQMS centralizes and streamlines essential quality control processes such as supplier management, Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA), compliance management, risk management, complaint handling, change management, and auditing. Add mobile devices, BYOD and mobile EQMS applications, and you have the potential for even more streamlining and workflow acceleration. When an approval is required in a complex workflow or a quality issue or complaint needs to be handled quickly at a higher level, mobile devices and applications make it possible to reach the right parties immediately, wherever they are on whatever device they have on hand. The sooner a quality issue is addressed, the less expensive it is likely to be. Thanks to the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to work trend, the mobile device can even be a personal iPhone running a protected corporate EQMS client application. The same goes for partners, suppliers and in some cases even customers.
Big Data and Predictive Analytics
Big data is all about mining huge amounts of disparate structured and unstructured information from multiple systems to discover hidden trends and insights that would normally not be available with traditional data analysis methods. Predictive analytics aims to harness such information to predict and address issues before they have any noticeable impact, or to predict the impact of new initiatives.
EQMS systems are perfect candidates for this type of predictive analytics, as they integrate and exchange information with many other core business systems, potentially even from partners and supplier systems as well. Effective predictive analytics can be invaluable not only for addressing supply chain and regulatory issues before they have a significant financial impact, but gaining invaluable new insight in how quality management processes can be improved.
All of these technologies are in their early stages, so, choosing and implementing the right solution has its challenges. However, as the industry matures and business cases become more widely adopted, the impact on how EQMS can operate is already starting to look very compelling.
