Quality management systems (QMS) help businesses assess and maintain the quality of produced goods and customer experiences. A QMS is used to define and implement quality specifications based on customer requirements in conformance with industry standards and regulations.
Core Capabilities of Quality Management (QMS) Software
To qualify for inclusion in the Quality Management Systems (QMS) category, a product must:
- Support engineering change management for quality improvement
- Monitor nonconformance and out of specification products and components
- Provide a database of risk and compliance information and documentation
- Generate documents for incidents and quality control activities
- Provide training and certification to comply with quality standards and regulations
- Ensure quality and compliance for the fixed assets used by the company
- Include functionality to monitor supplier quality and performance
- Assist with corrective actions and preventive actions (CAPA) for quality issues
- Deliver customizable workflows and checklists for inspections and audits
Common use cases for Quality Management (QMS) Software
QMS helps quality professionals perform inspections, generate documentation, and report on issues such as defective merchandise or product recalls. Production managers use this type of software to implement corrective or preventive actions, and optimize product quality. Manufacturing and supply companies can use QMS products to audit the production process from start to finish to avoid a wide variety of potential hazards and issues and increase revenue by providing better customer satisfaction.
How Quality Management (QMS) Software Differs from Other Tools
QMS tools often integrate with product lifecycle management (PLM) software and ERP systems, especially manufacturing ERP such as discrete ERP software, engineering to order (ETO) ERP software, and mixed-mode ERP software. Integration with environmental health and safety (EHS) software is also important to protect employees and the environment. Some vendors offer suites that combine QMS and EHS into a single integrated system.
Related categories include medical QMS, and inspection management.
Insights from G2 on Quality Management (QMS) Software
Based on category trends on G2, nonconformance monitoring, corrective and preventive action support, and customizable audit workflows stand out as the most valued capabilities. Manufacturers and suppliers adopt QMS software to maintain compliance and reduce defects and recalls.
