Making the Case for Quality in the Cloud

July 13, 2021

Are you still using manual or legacy methods to manage quality?

Many organizations are struggling with quality challenges as the result of outdated or fragmented systems. These systems don’t provide the efficiency and visibility needed to manage quality events, meet compliance and prevent financial risk.

Typical outdated approaches include:

• Paper-based methods to record quality events
• Spreadsheets
• Homegrown, database-driven systems

Sometimes companies use a combination of the above, with different systems for different tasks or different product lines. For example, organizations will use one system to record complaints, and a different system to manage corrective and preventive actions (CAPAs). However, this and similar approaches were designed to gather and store data, not facilitate processes.

Cloud-based technology provides a better approach, by enabling visibility into all quality processes across the enterprise and breaking down silos that result from fragmented systems.

Challenges with Legacy or Manual Systems

Why should organizations move away from the legacy or manual quality system approach? Key challenges that result from these types of systems include reduced efficiency and limited visibility.

For example, when using manual systems, like spreadsheets, data must often be transcribed from one system to another. Homegrown systems can become outdated or out of maintenance. Keeping up can prove time consuming and poses the risk of human error.  

Without real-time information or a modern dashboard view of events, it is very difficult to have insight into tasks that are due or to see whether nonconformances were resolved on time.

These challenges with lack of efficiency and visibility have serious business consequences:

• Compliance: Creating required regulatory reports in the proper formats becomes complicated and time-consuming.
• Supplier management: Gathering and assembling metrics on suppliers becomes such a time-consuming process and, as a result, updating supplier scorecards can take weeks. In some cases, the results are out of date by the time they’re ready to view.
• Financial risk: Quality challenges cost money. From quality issues that divert resources from profit-generating activities to recalls, where huge sums are at stake. While many quality events fall somewhere in between, each has a negative impact on the bottom line.

The Benefits of Switching to a Cloud Approach

Organizations that move to the cloud will not only alleviate the top challenges faced with on-premises legacy systems, but will also achieve benefits like:

Lower Cost 

In a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, an organization’s data resides in the cloud, and is accessed via the internet. This means no hardware purchases, no installation, no IT staff training, no maintenance—and none of the associated costs.

Better User Experience

Cloud-based systems typically leverage the standard browsers users are already familiar with and provide intuitive user interfaces.

Access to Data…Anytime, Anywhere

Modern SaaS approaches let users access data on their tablets and smartphones, just as they do with their consumer apps.

Start Your Transition to a Digital Quality Management System
The cloud offers greater flexibility and benefits when it comes to managing your quality processes. Ready to get started?

There’s a simple, three-step approach that companies like yours can take to accelerate your digital quality management initiatives.

Download the eBook to learn the steps.