How do you leverage quality management to drive innovation and value creation?

1 Quality management principles

Quality management is based on seven principles that guide the planning, implementation, and evaluation of quality activities. These principles include customer focus, leadership, engagement of people, process approach, improvement, evidence-based decision making, and relationship management. Customer focus involves understanding and meeting the needs and expectations of customers and other interested parties. Leadership requires establishing a clear vision, direction, and culture that fosters quality and innovation. Engagement of people involves empowering, motivating, and developing people to contribute to quality and innovation. Process approach involves managing processes as a system of interrelated activities that deliver value and results. Improvement involves pursuing continual improvement of processes, products, and services to enhance performance and competitiveness. Evidence-based decision making involves using data and information to support decisions and actions. Relationship management involves building and maintaining strong relationships with suppliers, partners, and other stakeholders that influence quality and innovation.

2 Quality innovation cycle

Leveraging quality management to drive innovation and value creation can be done through the quality innovation cycle, a framework that integrates quality and innovation processes. This cycle consists of four phases: Identify, Design, Implement, and Evaluate. During the Identify phase, opportunities and challenges for innovation should be identified based on customer and stakeholder feedback, market trends, and organizational goals. The Design phase involves designing solutions and prototypes that address the opportunities and challenges, using creative and analytical tools. The Implement phase involves implementing the solutions and prototypes, using project management and quality control tools. Lastly, the Evaluate phase involves evaluating the outcomes and impacts of the solutions and prototypes, using performance measurement and quality improvement tools.

3 Quality tools and techniques

Leveraging quality management to drive innovation and value creation can be done by using quality tools and techniques to analyze, solve, and improve processes, products, and services. Quality function deployment (QFD) is a method that translates customer requirements into technical specifications and design features, using a matrix called the house of quality. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) is a technique that identifies and prioritizes potential failures and risks, and suggests corrective actions and preventive measures. Statistical process control (SPC) monitors and controls the variation and performance of a process, using statistical methods and charts. Design of experiments (DOE) tests and optimizes the effects of different factors and variables on a process, product, or service, using experimental designs and analysis. Lean and Six Sigma are methodologies that aim to eliminate waste and defects, and improve efficiency and effectiveness, using various tools and techniques such as value stream mapping, 5S, Kaizen, DMAIC, and DMADV.

4 Quality culture and learning

A third way to leverage quality management to drive innovation and value creation is to foster a quality culture and learning environment in your organization. This environment should promote creativity, curiosity, and experimentation, while also supporting and facilitating collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing. Additionally, it should provide and invest in training, coaching, and mentoring for your people to develop their skills and competencies. Furthermore, it should recognize and celebrate the achievements and contributions of your people to quality and innovation, and learn from the successes and failures of your quality and innovation initiatives to apply the lessons learned to future projects and improvements.