Management Responsibilities | QMS

It is top management’s responsibility to establish a effective Quality Management System within the organization. Top management has to communicate to the organization the importance of satisfying customer needs as well as regulatory & legal requirements. It has to conduct regular planned management reviews & discussion meetings of the quality management system.

What is the effect if Management fails to deliver its Responsibilities?

If management / top management fails to deliver its responsibility then the whole organization will be at stake. Think organization as a Card Castle, whose base Pillar is Management, if management is not able to properly define the Quality Policy, Quality objectives, Quality control, Quality assurance & Improvement system then the whole organization will crumble and fall like cards as shown in the figure below:

KEY ROLE OF MANAGEMENT

The key role of management is to build a total Quality organization structure. This can be achieved by 3 key elements –

1. Quality Planning
2. Quality Assurance & Control
3. Quality Improvement & Standardization

1 Quality Planning

• Define Vision & Quality Policy
• Define Quality Objectives & Targets in line with the Customer Expectations
• Develop & define a Quality Organization Structure
• Develop Quality Standards, Procedures, Processes and Systems
• Focus on Human Resource Development, develop and maintain training procedures.
• Give focus on training of manpower and develop system for up gradation of manpower skill.
• Focus on Zero Defect Policy
• Conduct Management Review focusing on review of Quality System

2 Quality Assurance & Control

• Develop a Quality Manual, Quality Procedures, processes, & work instructions in line with the requirements mentioned in this manual.
• Develop customer feedback monitoring & handling process.
• Develop and maintain Quality plans and control plans.
• Implement mistake-proofing techniques.
• Implement a system of Quality gate i.e. no defect should pass on to next process and in turn to end customer.
• Implement a system for Quality and process control by individual employees.
• Monitor cost of Quality.
• Develop and maintain change notification procedures.
• Adhere to problem containment and traceability procedures.
• Develop a system of Quality system audit by management.
• Root cause analysis & team involvement.

3 Quality Improvement & Standardization

• Develop a system for continuous improvement.
• Take feedback from customer proactively and introduce improvements in the product.
• Develop a kaizen team and motivate them by giving recognition from time to time.
• Implement Quality circles and focus on the improvement of Quality culture.
• Develop a standard system for tracking Quality Abnormalities.
• Document and adhere to the Work Insyructions / Procedures / Standards.
• Follow a standardized approach of PDCA to solve Quality issues.
• Below are the questions that define the responsibilities of Top Management:-
  • Do you have the Quality policy of your company in writing?
  • Is the policy of Quality management communicated to the entire organization?
  • Is the policy of Quality management understood by the entire organization?
  • Do you set up the annual Quality target and plan?
  • Do you have the business plan to achieve the short term and long term objectives.
  • Do you manage and follow up the annual results?
  • Do you have the clear job description and authority of management according to the department and hierarchy.