Process Automation, widely adopted in process management, has been gaining ground in the field of Quality Management across companies from various industries, as it provides greater quality and agility in processes, in addition to improving delivery efficiency.
The main factors driving this adoption are related to the challenges faced by manual processes in this area: lack of standardization, data inconsistency, slowness and inefficiency in processes and decision-making, high costs, and security issues that undermine success, among others.
Automated processes foster integration across departments, ensuring real-time data collection, more comprehensive analyses, and the simplification of managing nonconformities and documents.
Discover Additional Benefits Ensured by Process Automation
By automating Quality Management processes, companies optimize their time and resources while also improving the quality of products and services.
Automation reduces the time required to perform certain tasks, eliminating the need for manual activities and ensuring greater agility and efficiency—even in the identification and correction of nonconformities.
The likelihood of human error decreases drastically, guaranteeing consistency and standardization of procedures, which are essential to maintaining compliance with regulations and standards.
Compliance itself is also positively impacted by process automation, as it facilitates continuous monitoring, ensuring that all requirements are addressed and properly documented.
With real-time data collection, report generation becomes faster and more reliable, while also providing a clear view of Quality Management performance—crucial for analysis and decision-making.
In addition, automation has a decisive impact on key areas such as:
1) Process Standardization:
For processes to be automated—regardless of their origin—they must follow the same pre-established standard set by the company. This ensures that all activities are executed in the same way, increasing the predictability of results and preventing failures.
2) Nonconformity Management:
Automation facilitates the recording, handling, and monitoring of nonconformities, helping the area remain aligned and prepared for audits, whether internal or certification-based.
3) Document Control:
It ensures access to the most up-to-date version of documents and manages the frequency of updates. Outdated documents and standards can negatively affect Quality Management processes and, in some cases—such as in manufacturing—may even halt production.
Tips for Putting Automation into Practice
Start by transforming your company’s organizational culture so employees are prepared for this change. Consider adopting a process-oriented management approach throughout the entire organization, not only in Quality Management, in order to optimize resources and make processes more agile.
Structuring these actions as part of a project can be an effective strategy to ensure that process management and its automation are implemented gradually—without rushing stages or letting them fall into neglect.
However, if your company already has a well-established process management system, you can move directly to automating Quality Management processes. And if those processes were mapped some time ago, take this opportunity to review them and avoid rework in the future.
Your company will also need to select a technological tool suited to its specific needs. Solutions that allow easy integration with other systems are preferable, as they ensure greater process fluidity.
Although there are many technical details involved in enabling automation, it is crucial not to overlook the people engaged in the processes. Training and development should be carried out not only at the beginning but also during and after the project, since continuous improvement requires ongoing updates.
Finally, keep in mind that processes are living elements and require continuous monitoring and evaluation, as well as adjustments in line with regulatory changes, for example.
Do you know Interact’s solutions?
Interact Suite SA offers solutions for both Quality Management and Process Management, which are easily integrated and enable process automation within the area.
Visit our website to learn more.
