It seems like everything around us is turning ‘Smart’. Usually, that refers to objects like cars, appliances, and wearables being digitized, connecting to your devices, or operating with A.I. capabilities. ‘Smart’ can also allude to integrating with tech in behavioral ways - think Smart Working and the like.
And now, the dawn of Smart Quality!
Smart Quality has the Life Sciences sector all fired up, and as we’ll find out, that’s for good reason.
Smart Quality is more than a catchy buzzword or a passing trend - it’s the new paradigm, a revolution, and reimagining what quality is capable of - and it’s here to stay.
So, what’s Smart Quality all about? What is it capable of and how is it changing the Quality Management landscape?
State of the Sm(art) Quality
Quality in the Life Sciences sector, up until today, is often viewed as a necessary cost of doing business, something that’s mandated by regulatory bodies but is otherwise not much more than a dull admin- and cost-heavy burden to an organization, usually placed entirely into the hands of the dedicated QA person or department.
Quality actions in this typical modus operandi are completely focused on complying with regulations and passing audits and are very often reactive to issues rather than preventive or predictive.
Well, that’s all changing!
After all, the tech capabilities in the Life Sciences sector are already impressive and expanding, so the industry can certainly leverage booming technological advancements when it comes to Quality.
What sets the Smart Quality Concept apart
So, at what point is Quality able to be defined as ‘Smart’? It is grounded on three essential foundations:
1. Smart Quality catalyzes value
That means quality actions create and fuel value within an organization, beyond compliance-only.
Typically, by reducing product time to market, increasing productivity or yield, saving resources, boosting release cycle times, improving customer satisfaction, and many other benefits.
Smart Quality opens up capacity across entire organizations: employees can finally focus on what they do best and deliver high-value work, rather than getting bogged down in repetitive quality-based tasks. This not only propels individuals and teams to reach peak performance but also creates the space needed to recognize and seize business opportunities throughout the organization.
2. Smart Quality processes are intuitively digitally connected
Paper is obsolete in Smart Quality. And that’s not all; as well as completely paperless quality processes, a Smart Quality system is seamlessly digitally integrated on many fronts. Quality management processes including document control, CAPAs, deviations & nonconformities, record management, risk management, and more are synced up in streamlined, user-friendly, and dynamic workflows - where a change made in one process is reflected in the others.
All processes are engineered to be inherently compliant with strict Life Science regulations. The result? Compliance risk is minimized. What’s more, a Smart Quality setup and system enhances collaboration with regulatory bodies - that means audits are quicker and easier to prepare for, are processed faster, there’s less risk of findings, and in some cases, an audit can even be performed entirely remotely. It’s official, auditors are on board with Smart Quality!
3. Smart Quality is a mindset
A defining element of Smart Quality is that it’s a mindset that usually requires a mind-shift, a different way of thinking and behaving in regards to quality. A new perspective on what quality is capable of.
Smart Quality is quality seen through the lens of potential, rather than obligation.
A company that operates under the Smart Quality concept is one where everyone is on board with doing their part for quality, no matter what department they’re in. Quality actions are infused naturally in day-to-day tasks.
How to Switch on Smart Quality
Implementing Smart Quality opens up a trove of possibilities and untaps potential. So how can Life Science professionals switch on Smart Quality in their organizations?
To reach Smart Quality requires a journey of innovation; one demanding novel behavioral design, a mind-shift in your teams, and technological upgrades in your electronic quality system or eQMS. It’s not a concept that can be implemented from one day to the next and can be quite overwhelming without the right tools at hand.
Thankfully, there now exists software that has been engineered especially to help Life Science companies get on board with the bright new future of quality.
A specialized Smart Quality platform, such as Scilife, is the solution for Life Science companies to switch on Smart Quality. The platform fuses design-thinking, gamification, and continuous learning with dynamic quality management tools and insightful data.
Insightful Data
Smart Quality is all about looking forward; predicting customer needs, setting goals to keep up with the fast-changing Life Sciences sector, and planning ahead based on performance trends.
Are you on track to reach your business goals? Where do you need to take action? How do your results measure up to other Life Science companies? These are all questions Life Science companies should know the answer to in order to be truly a Smart Quality organization.
Scilife allows you to leverage advanced analytics, including custom reports, real-time predictive KPI trends, benchmark industry averages, and detailed visual data, to give you the answers you need - without waiting for end-of-quarter results.
Augmented Learning
What triggers the Smart Quality mind shift across your diverse teams and empowers the entire organization to take ownership of quality actions? Augmented learning methods that engage and stimulate everyone.
The Scilife platform is a rich trove of intuitive learning resources that inspires the whole organization to get to grips with diverse quality concepts and stay up-to-date on the latest quality insights.
Apart from helping QA professionals boost their quality knowledge, it fuels company-wide continuous learning. When quality is understood outside of the QA department, it encourages everyone to carry out quality actions, fuelling continuous improvement.
In a smart-quality organization, everyone owns quality.
The Scilife Academy is bursting with easy-to-digest video courses, useful articles, and more. While learning, earn certifications and reach milestones - motivating everyone further along their journey to Smart Quality.
Sustained Motivation
Triggering and sustaining the necessary Smart Quality mind-shift and motivation is only possible if the system is engaging. Scilife’s gamified features such as leaderboards, quizzes, and badges within the platform effectively engage users; encouraging them to complete trainings on time, deepen their quality knowledge, and take responsibility for their quality actions. Plus, it makes quality a bit more ‘fun’!
The platform’s game-based features, as well as human-focused design significantly improve the user experience - and that can increase KPI achievement by up to 80%.
The bright future of Quality is here to stay
The future of quality is Smart. More and more Life Science organizations are implementing the concept and reaping the plentiful benefits it brings to attain a competitive advantage as well as turbocharge business gains, boost employee productivity, and ultimately better help patients and improve lives. What’s certain is that anyone that’s experienced the light of Smart Quality will never go back to the old ways!
Ready to Switch on Smart Quality in your organization?
Find out how Scilife Smart QMS lights the way!
