Companies have always cared about quality in their products and services. But the formal processes of monitoring, ensuring, and improving quality are fairly new, and still have huge effects on how companies around the world operate. It’s a career field that isn’t just growing in numbers, it’s growing in importance.
Quality management is essential to protect the reputation of a company and their products, to manage growth without jeopardizing quality, and ensuring that the customer always gets products and services that meet their standards. If that sounds like a complex, difficult job, it is. It means understanding market forces and demand, regulations and legal compliance, company organization and structure, and challenges and opportunities throughout the supply chain. Quality management jobs involve a balance of interpersonal communication and leadership skills, formal training and expertise, and the ability to manage risk, execute strategic plans, and perform audits.
Quality Management and Continuous Improvement
Quality management is a career for people for whom “good enough” isn’t good enough. It’s a field that requires constantly reviewing and revising processes, in the ongoing pursuit of perfection. There are a number of different quality management systems and methodologies. Some of the most popular are:
- ISO
- Kaizen
- Lean
- Six Sigma/Lean Six Sigma
- TQM
- Kanban
- In Food, Beverages & Nutrition: BRC, IFS, ISO 22000 & FSSC 22000
Quality managers also typically rely on software and analysis tools that use ERP or supply chain tools to give insights into quality.
Opportunities in Quality Management
Quality management is essential in a wide range of industries and products, but it is arguably most important in food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products. Customers rely on these products for their health and safety, and poor quality in these industries can have devastating consequences. Particularly in the food and drug industries, the strict regulatory environment can often change quickly, requiring companies to adapt just as quickly.
Since nearly every industry practices some form of quality management, there are hundreds of thousands of jobs around the world in quality planning, quality assurance, quality control, and quality improvement. There are tons of opportunities for trained quality management professionals, and it’s a flexible field in which a person has a lot of power to create their own career path.
If you are a QA, QC, or trained quality professional who wants to work with some of the top companies in EMEA, contact Grapefrute today and see how we can help grow your career in quality. Currently, we have these quality jobs:
Food Safety, Quality & Regulatory Lead Belgium – Cocoa & Chocolate @ Cargill in Mouscron, Belgium
Quality Manager Benelux @ Perfetti van Melle in Breda, the Netherlands
Quality Specialist / FSQR Specialist Chocolate @ Cargill in Antwerp, Belgium
Quality Assurance and Food Safety Specialist @ Cargill in Bergen op Zoom, the Netherlands
Technical Services Supervisor Quality @ Fresh Del Monte, Hamburg Germany
Site Quality Assurance Manager @ Solina in Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Quality Assurance Assistant @ Solina in Rotterdam, the Netherlands