Quality Management Systems and Information Systems: Getting More than the Sum of the Parts

Companies are increasingly concerned with quality management of their products and services. Holding a quality certification, such as ISO 9001:2000, is becoming a compulsory requirement to play in selected markets. Designing a quality management system requires the extensive involvement of staff and managers and the analysis and redesign of business procedures. Interestingly enough, very similar requisites and tasks characterize enterprise systems design. However, the two endeavors are systematically conducted as separate projects, which are handled by different teams, equipped with unconnected methodologies. We present the first results of an approach we are developing to simultaneously address the design of the Quality Management System and of the Enterprise System. We identify the important synergies between the two initiatives, with the ultimate goal of creating a streamlined match between business processes and information system support, so that, when the project is finished, we can get both a fully operational information system and an officially certified quality audit for the whole enterprise