In today’s business world, many organizations use computers for almost everything they do. They are involved in every department and every business function that is carried out. Much of this wouldn’t be possible without cloud computing. The cloud is basically a data center that is on-demand, accessed via the internet, and available to many different users. Cloud computing allows individuals and businesses access to data storage space and computing functions that they normally would not have access to without massive, on-site servers.
Cloud computing has the power to help a company with any aspect of its business. It can aid in sales, marketing, logistics, manufacturing, project management, product development, and more. One area where it is particularly useful is in quality control.
Ensuring that you produce a consistent, safe, and high-quality product is key to many businesses. If quality control is important to your business, leveraging the cloud to help in this area is a smart idea. Here we will cover ways cloud computing can help different types of businesses with their quality control.
Data Management
Data storage and management are what cloud computing is all about. Using data and analytics to drive decision-making is something that all businesses should be doing in 2020. This is especially true with the quality control piece of your business.
Companies can now collect and analyze data from nearly every step of the business cycle, from the machines that produce the product to the consumer who buys and uses the product. This mountain of data is great, but it is only useful if you have the capacity to manage and analyze it to create data-driven insights.
The cloud was built to allow companies that couldn’t otherwise do it to store and manage massive amounts of data. It also offers SaaS (News - Alert) products that help turn raw data into actionable data. This storage and processing power that the cloud provides can help companies understand where they excel in the quality assurance process and where they need to improve.
The cloud’s ability to provide better data management is exactly what many companies need to help with quality control. Knowledge is power, and knowledge-driven by data gives businesses the power to enhance and streamline processes and procedures in order to achieve consistent and high-quality results.
Security Practices
Ensuring the physical and digital safety of your products and data is another important piece of quality control. Whether it is making sure no unauthorized personnel handles a product or that your or your customers’ sensitive data is not compromised, security is not something that should be overlooked in quality control.
Cloud computing is something that can help both physical and digital security to increase quality control. On the physical side, cloud-based security cameras and systems make physically securing spaces easier and more affordable. It is now much easier to monitor security feeds and alerts from a remote location via your computer or phone. It also reduces the cost of installing and maintaining these systems. The cloud can also store much more archived footage so you can go back and check camera feeds to resolve an issue affecting quality control.
On the digital side, cloud computing can also help protect you. In 2020, there are many security risks lurking out there that could compromise your systems. The cloud can help keep your systems safe and secure, keeping a high level of quality control, in two main ways. The first is that the cloud will allow you to use tools, data, and infrastructure for cybersecurity that you may not otherwise be able to run on your network alone. This will give you a stronger defense against cyberattacks.
The other way cloud computing helps security and quality control is by giving you the ability to back up all your data. In the unfortunate event that you are the victim of ransomware or some other cyberattack that wipes, steals, or otherwise locks you out from your data, having a backup in place is huge to avoid massive downtime or data that is lost forever. This will give you a better handle on your overall security which is great for quality control.
Monitoring of Facilities
One of the most important reasons for quality control is so that you do not put out unsafe, ineffective, or expired products. Doing so can, at best, turn customers off and, at worst, hurt people. Especially with products that are sensitive to environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity, quality control is vital.
One of the ways cloud computing is helping companies in industries where environmental control is important is via cloud-enabled monitoring software that can help protect sensitive assets. In certain industries such as food, pharma, aerospace, and others, being able to use data loggers to monitor and map conditions and report them to a central, remote location is a game-changer.
This is particularly true in highly regulated industries where quality control is not just recommended but required. According to Dickson, continuous monitoring of warehouse conditions and other areas where sensitive assets may be stored is an important part of GxP, also known as good practices. In some industries, these GxP are mandated by a governmental agency like the FDA, and non-compliance can lead to fines or shutdowns.
Once again, the cloud can be utilized to help with quality control by adding a layer of control and transparency that would be hard to achieve without a serious capital and space investment in a physical computer network. For businesses that deal with environmentally sensitive products, it is a no-brainer.
Conclusion
The cloud helps with quality control in many ways. It helps big companies do it more efficiently and effectively and saves a lot of money in the process. For small and medium-sized businesses, it democratizes access to data centers that would otherwise be out of their reach financially, while also providing the same capabilities and benefits that it does for big companies. Maybe the best thing about cloud computing and its role in quality control, though, is its effect on consumers. It helps create better, safer products without adding a lot of costs--all things that are great from a consumer perspective.
