There’s no doubt that the world becomes more interconnected and technology-centered as each day passes. Driverless cars have taken to the road in pilot projects in several countries; modes of communication are instant and global, whether they’re under 140 characters or above; and medical treatments are being tailored to fit personal genomics.

As available products and services become more technologically complex, one might be forgiven for assuming that all the required processes and technology to get them to the marketplace are similarly advanced. In many cases this is indeed true, but many people might be surprised to learn how prevalent manual and localized processes are for managing product quality across industries.

According to the LNS Research quality management survey—to date taken by more than 1,200 global quality executives across industries—78 percent of respondents currently operate in some state of quality disconnect across their enterprises. And this is becoming an increasingly pressing issue in quality organizations as customer expectations and requirements increase, regulations tighten, and the supply chain continues to splinter and become more complex.

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