Until few
years ago the approach of the quality is relied heavily upon INSPECTION &
now the approach is shifting towards Prevention rather than Repair since it
cost more to fix an error than it does to prevent one.
Keep in
mind you can never inspect Quality into product, but you can deliberately plan
for it from beginning.
PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Project
Quality Management includes the processes for incorporating the organization’s
quality policy regarding planning, managing, and controlling project and
product quality requirements in order to meet client objectives. Project
Quality Management also supports continuous process improvement activities as
undertaken on behalf of the performing organization.
What are the different phases in
project quality management?
Project quality management consists
of three major processes:-
1.
Quality management
planning: This involves identifying the
quality requirements and standards for the project and product. The goal
of the project quality management should be clearly shared with all interested
parties /stakeholders, and appropriate tasks should be delegated to those
responsible.
2.
Quality assurance (Manage
Quality) : This involves auditing the
quality requirements and quality control results to ensure appropriate quality
standards are used. When standards are not met or goals aren’t achieved,
necessary steps and corrective actions should be employed to fix these issues.
3.
Quality control: This involves monitoring and recording the results of quality
activities to assess performance and recommend necessary changes.
What is the definition of “quality”
in “project quality management”?
The definition of quality is central
to understand these three processes. To be able to define quality, you need to
be clear about the following terms:
·
Validation: assurance that the product meets the agreed-upon needs
·
Verification: compliance with requirements
·
Precision: How close the measurements to each other.
·
Accuracy: How close the measurements to the true value
·
Tolerance: range of acceptable results
Well, now look at these processes in detail-
Plan Quality Management—The process of identifying quality requirements and/or standards
for the project and its deliverables, and documenting how the project will
demonstrate compliance with quality requirements and/ or standards.
The Plan
Quality Management process is concerned with the quality that the work needs to
have. Manage Quality is concerned with managing the quality processes
throughout the project. During the Manage Quality process, quality requirements
identified during the Plan Quality Management process are turned into test and
evaluation instruments, which are then applied during the Control Quality
process to verify these quality requirements are met by the project. Control
Quality is concerned with comparing the work results with the quality
requirements to ensure the result is acceptable
Meeting
customer requirements by overworking the project team may result in decreased
profits and increased levels of overall project risks, employee attrition,
errors, or rework.
Meeting
project schedule objectives by rushing planned quality inspections may result
in undetected errors, decreased profits, and increased post-implementation
risks.
Quality
Assurance (MANAGE QUALITY) -
Manage
Quality is the process of translating the quality management plan into
executable quality activities that incorporate the organization’s quality
policies into the project.
The key benefits
of this process are that it increases the probability of meeting the quality
objectives as well as identifying ineffective processes and causes of poor
quality.
Manage
Quality uses the data and results from the control quality process to reflect
the overall quality status of the project/ Product to the client.
Manage
Quality is sometimes called quality assurance. Quality assurance involves
following and meeting standards to assure stakeholders that the final product
will meet their needs, expectations, and requirements. Manage Quality includes
all the quality assurance activities, and is also concerned with the product
design aspects and process improvements.
Techniques
used in Quality Assurance –
Document analysis:-The analysis of different documents produced as part of the output
of Quality control processes, such as quality reports, test reports &
performance reports can point to on processes that may be out of control and
may jeopardize meeting the specified requirements
Process analysis:- Process analysis identifies opportunities for process improvements.
This analysis also examines problems, constraints, and non-value-added
activities that occur during a process.
Root cause analysis (RCA):- Root cause analysis is an analytical technique used to determine
the basic underlying reason that causes a variance, defect. A root cause may
underlie more than one variance or defect. It may also be used as a technique
for identifying root causes of a problem and solving them. When all root causes
for a problem are removed, the problem does not recur.
Affinity diagrams:- Affinity diagrams can organize potential causes of defects into
groups showing areas that should be focused on the most.
Cause-and-effect diagrams :- Cause-and-effect diagrams are also known as fishbone diagrams,
why-why diagrams, or Ishikawa diagrams. This type of diagram breaks down the
causes of the problem statement identified into discrete branches, helping to
identify the main or root cause of the problem.
Flowcharts -
Flowcharts show a series of steps that lead to a defect.
Histograms –
Histogram’s show a graphical representation of numerical data. Histograms can
show the number of defects per Product / deliverable, a ranking of the cause of
defects, the number of times each process is non-compliant.
Scatter diagrams (Correlation Chart) - A scatter diagram is a graph that shows the relationship between
two variables. Scatter diagrams can demonstrate a relationship between any
element of a process, environment, or activity on one axis and a quality defect
on the other axis.
Audits - An
audit is a structured, independent process used to determine if project
activities comply with organizational and project policies, processes, and
procedures.
Design for X-
Design for X (DfX) is a set of technical guidelines that may be applied during
the design of a product for the optimization of a specific aspect of the
design. DfX can control or even improve the product’s final characteristics.
The X in DfX can be different aspects of product development, such as
reliability, deployment, assembly, manufacturing, cost, service, usability,
safety, and quality. Using the DfX may result in cost reduction, quality
improvement, better performance, and customer satisfaction.
Problem Solving - Problem solving entails finding solutions for issues or
challenges. It can include gathering additional information, critical thinking,
quantitative and logical approaches. Effective and systematic problem solving
is a fundamental element in quality assurance and quality improvement. Problems
can arise as a result of the Control Quality process or from quality audits and
can be associated with a process or deliverables. Using a structured problem-solving
method will help eliminate the problem and develop a long-lasting solution.
Problem-solving
methods generally include the following elements:
Defining the problem,
Identifying the root-cause,
Generate possible solutions,
Choosing the best solution,
Implementing the solution,
Verifying solution
Quality Control —The process of monitoring and recording the results of executing
the quality management activities to assess performance and ensure the project
outputs are complete, correct, and meet customer expectations.
The
Control Quality process is performed to measure the completeness, compliance,
and fitness for purpose of a product or service prior to user acceptance and
final delivery. This is done by measuring all steps, attributes, and variables
used to verify conformance or compliance to the specifications stated during
the planning stage.
Quality Control Techniques –
Checklists -
Checklists help in managing the control quality activities in a structured
manner.
Statistical sampling - Statistical sampling involves randomly selection of samples /Parts
from a lot for inspection (for example, selecting 10 pipe fittings (WNRF) at
random from a lot of 100). The sample is taken to measure controls and verify
quality. Sample frequency and sizes should be determined during the Plan
Quality Management process.
Performance
reviews- Performance reviews measure, compare, and analyse the quality
metrics defined by the Quality Management Plan against the actual results.
Root-cause analysis (RCA) - Root cause analysis is used to identify the source of defects.
Inspection -
An inspection is the examination of a work, product to determine if it conforms
to documented standards. Inspections may be called reviews, peer reviews,
audits, or walkthroughs.
Testing / Product Evaluation -Testing is an organized investigation conducted to provide
objective information about the quality of the product or service under test in
accordance with the client requirements. The intent of testing is to find
errors, defects or other non-conformity in the product. The type, amount, and
extent of tests needed to evaluate each requirement is part of the project
quality plan and depend on the nature of the project, time, budget, and other
constraints. Tests can be performed throughout the project and at the end of
the project before the final deliverable shipment. Early testing helps identify
non-conformance problems and helps reduce the cost of fixing the nonconforming
components
There are
five levels of effective quality management :-
1. Usually, the most expensive approach is to let the customer find the
defects. This approach can lead to warranty issues, recalls, loss of
reputation, and rework costs.
2. Detect and correct the defects before the deliverables are sent to
the customer as part of the quality control process.
3. Use quality assurance to examine and correct the process itself and
not just DEFECT’s / Non -Conformance.
4. Incorporate quality into the planning and designing of the project
and product.
5. Create a culture throughout the organization that is aware and
committed to quality in processes and products.
TRENDS AND
EMERGING PRACTICES IN PROJECT QUALITY MANAGEMENT
Modern quality management approaches seek to minimize variation and
to deliver results that meet defined customer requirements. Trends in Project
Quality Management include but are not limited to:
Customer satisfaction - Understand, evaluate, define, and manage requirements so that
customer expectations are met. This requires a combination of conformance to
requirements (to ensure the project produces what it was created to produce)
and fitness for use (the product or service needs to satisfy the real needs).
Continual improvement - The plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle is the basis for quality
improvement as defined by Shewhart and modified by Deming. In addition, quality
improvement initiatives such as total quality management (TQM), Six Sigma, and
Lean Six Sigma may improve both the quality of project management, as well as
the quality of the end product, service, or result.
Management responsibility- Success requires the participation of the whole organisational
mebers / Team. Management retains, within its responsibility for quality, a
related responsibility to provide suitable resources at adequate capacities.
Mutually beneficial partnership with suppliers - An organization and its suppliers are interdependent. Relationships based on partnership and cooperation with the supplier is more beneficial to the organization and to the suppliers than traditional supplier management. The organization should prefer long-term relationships over short-term gains. A mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability for both the organization and the suppliers to create value for each other, enhances the joint responses to customer needs and expectations, and optimizes costs and resources.
References -
www.pmi.org
#PMBOK6
#PQM #QA #QC #PMP #QuallityManagement
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