Making Process Adjustments and Quality Improvements

Have you ever encountered a situation where something has gone wrong and you wondered what could have been done to prevent it? Process adjustments and quality improvements can address this issue.

Process adjustments
Process adjustments may be corrective or preventive. Corrective adjustments are taken after a problem has already been discovered. Preventive adjustments are taken beforehand to prevent problems from happening.

Some of the most common process adjustments are: rework, redesign, change of equipment, change of personnel, and change of process. To prevent problems from occurring, each process is analyzed to determine where things could go wrong. Preventive steps or processes are then planned into the various activities.

In extreme cases, a process problem may demand rework. Rework requires that the production lot or phase of a project be redone. Obviously, rework should be avoided if possible. However, rework can be planned out conceptually by having inspections, testing, and measuring at logical points in the project or process. This minimizes rework, restricting its use to occasions of absolute necessity.

Another possibility is that a process needs to be redesigned. Projects often have an experimental or trial phase that tests the functioning of an item. This process needs to be planned so that the time exists for redesign, and redesign work is minimized, especially at later stages.

The problem may be the equipment. It could be worn out, outdated or unable to perform to the new designs or specifications demanded of it. Equipment upgrades can be planned into the project or process at various stages. This ensures that the machinery does not wear out and that it will meet future specifications.

Sometimes the problem is with a worker or supervisor. Many employees become bored with their jobs. A worker, supervisor or inspector may not be working as hard as they should be. Perhaps not enough training has been given to employees who need it. Personality conflicts may also be an issue.

Frequent rotation of workers may be desired. Properly scheduling breaks, work hours, vacation, and an understandable promotion system can make a work force more energetic. Refresher training reminds workers of quality issues.

On occasion the process itself may be flawed. Due to employee inexperience, a one-time modification of the process may be required. Plant layouts may need to be updated, efficiency studies undertaken, or adoption of higher forms of technology may be necessary. Annual audits help managers to identify the need for efficiency studies, increased automation, or changes to the process requiring more or less inspection, or testing as appropriate.

Quality Improvements
Quality improvement can occur in two manners. The first and most desirable way is through planned inspections, or audits, of a project or product process. The changes are enacted through a change request. The change request is based upon a well-reasoned and thought out analysis. Unplanned improvement can also occur through corrective action. Too much rework can result in an audit which then decides if a process or procedure needs changing. A change request initiates the improvement.

Both of these methods can address short- and long-term problems to a project or a production process. Consistent and constant attention to quality control is required to remind everyone that quality control can happen at any time.

No one person is solely responsible for quality control. All employees are responsible for identifying potential problems. It should not just be left to the inspectors or quality assurance department to ensure a process is being performed correctly. Interaction is necessary between all the stakeholders in a process or project. This involves the workers, managers, inspectors, engineers, and even the client. No one person can make a change without consideration of all possibilities.

One way to ensure smooth communications between all the stakeholders is to hold frequent meetings of all levels of personnel. This is termed a Quality Circle. Meetings are held frequently where concerns are brought up, ideas discussed, and new methods introduced. The idea is that everyone becomes aware of the others' positions and responsibilities on each issue. Quality improvement ideas are often discussed.

Workers can suggest changes to a process, calibration, or material. They see and do the process on a daily basis. Their suggestions are often preventive in nature. They are also the first line of defense in defect identification.

Managers are responsible for ensuring that the right activities occur at the right time. They can coordinate training, ensure workers and inspectors are doing their jobs, and coordinate with the engineers and clients about problems or changes.

Quality assurance and control is the function of the inspectors. Changes in procedures or processes can be initiated by them or discussion on new methods needed when a problem is identified. Whenever possible, they should act preventively.

Engineers or designers are often asked to study the technical aspects of a problem. They can also suggest the need for a change in process or design based upon new concepts, methods, or technology.

Ultimately, the manager is responsible for change. However, each employee is responsible for understanding the changes and for implementing them. They must also ensure that feedback is accurately conveyed. A progressive attitude by all is required.

Problem identification and resolution takes time. A group may need to meet several times to adjust the process and develop quality improvement ideas. Regardless, process adjustment and quality improvement must be thought of as a continuous process. There is always room for improvement, and prevention is always cheaper than correction.

What Makes a Quality Management Plan Effective?

Have you ever had a problem that required implementing quality control methods, but you didn't know where to start? Proper project development requires a quality management plan to ensure that time and cost objectives and standards are met.

Depending on the needs of the project, a quality management plan can be formal or informal, detailed or broad. The best plans address the three aspects of quality—quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement—and feature operational definitions as well as any procedures and standards.

Quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement
To provide direction and focus for project plan development, your plan should include details about quality control, quality assurance, and quality improvement measures.

• Quality Control - monitors products for conformance to the quality standards and identifies ways to eliminate substandard work or failures. It requires detailed instructions based on the operational definitions, or measurements, for the project.
• Quality Assurance - audits the organizational structures, responsibilities, procedures and processes of a project to ensure that the quality plan is providing effective feedback.
• Quality Improvement - is the outcome of the quality assurance and quality control processes. A design experiment may be required to determine if there are new operating norms or if the new procedures will work. It may prevent re-occurrences of quality issues.

Operational definitions
Next, your plan must define what needs to be measured. Before the plan can be fully developed, the following operational definitions need to be identified:

• What quality aspects will be measured?
• How will each quality aspect be measured?
• When will each quality aspect be measured?

Defining what needs to be measured can be the hardest part of the operational definition process. The governing rule should be to measure anything that can be variable in nature, whether the item to be measured is a human, a machine, a product, a procedure or process, or the environment.

Most final products require some sort of measurement to ensure conformance to subjective and objective standards. Subjective standards are difficult to measure. How exactly do you measure the aesthetic appeal of flowers? Objective standards require detailed measurements including destruction testing.

Forms can be developed to record objective and subjective measurements. Objective standards include strength, time, cost and measurement criteria. These need explicit data requiring detailed inspection processes and forms. Subjective standards, such as aesthetic standards, are most often measured using checklists with comment sections.

Determining how often to measure quality is another aspect of the operational definition process. Some of the most obvious times to test quality are:

• upon delivery of raw materials - This determines if the supplier is meeting your standards. Items should also be inspected after prolonged storage, especially if they are environmentally or corrosion sensitive. Not every item needs to be inspected. Sampling techniques can be used.
• at end of major stages in a process - It is often cost effective to inspect at the end of a sub- process to ensure substandard material does not progress further. This prevents wasted time, materials, and expensive rework procedures.
• upon changes in operating conditions - An appropriate time to measure is after changes to procedures, processes, machinery settings and human operators. This can take place at different intervals: every few minutes, hourly, each shift, weekly, monthly, or yearly. The time sensitivity of the process determines the frequency.
• upon completion of job lots - Many products are often produced in lots, partly as a function of the inputs process, but also as a function of testing and tracking of outputs. It is cheaper to throw out a small lot than an entire day's production run.

Ultimately, deciding when and how often to measure quality is a cost versus quality issue. Every item or stage of a project could be inspected, but the inspection costs may outweigh the final value.

Procedures and standards
The final component of a sound quality management plan involves procedures and checklists. Quality processes and standards should become routine and may be taught and enforced through procedures in the form of checklists.

Checklists confirm whether quality control standards have been followed. They can be instructive by outlining what needs to be done by saying, "Do Y." Process checklists also ensure certain tasks have been done by asking, "Has X been completed?" In some processes or projects, inspection checklists can gather data on the number of times tasks have or have not been performed adequately.

Checklists ensure that process steps are not overlooked or forgotten. They also ensure that the product does not advance to the next process before necessary tasks are done. This prevents costly rework if changes are required.

In some cases, companies perform work to certain external standards as expressed in governmental or association regulations or guidelines. If this is the case with your project, you can develop checklists which include standards.

Project quality is only as good as the quality management plan. To ensure project quality, the plan must be well thought out and rehearsed. Project quality can be ensured by a complete understanding of: quality control, quality assurance and quality improvement; operational definitions; and checklists and standards.

Implementing Quality Improvement Efforts

Sometimes organizations become lost when they implement quality improvement efforts. Applying solutions to quality problems requires a clear and direct route. In most cases, realizing quality improvements involves setting up change requests and taking corrective action.

Change requests are documented records of changes that happen to improve the quality of a project. Change requests can occur in many ways. They can be:

• oral or written
• direct or indirect
• externally or internally initiated
• legally directed or optional.

Realizing quality improvements also can involve taking corrective action. This process requires aligning the expected project performances with the project plan. This will help ensure that the project is meeting the requirements of the stakeholders.
Corrective action occurs when rework is required during a project. However, it does more than just fix a problem. It also can help you discover the root cause of the problem and prevent reoccurrence.

To handle change requests and corrective action, you must follow certain procedures. Most quality improvements for project management are implemented according to procedures for integrated change control.

This process coordinates changes across entire projects. There are three main characteristics for integrated change control.

1. Influence the factors that generate change to guarantee that changes are valuable.
Not all changes are valuable. During brainstorming sessions, plan quality improvement efforts that focus on factors that generate change.

2. Establish that a change has taken place.
Keeping an accurate paper trail of all changes helps managers establish that change has taken place. In addition, managers should reexamine their processes to ensure that any changes are maintained.

3. Handle the changes when and as they occur.
Learn to manage quality improvement changes as they occur. Managers should understand that possible schedule changes also will influence the cost, risk, quality, and staffing areas of a project.

Remember, quality improvement doesn't just happen. It includes taking corrective action and preparing change requests that are managed according to integrated change control. These procedures can help make quality a reality for your project.

The Evolution of Project Quality

The view of quality has changed dramatically over the past 100 years. Do you know how companies managed the quality of their products and services that long ago?

Project quality has evolved over time, from sorting good items from bad items, to strategic quality management. Quality was once the responsibility of the Quality Inspector. Now it's everyone's responsibility. Details about the quality time line are provided below.

• Prior to World War I, companies stressed the importance of inspections. Problems were identified, not prevented. In the 1950s, inspections were still emphasized. However, quality control emerged as statistical and mathematical techniques.
• From the 1950s to the late 1960s, quality assurance was developed for project management. Companies took steps to prevent problems from occurring, instead of reacting to problems once they were detected.
• Presently, management teams emphasize strategic quality management. Quality is characterized by the customer's demands and requires the commitment of an entire organization. All levels of an organization must be accountable for the products and services it offers. Quality is a weapon that is used against competitors.

Today, quality begins during the initiation of a project, and must be planned, assured, and controlled within that project. The driving force behind higher levels of quality comes from the demands of customers. Total Quality Management (TQM) is a present-day management system that responds to these demands.
TQM has contributed significantly to the movement toward improved quality. It is a customer-oriented system that can also reduce internal bottlenecks and operating costs. This system boosts organizational morale and increases product quality at the same time.

Quality has reached present-day levels as a result of the contributions of experts in the field of project management. In particular, two influential contributors to the quality movement are W. Edwards Deming and Joseph M. Juran.

W. Edwards Deming believed that 85 percent of quality problems required changing the processes within a company. He thought the roots of quality problems should be identified and eliminated. To help organizations identify the roots of quality problems, he developed the Deming's Cycle for Improvement.

Deming believed that problem solving should be logical and systematic. Deming's Cycle for Improvement, which involves the four steps described below, enables organizations to locate and eliminate the source of a problem, rather than simply eliminating the symptoms of a problem.

• Plan. The first step involves identifying the problem and establishing priorities. During this step a quality improvement team is formed, and the problem is defined and analyzed. Possible causes for the problem are determined, as well as possible solutions.
• Do. During the "do" stage, a solution to the problem is selected and implemented.
• Study. The study stage involves evaluating the solution.
• Act. Finally, the last stage ensures that the new procedure and controls are maintained. Project teams ensure that continuous improvement occurs.

Joseph M. Juran believed that quality for manufacturers meant adhering to specifications, and quality for customers depended on "fitness for use," which involves five characteristics: quality of design, quality of conformance, safety, use by the customer, and availability.
Juran also discussed the cost of quality and the legal implications of quality. He examined the various grades of quality for products and services. Juran developed 10 steps for quality improvement that can be applied to project management. The 10 steps are:

• promote the need for improvement
• establish goals for improvement
• organize a plan to attain the goals
• provide training
• perform projects to solve problems
• give an account of the progress that is made
• provide recognition
• communicate results
• keep score
• make improvement part of the process.

The way organizations and customers view quality has changed over time. Today, it is understood that problem solving is an important aspect of quality improvement.

Design of Experiments and Quality Assurance

Why would a project quality team design an experiment? Design of experiments is an analytical technique for project quality assurance that helps project managers determine which variables have the most effect on an outcome. It can help you determine the capability of a material, process, or product.

Your project can be improved with experiments that test new ideas and possibilities. Designed experiments are helpful in solving chronic quality problems. Properly designed experiments can:

• reduce rework
• improve productivity
• increase customer satisfaction
• prevent problems
• reduce the need for extra inspections.

Companies strive for efficiency in most areas. After all, companies that have efficient processes while still maintaining a high level of quality are usually the companies that are best-in-their-class.

Design of experiments is a more efficient and less disruptive experimentation process than most trial method experiments. It requires extra thought and planning. However, it is worth the time and effort put into it.

This technique for quality assurance is beneficial for many company types and is most often used for projects that produce a product. Companies and their project managers usually choose to use this technique for the following reasons.

• It requires smaller sample sizes to receive the same accuracy of results.
• It determines interactions between process variables.
• It tests more variables at one time, making this process more efficient.

Design of experiments is a quality assurance technique that verifies how materials, products, or processes affect your project. It is useful for solving chronic quality problems because it tests new ideas and possibilities.

Developing a Quality Management Plan

Implementing effective quality management for your project takes a great deal of organization. Developing a quality management plan and applying it to a project will help ensure that effective quality management has taken place.

A quality management plan is a document that details the quality practices and activities of a product or service. It is a part of an organization's quality system and should include the responsibilities, procedures, processes, organizational structure, and resources required to implement effective quality management.

Created by the project manager and the project team members, it should describe how a quality policy will be carried out and detail the project objectives by breaking down the project activities into lower-level activities. It should also identify specific quality actions.

Quality management plans can take on many forms. They can be formal, informal, detailed, or general, depending on the needs of each particular project. They can also be represented in many ways visually. For example, a plan can be displayed as a tree-like diagram.

A new plan should be developed, or old plans should be changed to reflect the different activities of each unique project. A quality management plan does not stand completely alone—it becomes a part of the overall project plan.

Project quality can be described as meeting or exceeding customer requirements. This means customers should have input into the quality of the project. Remember, the bottom line to any project is satisfying the customers. Without them, there are no future projects.

Effective quality management plans play an important role in this process of satisfying customers. The characteristics of good quality management plans are as follows.

• They should identify customers.
• They should prove that goals and objectives are being met.
• They should affect the design of a process that meets the ever-changing needs of customers.
• They should enable the company to bring in suppliers early in the process.

It is the responsibility of the project manager to make certain that the project's quality actions are thoroughly documented. This process will enable the company to prove that it has the right processes in place to meet the needs of its customers.

Sustaining a quality system and creating a quality management plan requires a great deal of effort, planning, and organization. The following is a list of the high-level steps in the process of creating a quality management plan.

1. State all measurable features of the project's product.

2. Identify how the product will be produced and its quality measured against specifications.

3. Determine how the project approach will be measured.

4. Conduct a quality risk assessment and develop non-conformance procedures.

5. State the method for quality reporting and monitoring.

6. Outline the formal acceptance criteria and document the project's final product.

In summary, quality management plans are documents that describe the quality practices, resources, and sequence of activities related to a specific service or product. They act as a guide for satisfying the customers' needs.

The Project Quality Management Plan

A quality management plan, which is an output of the project quality planning process, is a document that describes how a quality policy will be implemented. Quality improvement, quality control, and quality assurance are addressed in quality management plans. These plans usually are created by project management teams and project managers and are integrated into the overall project plan.

A quality plan acts as a road map to meeting customers' needs by breaking down the project objectives into lower-level activities. This process should identify specific quality actions.

Quality management plans are drawn up for specific products, individual projects, or highly complicated tasks. A new plan should be developed or changed to reflect the different activities of each project.

In contract situations, a quality plan is sometimes used by the supplier to show the customer how the project will meet quality requirements. In many cases, it's helpful to have the customer's input into the quality management plan.

Quality management plans take on different forms. They can be formal, informal, detailed, or general, depending on the needs of each particular project.

Quality plans ensure the proper documentation for a project is complete. They prove that quality goals are being met. An effective quality plan can also:

• identify all internal or external customers
• respond to the ever-changing needs of customers
• bring in the suppliers early in the project
• cause the process to be designed in a way that produces features that meet customer requirements.

Quality management plans and other aspects of quality planning require attention to detail. When defining quality, the term can mean different things to different people. Attention to detail helps ensure everyone's requirements for quality are met.