Project Quality Management

What Is Project Quality Management?

In general, quality is what we all want. Not many approach a business and want the lowest quality product they offer. We will often settle for less than what we initially wanted if the price is right and the result is close to what our expectations are. Managing the quality of all the variables that go into a project is a massive undertaking. Cutting corners and costs are sometimes a necessity when working within a tight budget or deadlines. The term "quality" is hard to define only because it can be applied to so many different aspects of a project. The standard definition through ISO is "the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements". That being said, it is most ideal if the products and processes used within a project conform to the requirements; that would equal a quality project. But in the end, the customer is responsible for defining their expectations of quality.

The purpose of project quality management is to ensure that the project will satisfy the needs of the client.

There are 3 main processes that are performed for project quality management, they are:

1. Quality Planning - is identifying which quality standards are the most relevant to the project and how to deliver those standards.


2. Quality Assurance - involves periodically assessing the overall project performance to ensure quality standards are being met.


3. Quality Control - will monitor the specific project results to maintain relevant quality standards while seeking ways to improve the overall quality.

Comparison is always a factor in quality management. You must have an attainable quality standard to use as a benchmark for your current project. There are also several techniques to assist in quality control.

The 7 Basic Tools of Quality are:

Cause & Effect Diagrams

Control Charts

Run Chart

Scatter Diagram

Histogram

Pareto Chart

Flowcharts

A flexible system that is used widely for tracking and determining quality is the Six Sigma way. It was originally implemented by Motorola. The objective is to identify anything that could lead to customer dissatisfaction and to correct it. There are principles and processes that the system is based on, one being the DMAIC.

• Define - the problem


• Measure - the data and compile for display


• Analyze - and scrutinize the data seeking ways for improvement


• Improve - by generating practical solutions and improvements


• Control - by tracking and verifying the stability of the implemented solutions
  

Reflection

Working in the automotive parts manufacturing business for about twenty years of my life I’ve been involved with Quality Control as a machine operator as well as working in a Quality Control Department.

In one factory where we produced frames for light trucks I worked as one of two inspectors at the end of the production line. Every frame was checked for inconsistencies of hole dimensions and rivet seating. A 100% check was necessary because the cost of repairing a frame on a completed truck would be high. If a number of completed trucks had the same problem then a recall would be issued and the cost to the company would be astronomical, so it was cheaper in the long run to check every frame.

In another factory where we made smaller transmission parts a series of quality checks were performed by different people. The machine operator would check 5 parts every 10 minutes. As long as the machine was operating properly the dimensions would still be in spec and the machine could be adjusted to bring the size back to the mean. If the part was out of spec then the parts in that container would be sorted and the good parts returned to go to the next operation or to be prepared for shipping. Not only did the operator check dimensions on a regular basis but an inspector from Quality Control would take ten parts, in a row, every hour and check all dimensions to be recorded on a graph. This would tell if there was any fluctuation in part size. If there was it meant a problem with the machine had occurred in that time frame and all boxes of the parts produced needed to be checked, in house.

All boxes of parts were ticketed with what are called travellers. This document was particular to a specific box of parts and travelled with it from the first process to the last, being filled in at each station with a run number, time, date and operator. This was necessary in case there were problems with the parts, they could implement a sorting procedure, starting with that particular box and the one manufactured before and after. If too many faulty parts were found they could pull the whole run to have it sorted. All sorting is also documented on the traveller with the same information as with each process. The parts are shipped, and a task force was implemented to discover the reason for the faulty parts, be it machine or operator error.

This system seemed to work well as we received a letter from our customer stating that they had received “58 Million” parts over a 10 year period without “1” defect.