Quality Management - ch 8

7 Quality assurance tools and techniques (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

* Affinity diagrams * Tree diagrams * Process decision program charts (PDPC) * Interrelationship digraphs * Matrix diagrams * Prioritization matrices * Network diagrams

7 basic quality tools

* control charts * pareto diagram * cause and effect diagram * checksheet * flowchart *scatter diagram * histogram

Flowchart

A flowchart or process map shows how a process or system flows from beginning to end, how the elements interrelate, alternative paths the process can take and how the process translates inputs into outputs. Helpful in planning because they can help you define and communicate to the team the processes that will be used on the project and show how the process will be measured for conformance and effectiveness. p. 228

Grade

A general category for a deliverable or resource tat indicates a common function but varying technical specifications.

Quality checklist

A list of items to inspect, a list of steps to be performed, or a picture of the item to be inspected, with space to note any defects found. Its primary purpose is for gathering data; intended to help verify a required action has taken place or item has been included.

Pareto diagram

A type of bar chart that arranges the results from most frequent to least frequent to help you identify which root causes are resulting in the most problems. 80% of problems are due to 20% of the root causes. Addressing the root cause of the most frequent problems makes the greatest impact on quality. p. 229

Prioritization matrices (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

A type of matrix diagram, useful for decision analysis about process improvement and the components of the quality management plan.

Matrix diagrams (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

A visual representation of the relationship between two or more sets of items.

Interrelationship digraphs (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

Allows you to see and analyze the relationships among numerous different issues.

Perform Quality Assurance

An executing process. The purpose is to ensure the team is following organizational policies, standards and processes as planned to produce the project's deliverables.

Process improvement plan

As a PM, not only must you know what processes are used on the project and create additional processes as necessary, you must also improve the processes as they are being used on the project. This helps save time by analyzing processes to find ways to increase efficiency and prevent problems. It also saves money and increases the probability the customer will be satisfied.

Quality metrics

By determining metrics in advance, the PM can know how the project is going and be able to determine when to request changes. Think through the areas that are important to measure and (in most cases) decide what measurement is acceptable. Examples of metrics: - # of changes (to help measure the quality of the PM planning process) - variance related to resource utilization - # of items that fail inspection - variance in the weight of a product compared to the planned weight. - # of bugs found in the software code being developed.

Affinity diagrams (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

Can help you organize and group the results of a root cause analysis. Use the info to determine whether a change to the policy, procedure, standard in quality mgmt. plan would address the root cause of the problem.

Histogram

Displays data in the form of bars or columns. The tool helps identify which problems are worth dealing with. A typical histogram presents data in no particular order and without reference to time. It allows you to determine the most pressing problems. p 229

Quality management process

In quality management, we must first determine how we will plan, manage and control quality. We then make sue we are using all the necessary process on the project. Finally, we measure quality compared to the plan.

Definition of Quality Management

Includes creating and following policies and procedures to ensure a project meets the defined needs it was intended to meet from the customer's perspective. Ensuring a project is completed with no deviations from the project requirements.

Benchmarking

Involves looking at other projects to get ideas for improvement on the current project and to provide a basis (or benchmark) to use in measuring quality performance.

Control Quality

Is a monitoring and controlling process that examines the actual deliverables produced on the project. Its purpose is to ensure the deliverables are correct and meet the planned level of quality, as well as find the source of problems and recommend ways to address them.

Cause and effect diagram

Is it better to fix a defect or get to the root cause of the defect? The answer is that you should do both, and a cause and effect diagram can help you do that. (Fishbone diagram, Ishikawa diagram, p. 227)

Statistical sampling

It is best to take a sample of a population if you believe there will not be many defects or if studying the entire population have any of the following disadvantages: - it would take too long - it would cost too much - it would be too destructive The actual sampling is done in Control Quality.

Cost of Quality (COQ)

Make sure the project is not spending too much to achieve a particular level of quality. This involves looking at what the costs of conformance and nonconformance to quality will be for the project and creating an appropriate balance. Cost of Conformance: quality training, studies, surveys, efforts to ensure everyone knows the processes to use to complete their work Cost of Nonconformance: rework, scrap, inventory costs, warranty, lost business

Quality management plan

Most quality management plans include the following: * the quality practices and standards that apply to the project * who will be involved in managing quality, when they will do it, and what their specific duties will be * what processes will be followed to help ensure quality * the meetings to be held addressing quality * the reports that will address quality * the metrics that will be used to measure quality * the parts of the project or deliverables that will be measured, and when

Prevention over inspection

Quality must be planned in, not inspected in. The entire org has responsibilities relating to quality.

Checksheet

Tally sheet. Can be used to keep track of data such as quality problems uncovered during inspections. On a check sheet you might document how often a particular defect occurs.

Definition of quality

The degree to which the project fulfills requirements. It also involves making sure the project has fewer problems while it is being completed. Fewer problems mean less work, less time and less cost.

Continuous improvement

The process of continuously looking for small improvements in quality. In Japan, it is known as kaizen.

Standard Deviation and Sigma

The standard deviation, or sigma, indicates how much variance from the mean has been established as permissible. Standard deviation is also sometimes stated as a measure of how far you are from the mean (the average).

Total Quality Management (TQM)

This philosophy encourages companies and their employees to focus on finding ways to continuously improve the quality of their products and their business practices at every level of the organization.

Scatter diagram (Correlation Chart)

Tracks two variables to determine their relationship. A trend line is calculated to show the correlation of variables and can then be used for estimating and forecasting. p. 230

Process decision program charts (PDPC) (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

Typically used in conjunction with tree diagrams. They let you decompose a goal into the steps required to achieve it. Each step is then reviewed for potential risk.

Network diagrams (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

Use if you're looking to improve time management processes.

Control charts

Used in Control Quality to help determine if the results of a process are within acceptable limits. There is a range, however small, that is acceptable. Can be used to monitor project performance figures, such as cost and schedule variances.

Tree diagrams (for exam: only need basic understanding, not details)

Useful for decision analysis, tree diagrams can help you organize data, map out relationships and decompose processes to find a solution to a problem and arrive at corrective or preventative actions.

Design of Experiments (DOE)

Uses experimentation to statistically determine what variables will improve quality. This is a fast and accurate technique that allows you to systematically change all the important factors in a process to see which combinations have an optimal impact on the project deliverables.

Quality audits

Verify if you are complying with company policies, standardized practices and required procedures and whether the policies, practices and procedures being used are efficient and effective.

Cost-benefit analysis

Weigh the benefits versus the costs of quality efforts to determine the appropriate quality level and requirements for the project.

Process analysis

Where some of the activities or work packages were repeated, the lessons learned on the first few installations are used to improve the process on the remaining ones. Though this often happens naturally, formal process analysis should be planned in at certain point in the project (ex: every 10 installations). Part of the continuous improvement effort on a project.