Planning & Managing Quality

Quality management is about ensuring the project produces deliverables that meet requirements and satisfy stakeholder expectations. The focus is on prevention rather than inspection - building quality in rather than inspecting defects out.

Quality Management Processes

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Quality vs. Grade

• Low quality is always a problem (defects, rework, customer dissatisfaction)
• Low grade may be acceptable (a basic product that works as designed)

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Cost of Quality (COQ)

Cost of Quality = Cost of Conformance + Cost of Nonconformance

Cost of Conformance (Good Money)

Investment to prevent failures from occurring:

Cost of Nonconformance (Bad Money)

Costs incurred due to failures:

COQ Principle

Prevention is cheaper than inspection, which is cheaper than failure.

LEAST COSTLY                    MOST COSTLY
     ↓                              ↓
Prevention → Appraisal → Internal Failure → External Failure

COQ Example

The goal is to shift spending toward prevention to reduce overall COQ.

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Quality Management Plan

The Quality Management Plan describes how quality policies will be implemented:

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The 7 Basic Quality Tools

These tools, originally proposed by Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, are fundamental for quality management:

1. Cause-and-Effect Diagrams (Fishbone/Ishikawa)

Identifies potential causes of problems:

• Structure: Problem at the "head," major categories as "bones"
• Categories: Often use 6Ms - Manpower, Methods, Materials, Machines, Measurement, Mother Nature (Environment)
• Purpose: Root cause analysis using "5 Whys"

2. Flowcharts

Shows process steps and decision points:

• Purpose: Visualize processes, identify waste or problems
• Use: Process improvement, documentation

3. Check Sheets (Tally Sheets)

Structured form for collecting data:

• Purpose: Collect data consistently
• Use: Defect tracking, frequency analysis

4. Pareto Diagrams (80/20 Rule)

Bar chart showing problems in descending order:

• Principle: 80% of effects come from 20% of causes
• Purpose: Prioritize problems to address first
• Use: Focus improvement efforts on biggest issues

5. Histograms

Bar chart showing distribution of data:

• Purpose: Visualize data patterns and variation
• Shows: Central tendency, dispersion, shape of distribution

6. Control Charts

Monitor process stability over time:

Rule of Seven: 7 consecutive points on one side of the mean (but within limits) indicates the process is out of control.

7. Scatter Diagrams

Plot two variables to show correlation:

• Purpose: Identify relationships between variables
• Shows: Positive, negative, or no correlation

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Additional Quality Tools

Design of Experiments (DOE)

Statistical method for identifying optimal conditions:

• Tests multiple variables simultaneously
• Identifies which factors most affect results
• More efficient than one-at-a-time testing

Statistical Sampling

Inspecting a subset rather than 100% of items:

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Quality Metrics

Quality Metrics define what will be measured and how:

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Manage Quality vs. Control Quality

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Quality Principles

Key Quality Concepts

Quality Gurus and Concepts

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Key Takeaways

• Quality is meeting requirements, not exceeding them
• Cost of Quality = Conformance + Nonconformance costs
• Prevention is cheaper than inspection or fixing failures
• The 7 Basic Quality Tools are essential for quality management
• Manage Quality is proactive; Control Quality is reactive
• Quality should be planned and built in, not inspected in