Sikkim Manipal UniversityA PROJECT REPORT
on
QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEMON VARDHAMAN WATER TANK Under the
guidance Of Submitted by
RANIMA YASMINIn partial fulfillment of the requirement for the
award of the degree Of MBA In Total Quality Management Sikkim
Manipal University December 2010 Sikkim Manipal University of
Health, Medical and Technological Sciences Distance Education Wing
Syndicate house, Manipal- 576104
1
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
If words can be considered as a symbol of approval and token of
acknowledgement then let the words play the heralding role of
expressing my gratitude acknowledgement. At the very outset, I take
the privilege to convey my gratitude to those people whose
cooperation, suggestion and heartfelt support helped me to
accomplish the project report works successfully. I acknowledge my
sincere gratitude to my Centre Head M M Sarma for permitting me to
do the study. My sincere thanks to my faculty guide Mr. Abidur
Rahman for his careful supervision, valuable guidance and constant
encouragement right from the inception to the successful completion
of my summer project. I would like to express my sincere thanks to
all the faculty members of the Deptt. Of Business Administration
for their support. My profound gratitude to Shri. P.S. Ghosh DGM
(HR&ES) and Shri. Dilip Kr Borthakur Senior Manager (HR&ES)
for giving me the opportunity to do my project work in their
esteemed organization. Last but not the least. I express my
heartfelt thanks to all other staff member of Vardhaman, my parents
and friends for the timely help and support they have rendered in
bringing my study, so its relevance in a faithful manner.
2
STUDENT DECLARATION
I here by declare that the project report entitled at An
Analytic Study on Quality Management of Vardhaman water tank
submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree
of Master of Business Administration to Sikkim Manipal University,
India, is my original work and not submitted for the award of any
other degree, diploma, fellowship, or any other similar title or
prizes.
Place: Date:
RANIMA YASMIN MBA Fourth Semester Reg.No.:510925092 PVI Computer
Training Centre, Nagaon Assam.
3
EXAMINERS CERTIFICATION
This is to certify that Ranima Yasmin has successfully completed
the project titled Quality Management System adopted at VARDHAMAN
WATER TANK for the requirement of partial fulfillment of Master of
Business Administration (MBA), program conducted at PVI Computer
Training Centre, a University study centre of SIKKIM MANIPAL
UNIVERSITY.
I wish her all success in her further Endeavour.
Internal Examiner
External Examiner
4
CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project report entitled An analytic
study on Quality Management of Vardhaman water tank Submitted in
partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Of Master of
Business Administration Of Sikkim Manipal University Of Health,
Medical and Technological Science
He has worked under my guidance and that no part of this report
has been submitted for the award of any other Degree, Diploma,
Fellowship or other similar titles or prizes and that the work has
not been published in any journal or Magazine.
RANIMA YASMIN Reg.No.: 510925092
Certified by (Guides Signature)
5
UNIVERSITY STUDY CENTRE CERTIFICATE Certified that Ranima Yasmin
is a student of MBA Final semester holding University Roll
No.510925092 under the roll of my College, a University Study
Centre of SIKKIM MANIPAL UNIVERSITY of Health, Medical &
Technological Sciences, has completed his project entitled An
analytic study on Quality Management of VARDHAMAN WATER TANK as
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the award of the degree of
Master of Business Administration (MBA) of the said University. He
has worked under my supervision. The Report submitted is genuine
& no part of this report has been submitted anywhere for the
award of any degree from any University. He was sincere &
obedient during his tenure of study having an amiable behavior
& good character.
I wish him all the Best.
( M M Sharma) Centre Head PVI Computer Training Centre
6
PREFACE
Projects are an indispensable part of any kind of formal
education. They help us to have a practical exposure as well as
better outlook of the subject, which we are studying. In a
professional course like M.B.A, the students are equipped with
strong theoretical knowledge about the business operations and the
time-tested methods of running a successful business. To make this
theoretical knowledge stronger, the students are assigned certain
projects in various organizations to get an idea of practical
working styles. I was assigned to work in Vardhaman. The topic of
study was An analytic study on Quality Management of Vardhaman
water tank. The project commenced from 03rd Sep 2010 to 4th NOV
2010. In order to make the data and findings easily understandable,
efforts have been made to present the information in a simplified,
lucid and organized manner. It gives me immense practical exposure
to the practical working patterns and the environment. I will be
satisfied if the organization gets benefits from the study and the
findings.
Place: Nagaon Date: 0-12-20107
CONTENTS CHAPTER NO. 1. 2. TITLE Executive Summary: An overview
of the organization: Introduction History of the organization 3.
Project Overview: Introduction to the Study Objectives the Study
Scope of the Study Research Methodology Limitation of the Study
Data Analysis Recommendation Conclusion 4. Others: Questionnaire
Bibliography References Glossary
8
Chapter-1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Project Title Duration of study Place of study Major project
Methodology
: An analytic study on quality management system in Vardhaman. :
3rd Sep to 4th Nov 2010. : Vardhaman, Assam. :To study the Quality
Management System in Vardhaman. : A structured questionnaire was
developed and Administered among the selected sample for effective
analysis.
Name of the company : Vardhaman Industries.
Major finding
: Quality Management system have been contributing to the
overall growth of Vardhaman through cost reduction, waste
elimination, process improvement and greater productivity. There
seems to be ignorance among the support staffs and casual workers
to some extent.
Major Recommendations : To maintain quality maintaining proper
parameter during process operation is essential. Also for
production of quality tank, if the raw material in plastic it may
give law cost and with minimum errors.
9
Chapter-2
An overview of the organization
Introduction:Established in the year 1999, we, Vardhaman
Polymers, Solapur are one of the leading manufacturers and
suppliers of superior quality PVC pipes, rigid PVC pipes & HDPE
pipes. The collection is globally accepted for its features such as
rugged construction, corrosion resistance, low maintenance and leak
proof. Hence, we are honored as an ISO 9001:2000 certified company.
Under the insightful guidance of the owner Mr. Shirish
Chankeshwara, we have carved out a niche for ourselves in the
industry for offering quality PVC pipes and HDPE pipes. Moreover,
we are duly supported by dynamic, energetic and experienced team.
Further, we are backed by a strong dealer network of 200 dealers
around Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh &.Maharashtra. It assists in
prompt delivery of the ordered range to various clients spread
across India within agreed time.
History :The industrial city of Ludhiana, located in the fertile
Malwa region of Central Punjab is otherwise known as the
"Manchester of India". Within the precincts of this city is located
the Corporate headquarters of the Vardhman Group, a household name
in Northern India. The Vardhman Group, born in 1965, under the
entrepreneurship of Late Lala Rattan Chand Oswal has today
blossomed into one of the largest Textile Business houses in India.
At its inception, Vardhaman had an installed capacity of 14,000
spindles, today; its capacity has increased multifold to over 8
lacs spindles. In 1982 the Group entered the sewing thread market
in the country which was a forward integration of the business.
Today Vardhaman Threads is the second largest producer of sewing
thread in India. In10
1990, it undertook yet another diversification - this time into
the weaving business. The grey fabric weaving unit at Baddi (HP),
commissioned in 1990 with a capacity of 20,000 meters per day, has
already made its mark as a quality producer of Grey poplin,
sheeting, shirting in the domestic as well as foreign market. This
was followed by entry into fabric processing by setting up Auro
Textiles at Baddi and Vardhaman Fabric at Budhni,Madhya Pradesh.
Today the group has 900 shuttleless looms and has processing
capacity of 90mn meters fabrics/annum. In the year 1999 the Group
has added yet another feather to its cap with the setting up of
Vardhman Acrylics Ltd., Bharuch (Gujarat) which is a joint venture
in Acrylic Fibre production undertaken with Marubeni and Exlan of
Japan. The company also has a strong presence in the markets of
Japan, Hong Kong, Korea, UK and EU in addition to the domestic
market. Adherence to systems and a true dedication to quality has
resulted in obtaining the coveted ISO 9002/ ISO 14002 quality award
which is the first in Textile industry in India and yet another
laurel to its credit.
Manufacturing Unit :
We possess state-of-the-art manufacturing unit which is
regularly upgrade to enhance the production capacity. Further, it
has scope to enhance its area with increase in demand of our vast
range by various clients. The unit is installed with sophisticated
and Fully Automatic modern Extrusion Machines such as Koliste,
Windsor including:11
Water Tank Haul-off Automatic cutting Electro polishing
These machines are regularly checked, serviced and lubricated
for its smooth functioning. If required, these can be replaced by
latest and new one. These machines are handled by our proficient
team of engineers. Our manufacturing unit is duly supported by an
in-house design unit assisting in development of latest designed
pipes.
Vision: To be globally recognized as a Leading Supplier of
Quality Fabrics" Mission: Our mission is to break into the golden
circle of the globally acclaimed Information Technology Services
Companies by achieving sustainable and profitable growth through
delivery of exceptional IT services to customers by our outstanding
people who take pride in the quality of our services, our business
ethics, and our passion to exceed customers expectations
DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRODUCTS BY VARDHAMAN
12
13
Ontrack is an ISO 9001:2000 Certified Company with Total
Customer Satisfaction as its quality policy objective. The emphasis
is on basic process discipline enabling timely delivery, and
quality assured deliverables. Well-defined and documented quality
standards and procedures have been laid down for project management
that helps monitor projects on a real-time basis and ensure that
the customer is never out of touch. Quality is our forte and can be
found in every business activity of our company. We follow
stringent quality measures at every stage of production right from
procurement of raw material. We have been conferred with ISI
approved: 4985:2000; CM/L: 7227366 and 4984:1995; CM/L: 7497294.
Further, our collection is also developed in compliance with ISO
9001:2000 certification and BIS (Bureau Of Indian Standard). Under
the guidance of quality controllers, we do quality check at all
stages of production. The finished array is also quality tested on
various parameters in accordance with international quality
standards. These parameters include:
Dimensional accuracy Leakage
Corrosion resistance
Quality whether of the people, product or of the services
rendered, is of utmost importance improve employee productivity and
overall general development. Mandatory training courses on
programming practices and software quality assurance have been
identified for Ontrack's human resource, the actual practitioners
of quality processes. Vardhman is among the few fully integrated
fabric suppliers in the country. An exquisite range of fabrics for
shirting and trousers enables Vardhman to offer fashion solutions
to the leading clothing manufactures in the world. The
state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities having 900 shuttleless
looms and producing 90 mn meters per annum processed fabric are
located in North and Central India, which cater to the highly
customized fabric needs of the buyers. An integrated fabric supply
chain14
Expectations from the Customers:
The expectations from the customers are usually stated in the
tender documents and subsequently in the purchase order. Any
ambiguities are resolved through the Contract Review mechanism
established, implemented and maintained as per the ISO 9001 Quality
Management System. Ensuring Customer Satisfaction: To ensure Total
Customer Satisfaction, the following initiatives are taken. Various
business processes of the company are defined and managed with the
sole objective of meeting and exceeding the explicit and implicit
customer expectations. The Strategic Business Unit structure is
effectively deployed to clearly identify, understand and ensure
total adherence to customer requirements. In the case of export
market, the customer requirements are verified by the respective QA
agencies of the export house or designated agencies of the country
or within the organization. The products are manufactured only
after evaluation of all parameters set for bulk production to the
satisfaction of the customer. The Quality Management activity based
on the ISO 9000 Quality Management System and is usually
prevention-oriented. Product quality is assured through Process
Control & Stage Inspection and final quality is assured through
Final Product Testing. The status of customer satisfaction is
measured through two principal interventions: Customer Satisfaction
Survey Handling Customer Complaints15
Complaint Handling System Customer Satisfaction Survey: This is
carried out by sending structured questionnaires to major customers
and eliciting their opinion about the products and services being
offered. The data collected are analyzed by the corporate Standards
and Quality Assurance Group. The results of these reviews are used
to update the systems and procedures, thus institutionalizing
continual improvement processes. Customer Complaint Handling:
A comprehensive and clearly documented system is implemented
through out the company to handle complaints more systematically.
The number of complaints pending and their age as well as the cycle
time for attending to them are continuously monitored and regularly
reviewed for speedy redressal of complaints.
Complaint Handling System:
The calls and complaints from the customers are systematically
processed for timely response and solution. Complaints are handled
to the satisfaction of the customers acknowledgements are taken to
act as an input for further improvement of the product or service.
The complaint status is reported at regular intervals to the
manufacturing units for review and necessary corrective &
preventive action.
16
Organization Chart of HPC-Corporate Level:
Chairman Cum Managing Director
ED(HR&ES)/ (Operation)
Director (Operation)
Director (Finance)
GM (Finance)
GM (HR&ES)
17
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT GM (Marketing)
GM (HR&ES)
ED/CE
ED/CE ED/MD MD ED
Chief Vigilance Officer
Company Secretary
MD- Managing Director ED- Executive Director GM- General
Manager
18
Workings of the various component of paper mill are as
follows:
Electrical Department: Electrical Department basically deals
with maintenance and repairs of equipment and machine. The
electrical department is basically divided into two parts depending
upon the area of work on the plant. The electrical department
consists of 30 officers, Among them both Degree and Diploma holder
engineer. In addition, to this there are 60 technicians are there.
Civil Department: The NPM has well organized civil department which
is engaged in modification and rectification of civil construction
like road, trains, buildings etc. The civil department consists of
12 engineers and it is1. Civil Plant. Civil Township looks after
the civil construction of township and civil plant looks after the
civil construction of plant.
.19
Corporate Citizen As a responsible corporate citizen, HPC is
committed to social uplift and development of the areas near its
mills. It has made significant contribution to the development of
the local community by encouraging ancillary industries in
Greenfield areas. It provides health-care facilities and encourages
education, sports and cultural activities in the near-by villages.
Vardhaman has also contributed to the construction of roads in the
villages near its mills. In many adjacent villages, It provides
safe drinking water. Employment: Vardhaman has generated direct
employment for about 17000 employees and on average more than 10000
indirect workers employees each year. They created employment
opportunities both direct and indirect in this region.
Strategy: The mission is pursued through the following
initiatives in the supply chain: Enunciation of a Quality Policy
and defining Quality Objectives in quantifiable and measurable
terms, clearly reflecting the commitment to achieve and
continuously improve Customer Satisfaction at all levels in the
organization. Produce and deliver such quality of goods and
services which are comparable to the best in their class. Any
non-conformity at any stage of operations throughout the products
life-cycle is seen not merely as a loss to the company but to
the20
entire nation. All employees are encouraged to feel that quality
is an article of faith and everybodys responsibility rather than a
narrow commercial obligation. Customer-First policy aimed at
transforming the entire company into a customerfocused
organization. These objectives are realized by establishing,
implementing, maintaining and continually improving an ISO 9001 -
based Quality Management System in all Strategic Business Units in
the organization.
Occupational Health and Safety Policy: Vardhaman is committed to
Promote and maintain the occupational Health and Safety (OHS)
standards to protect its Human Resources (including interested
parties and environment from foreseeable work hazards associated
with its integrated polp and paper manufacturing process including
captive units. Comply with all the relevant statutory provisions
and other requirements in respect of OH & S. Cotinually improve
the OH & S standards through all reasonable effects of risk
reduction activities. SWOT Analysis of the Company: Strengths:1.
High Capacity of Utilization. 2. Good Level and Productivity of
Plan. 3. Well Qualified Technology and Skilled manpower. 4. Good
Reputation of Vardhaman Products in North Indian Market.
Weakness:
21
1. The prices of finished goods are controlled by Government but
the prices of Input-Raw materials have been de-controlled. 2. No
uniform facilities(No dress Code). 3. Lack of working machines.
Opportunities: 1. Strong marketing network in all over India. 2.
591 across of Land and Infrastructure facilities. 3. Operational
efficiency and high capacity utilization. Threats:1. Transportation
Problem.
22
Chapter-3 PROJECT OVERVIEW Introduction to the study: As apart
of fulfillment of MBA curriculum of Sikkim Manipal University .I
have taken up the title A Analytic Study on Quality Management
System of Vardhaman water tank. The study is an attempt to
understand the quality policies and quality management system of
Vardhaman. Concept of Quality Management System: A quality
management system (QMS) is the means by which quality management
practices are made an integral part of an organization. A QMS is
not a temporary fad, but a permanent part of an organization with a
direct bearing on how the organization conducts its business. QMS
is not a vague phrase; it has a very specific meaning: a QMS has a
structure, a defined scope, responsibilities, necessary content (in
terms of defined processes and supporting QMS documentation), and
required resources to accomplish quality planning, quality control,
quality assurance, and continuous quality improvement activities.
If an organization merely implements a few quality management
practices in its operations, it cannot claim to have a quality
management system in place. A QMS is not static, and by definition
it must be improved continually in order to enhance organizational
effectiveness and efficiency. It may be formally defined as
follows. A quality (management) system consists of the
organizational structure, procedures, processes, and resources
needed to implement quality management.23
Quality management is the process for ensuring that all project
activities necessary to design, plan and implement a project are
effective and efficient with respect to the purpose of the
objective and its performance. Project quality management (QM) is
not a separate, independent process that occurs at the end of an
activity to measure the level of quality of the output. It is not
purchasing the most expensive material or services available on the
market. Quality and grade are not the same, grade are
characteristics of a material or service such as additional
features. A product may be of good quality (no defects) and be of
low grade (few or no extra features). Quality management is a
continuous process that starts and ends with the project. It is
more about preventing and avoiding than measuring and fixing poor
quality outputs. It is part of every project management processes
from the moment the project initiates to the final steps in the
project closure phase. QM focuses on improving stakeholders
satisfaction through continuous and incremental improvements to
processes, including removing unnecessary activities; it achieves
that by the continuous improvement of the quality of material and
services provided to the beneficiaries. It is not about finding and
fixing errors after the fact, quality management is the continuous
monitoring and application of quality processes in all aspects of
the project. Definition of Quality: Quality has been defined as
"the totality of characteristics of an entity that bear on its
ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. International
Organization for Standardization (ISO), Quality Management and
Quality Assurance (Geneva, Switzerland: ISO Press, 1994) stated and
implied quality needs are the inputs used in defining project
requirements from the donor and the beneficiaries. It is24
also defined as the Conformance to requirements or fitness for
use; which means that the product or services must meet the
intended objectives. Joseph M. Duran , Quality Control Handbook
(1951)of the project and have a value to the donor and
beneficiaries and that the beneficiaries can use the material or
service as it was originally intended. The central focus of quality
management is meeting or exceeding stakeholders expectations and
conforming to the project design and specifications. The ultimate
judge for quality is the beneficiary, and represents how close the
project outputs and deliverables come to meeting the beneficiaries
requirements and expectations. How a beneficiary defines quality
may be completely subjective, but there are many ways to make
quality objective; by defining the individual characteristics and
determine one or more metrics that can be collected to mirror the
characteristic. For instance, one of the features of a quality
product may be that it has a minimum amount of errors. This
characteristic can be measured by counting errors and defects after
the product is used. Quality management is not an event - it is a
process, a consistently high quality product or service cannot be
produced by a defective process. Quality management is a repetitive
cycle of measuring quality, updating processes, measuring, updating
processes until the desired quality is achieved.
The Purpose of Management of Quality: The main principle of
project quality management is to ensure the project will meet or
exceed stakeholders needs and expectations. The project team must
develop a good relationship with key stakeholders, specially the
donor and the beneficiaries of the project, to understand what
quality means to them. One of the causes for poor project
evaluations is the project focuses only in meeting the written
requirements for the main outputs and ignores other stakeholder
needs and expectations for the project. Quality must be viewed on
an equal level with scope, schedule and budget. If a project donor
is not satisfied with the quality of how the25
project is delivering the outcomes, the project team will need
to make adjustments to scope, schedule and budget to satisfy the
donors needs and expectations. To deliver the project scope on time
and on budget is not enough, to achieve stakeholder satisfaction
the project must develop a good working relationship with all
stakeholders and understand their stated or implied needs.
Quality management consists of four main processes: uality
Definition Q Quality Assurance Quality Control Quality Improvements
Quality Definition: The first step on the quality management is to
define quality, the project manager and the team must identify what
quality standards will be used in the project, it will look at what
the donor, beneficiaries, the organization and other key
stakeholders to come up with a good definition of quality. In some
instances the organization or the area of specialization of the
project (health, water or education) may have some standard
definitions of quality that can be used by the project. Identifying
quality standards is a key component of quality definition that
will help identify the key characteristics that will govern project
activities and ensure the beneficiaries and donor will accept the
project outcomes. Quality management implies the ability to
anticipate situations and prepare actions that will help bring the
desired outcomes. The goal is the prevention of defects through the
creation of actions that will ensure that the project team
understands what is defined as quality. Quality
Characteristics:
26
All material or services have characteristics that facilitate
the identification of its quality. The characteristics are part of
the conditions of how the material, equipment and services are able
to meet the requirements of the project and are fit for use by the
beneficiaries. Quality characteristics relate to the attributes,
measures and methods attached to that particular product or
service. Functionality is the degree, by which equipment performs
its intended function, this is important especially for clinical
equipment, that the operation should be behave as expected.
Performance, its how well a product or service performs the
beneficiaries intended use. A water system should be designed to
support extreme conditions and require little maintenance to reduce
the cost to the community and increase its sustainability.
Reliability, its the ability of the service or product to perform
as intended under normal conditions without unacceptable failures.
Material used for blood testing should be able to provide the
information in a consistent and dependable manner that will help
identify critical diseases. The trust of the beneficiaries depend
on the quality of the tests. Relevance, its the characteristic of
how a product or service meets the actual needs of the
beneficiaries, it should be pertinent, applicable, and appropriate
to its intended use or application. Timeliness, how the product or
service is delivered in time to solve the problems when its needed
and not after, this is a crucial characteristic for health and
emergency relief work. Suitability, defines the fitness of its use,
it appropriateness and correctness, the agriculture equipment must
be designed to operate on the soul conditions the beneficiaries
will use it on. Completeness, the quality that the service is
complete and includes all the entire scope of services. Training
sessions should be complete and include all the material needed to
build a desired skill or knowledge27
Consistency, services are delivered in the same way for every
beneficiary. Clinical tests need to be done using the same
procedure for every patient. Quality characteristics are not
limited to the material, equipment or service delivered to the
beneficiaries, but also applies to the material, equipment and
services the project staff uses to deliver the project outputs.
These include the vehicles, computers, various equipment and tools
and consulting services the project purchases and uses to carry out
its activities. Quality characteristics must be included in all
material, equipment and services the project will purchase, the
procurement officers must have a complete description of what is
required by the project, otherwise a procurement office may
purchase the goods or services based on her or his information of
the product. Quality plan: Part of defining quality involves
developing a quality plan and a quality checklist that will be used
during the project implementation phase. This check list will
ensure the project team and other actors are delivering the project
outputs according to the quality requirements. Once the project has
defined the quality standards and quality characteristics, it will
create a project quality plan that describes all the quality
definitions and standards relevant to the project, it will
highlight the standards that must be followed to comply to
regulatory requirements setup by the donor, the organization and
external agencies such a the local government and professional
organizations (health, nutrition, etc) The quality plan also
describes the conditions that the services and materials must
posses in order to satisfy the needs and expectations of the
project stakeholders, it describes the situations or conditions
28
that make an output fall below quality standards, this
information is used to gain a common understanding among the
project team to help them identify what is above and what is below
a quality standard. The quality plan also includes the procedure to
ensure that the quality standards are being followed by all project
staff. The plan also includes the steps required to monitor and
control quality and the approval process to make changes to the
quality standards and the quality plan. Quality Assurance:
Assurance is the activity of providing evidence to create
confidence among all stakeholders that the quality-related
activities are being performed effectively; and that all planned
actions are being done to provide adequate confidence that a
product or service will satisfy the stated requirements for
quality. Quality Assurance is a process to provide confirmation
based on evidence to ensure to the donor, beneficiaries,
organization management and other stakeholders that product meet
needs, expectations, and other requirements. It assures the
existence and effectiveness of process and procedures tools, and
safeguards are in place to make sure that the expected levels of
quality will be reached to produce quality outputs. Quality
assurance occurs during the implementation phase of the project and
includes the evaluation of the overall performance of the project
on a regular basis to provide confidence that the project will
satisfy the quality standards defined by the project. One of the
purposes of quality management is to find errors and defects as
early in the project as possible. Therefore, a good quality
management process will end up taking more effort hours and cost
upfront. The goal is to reduce the chances that products or
services will be of poor quality after the project has been
completed. Quality assurance is done not only to the products and
services delivered by the project but also to the process and
procedures used to manage the project, that includes the way the
project uses the tools, techniques and methodologies to manage
scope, schedule, budget and29
quality. Quality assurance also includes the project meets any
legal or regulatory standards. Quality Audits: Quality audits are
structured reviews of the quality management activities that help
identify lessons learned that can improve the performance on
current or future project activities. Audits are performed by
project staff or consultants with expertise in specific areas. The
purpose of quality audit is to review how the project is using its
internal processes to produce the products and services it will
deliver to the beneficiaries. Its goal is to find ways to improve
the tools, techniques and processes that create the products and
services. If problems are detected during the quality audits,
corrective action will be necessary to the tools, processes and
procedures used to ensure quality is reestablished. Part of the
audit may include a review of the project staff understanding of
the quality parameters or metrics, and skills expertise and
knowledge of the people in charge of producing or delivering the
products or services. If corrective actions are needed, these must
be approved through the change control processes. The PDCA Cycle:
The most popular tool used to determine quality assurance is the
Shewhart Cycle. This cycle for quality assurance consists of four
steps: Plan, Do, Check, and Act. These steps are commonly
abbreviated as PDCA. The four quality assurance steps within the
PDCA model stand for Plan: Establish objectives and processes
required to deliver the desired results. Do: Implement the process
developed. Check: Monitor and evaluate the implemented process by
testing the results against the predetermined objectives.30
Act: Apply actions necessary for improvement if the results
require changes. The PDCA is an effective method for monitoring
quality assurance because it analyzes existing conditions and
methods used to provide the product or service to beneficiaries.
The goal is to ensure that excellence is inherent in every
component of the process. Quality assurance also helps determine
whether the steps used to provide the product or service is
appropriate for the time and conditions. In addition, if the PDCA
cycle is repeated throughout the lifetime of the project helping
improve internal efficiency. The PDCA cycle is shown below as a
never-ending cycle of improvement; this cycle is sometimes referred
to as the Shewart/Deming3 cycle since it originated with Shewart
and was subsequently applied to management practices by Deming.
Plan
Do
Act
Check
Figure: The Shewart/Deming Cycle
Quality assurance demands a degree of detail in order to be
fully implemented at every step. Planning, for example, could
include investigation into the quality of the raw materials used in
manufacturing, the actual assembly, or the inspection processes
used. The Checking step could include beneficiary feedback or
surveys to determine if beneficiary needs are being met or exceeded
and why they are or31
are not. Acting could mean a total revision in the delivery
process in order to correct a technical flaw. The goal to exceed
stakeholder expectations in a measurable and accountable process is
provided by quality assurance. Assurance vs. Control: Quality
assurance is often confused with quality control; quality control
is done at the end of a process or activity to verify that quality
standards have been met. Quality control by itself does not provide
quality, although it may identify problems and suggest ways to
improving it. In contrast, quality assurance is a systematic
approach to obtaining quality standards. Quality assurance is
something that must be planned for from the earliest stages of a
project, with appropriate measures taken at every stage.
Unfortunately far too many development projects are implemented
with no quality assurance plan, and these projects often fail to
meet quality expectations of the donor and beneficiaries. To avoid
problem the project must be able to demonstrate the consistent
compliance with the quality requirements for the project. Quality
Control: Quality control is the use of techniques and activities
that compare actual quality performance with goals and define
appropriate action in response to a shortfall. It is the process
that monitors specific project results to determine if they comply
with relevant standards and identifies different approaches to
eliminate the causes for the unsatisfactory performance. The goal
of quality control is to improve quality and involves monitoring
the project outputs to determine if they meet the quality standards
or definitions based on the project stakeholder expectations.
Quality control also includes how the project performs in its
efforts to manage scope, budget and schedule.
32
Acceptance: The beneficiaries, the donor or other key project
stakeholders accept or reject the product or service delivered.
Acceptance occurs after the beneficiaries or donor has had a change
to evaluate the product or service. Rework; is the action taken to
bring the rejected product or service into compliance with the
requirements, quality specifications or stakeholder expectations.
Rework is expensive that is why the project must make every effort
to do a good job in quality planning and quality assurance to avoid
the need for rework. Rework and all the costs associated with it
may not refundable by the donor and the organization may end up
covering those costs. Adjustments; correct or take the necessary
steps to prevent further quality problems or defects based on
quality control measurements. Adjustments are identified to the
processes that produce the outputs and the decisions that were
taken that lead to the defects and errors. Changes are taken to the
Change Control processes of the project. Quality Control Tools:
There are a couple of good tools that can be used to control
quality on a project, these are cause and effect diagrams, Pareto
charts and control charts: Cause and Effect Diagram, also known as
fishbone diagrams or Ishikawa diagrams (named after Kaoru Ishikawa,
a Japanese quality control statistician, who developed the concept
in the 1960s, and is considered one of the seven basic tools of
quality management) It is named fishbone diagram because of their
fishlike appearance, it is an analysis tool that provides a
systematic way of looking at effects and the causes that create or
contribute to those effects. The Ishikawa Diagram is employed by a
problem-solving team as a tool for assembling all inputs (as to
what are the causes of the problem they're addressing)
systematically and graphically, with the inputs usually coming from
a brainstorming session. It enables the team to focus on why the
problem occurs, and not on the33
history or symptoms of the problem, or other topics that digress
from the intent of the session. It also displays a real-time
'snap-shot' of the
Cause ACause A-1
Cause BCause B-1 Cause B-1
Cause CCause C-1 Cause C-2
Cause A-2
Major Defect Quality Error
Cause D-2 Cause D-1
Cause E-2 Cause E-1
CauseF-2 Cause F-1
Cause D
Cause E
Cause F
Figure: Fishbone diagram
collective inputs of the team as it is updated. The possible
causes are presented at various levels of detail in connected
branches, with the level of detail increasing as the branch goes
outward, i.e., an outer branch is a cause of the inner branch it is
attached to. Thus, the outermost branches usually indicate the root
causes of the problem. Pareto Charts; based on Paretos rule, which
states that 80 percent of the problems are often due to 20 percent
of the causes. The assumption is that most of the results in any
situation are determined by a small number of causes and helps
identify the vital few contributors that account for most quality
problems. The chart is a form of histogram that orders the data by
frequency of occurrence; it shows how many defects were generated
by a type of category of identified cause. For example to determine
the errors in the collection of beneficiary data the project team
identified five causes and for each cause the frequency they
contained34
errors, the data is plotted as shown in the chart below, the
bars represent each category and the line the cumulative percentage
of the errors, the chart allows to identify that 80% of the errors
could be reduced just by improving the collection of data in two
categories instead of focusing efforts to correct all categories.45
40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0120% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Perce ntage of
error
Freq uenc y
No Signature
Can'tRead
Other
Baseline data errors Figure: Pareto Chart Control Charts; is a
graphical display of data that illustrates the results of a process
over time, the purpose of a control chart is to prevent defects,
rather than detect them or reject them, the chart allows the
determine whether a process is in control or out of control over
specified length of time. Control charts are often used to monitor
the production of large quantities of products, but can also be
used to monitor the volume and frequency of errors in documents,
cost an schedule variances and other items related to project
quality management. The figure below illustrates an example of a
control chart for the process of controlling the weight of products
manufactured by the beneficiaries for sale in international
markets. The customer has a limit tolerance for defects; these are
the upper and lower control limits in the chart. Random examination
of the products reveals data that once charted on the graph
identifies the times when the production process created35
items that were outside the control limits, this helps the
project determine actions to help the beneficiaries improve the
quality of their work.Upper limit i gh t W e i g h t Lower limit i
gh t
M e a n
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Time Scale Figure: Control charts Control charts can also be
used to the project management areas, such as schedule and budget
control, to determine whether the costs variances or schedule
variances are outside the acceptable limits set by the donor.
Quality Improvement: It is the systematic approach to the processes
of work that looks to remove waste, loss, rework, frustration, etc.
in order to make the processes of work more effective, efficient,
and appropriate. Quality improvement refers to the application of
methods and tools to close the gap between current and expected
levels of quality by understanding and addressing system
deficiencies and strengths to improve, or in some cases, re-design
project processes. A variety of quality improvement approaches
exists, ranging from individual performance improvement to redesign
of entire project processes. These approaches differ in36
terms of time, resources, and complexity, but share the same
four steps in quality improvement: Identify what you want to
improve; the project using the data found in the quality control
process identifies the areas that need improvement. Analyze the
problem or system, the team then investigates the causes for the
problem and its implications to the project, the causes may be
internal or external to the project. Develop potential solutions or
changes that appear likely to improve the problem or system, the
team brainstorms ideas and potential solutions to the problem,
taking in consideration its impact to the project schedule and
budget. After careful considerations the team decides and chooses
the best alternative. Test and implement the solutions. The team
may decide to test the solution on a small scale to verify that it
is capable of fixing the problem, it testes for the initial
assumptions made about the problem and once it confirms that the
solution is a viable alternative, it then proceeds to implement in
a full scale the solution. Cost of Quality: The cost of quality is
the sum of costs a project will spend to prevent poor quality and
any other costs incurred as a result of outputs of poor quality.
Poor quality is the waste, errors, or failure to meet stakeholder
needs and project requirements. The costs of poor quality can be
broken down into the three categories of prevention, appraisal, and
failure costs: Prevention costs: These are planned costs an
organization incurs to ensure that errors are not made at any stage
during the delivery process of that product or service to a
beneficiary. Examples of prevention costs include quality planning
costs, education and training costs, quality administration staff
costs, process control costs, market research costs, field testing
costs, and preventive
37
maintenance costs. The cost of preventing mistakes are always
much less than the costs of inspection and correction. Appraisal
costs: These include the costs of verifying, checking, or
evaluating a product or service during the delivery process.
Examples of appraisal costs include receiving or incoming
inspection costs, internal production audit costs, test and
inspection costs, instrument maintenance costs, process measurement
and control costs, supplier evaluation costs, and audit report
costs. Failure costs: A project incurs these costs because the
product or service did not meet the requirements and had to be
fixed or replaced, or the service had to be repeated. Leadership:
Joseph M. Juran, one of the leading experts in Quality management
said that it is most important that management be quality-minded.
In the absence of sincere manifestation of interest at the top,
little will happen below 4 What this means is the main cause of
quality problems is a lack of leadership. In order to establish and
implement effective quality projects, senior management must lead
the way. A large percentage of quality problems are associated with
management, not technical issues, it is the responsibility of the
development organizations senior management to take responsibility
for creating, supporting, and promoting quality programs. Quality
problems should be taken as an opportunity for improvement;
problems can help identify more fundamental or systemic root causes
and help develop ways to improve the process. Unfortunately
projects do not have a culture that promotes the identification of
problems for the fear that making improvements is an admission that
the current way of doing things is flawed or that those responsible
are poor performers. Improved performance cannot occur unless
the
38
project team feels comfortable that they can speak truthfully
and are confident that their suggestions will be taken seriously.
Maturity Models: Another approach to improve quality is the use of
maturity models, which are frameworks for helping organizations and
projects improve their processes. The model includes a method for
assessing the projects maturity levels as a first step to determine
the improvements needed to increase the capacity of the project to
deliver the project outputs as promised. The use of the word
"maturity" implies that capabilities must be grown over time in
order to produce repeatable success in project management. The
Random House College Dictionary defines "maturity" as full
development or perfected condition. "Maturity" also indicates
understanding or visibility into why success occurs and ways to
correct or prevent common problems. "Model" implies change, a
progression, or steps in a process. Project management maturity is
the progressive development of an organizations project management
approach, methodology, strategy, and decision-making process. The
appropriate level of maturity can vary for each organization based
on specific goals, strategies, resource capabilities, scope, and
needs. The proper level of maturity to which an organization should
strive is determined during a detailed assessment conducted by a
professional project management consulting team. The organization
has achieved full project management maturity when it has met the
requirements and standards for project management effectiveness and
it is capable of demonstrating improvements such as on-time project
delivery, cost reductions, organizational efficiency, and quality
outcomes.
39
A project quality maturity usually consists of five levels:
Level 1. Informal level, there is no defined processes for quality
practices or standards. The organization may be in the initial
stages of considering how projects should define quality, but most
efforts are informal and had-oc. Level 2. Defined level, the
organization has defines some basic quality standards and project
quality policies that are being adopted. But not all projects are
using it in a consistent manner. Level 3. Repeatable level, the
quality process is well documented and is an organizational
standard. All projects are using it and producing consistent and
repeatable results. Level 4. Controlled level, all projects ire
required to use quality planning standard processes. The
organization has a unit or roles that coordinate quality standards
and assurance and quality audits are done on a regular basis. Level
5. Optimized level, the quality process includes guidelines for
feeding improvements back into the process. Metrics are used as key
criteria for quality decisions and quality results are predictable.
The model helps an organization identify were they stand and were
they should strive to reach, it is a simple way to determine the
level of maturity required for a project or organization, some
organizations may be comfortable with achieving a level 3 while
others may be encouraged to reach a level 4 due to the need to
comply with legal or regulatory standards.
Implementing a QMS: For most organizations, the primary
motivation for implementing a QMS is either management need or
customer demand. Managements motivation for implementing a QMS
usually stems from its need to improve productivity, improve40
product quality, and reduce time-to-market, thus gaining a
competitive advantage. Sometimes, managements motivation for
implementing a QMS is driven by competitive pressure, where the
organizations competitors have established (or are in the process
of establishing) a formal QMS with the goal of registration to a
recognized QMS standard, such as ISO 9000. In such cases,
registration to a quality management system standard is perceived
to be a valuable asset for marketing and soliciting new customers.
Customer demands on an existing supplier (or a potential supplier)
to implement a QMS is driven by the customers need of an assurance
that the supplier is capable of meeting the customers quality
requirements. Often, such a demand may be made in response to
continued sub par performance of an existing supplier, or prior to
approving a new supplier. In certain industries, customers
(including government agencies) also go to the extent of inviting
bids only from suppliers who have attained a particular quality
registration. Because an organization that does not have a QMS in
place may be barred from bidding for potential business, it is
likely to translate into management motivation to implement a QMS.
It has been argued that the management-motivated approach will
normally be more comprehensive and fruitful than the model used for
demonstrating the adequacy of the quality system (i.e., the
customer motivated implementation of a QMS). In other words, the
likelihood that a QMS will be adequate and effective is
significantly improved if its implementation is driven by internal
motivation in the organization (management need) rather than
external pressures (customer demand). In fact, management
commitment to quality is the most significant prerequisite for a
successful QMS implementation. When management visibly demonstrates
its commitment to quality, and promotes a quality-oriented and
customer-focused mindset in the organization, it encourages41
the employees to strive to realize the true benefits of the
implemented QMS. On the other hand, a QMS that is implemented
solely with the objective of achieving a coveted quality
registration to win new business, or please potential customers,
will serve merely as a short-lived marketing tool. This is because
the lack of an effective QMS eventually will manifest itself in
poor product quality, late product delivery, low employee morale,
and dissatisfied customers. Benefits of implementing a QMS:
Implementation of a QMS in an organization offers near-term and
long term rewards: Defined processes and supporting QMS
documentation are the basis for repetition, and help reduce (and
eliminate) variation within process execution. As variation is
reduced, it results in improvements in operational efficiency. With
the implementation of corrective and preventive solutions that
effectively address the root causes of quality problems, permanent
solutions are implemented. This results in improvements in
organizational effectiveness. A QMS enables an organization to
focus on how it executes its business processes. Such process focus
and awareness are essential in order to be able to monitor
improvement. A QMS fosters continual improvement in the
organizations productivity, rework costs, on-time delivery
performance, and within budget project execution. This enables the
organization to enhance its bottom-line revenue growth. A QMS
results in higher-quality products and services, as quality
management practices are continually improved.42
and analyze process
performance
for
continual
As an organization improves the quality of products and
services, it improves customer satisfaction levels, which helps
improve customer loyalty and customer retention.
A QMS enables the organization to gain a competitive advantage
due to its being perceived as a best-in-class supplier by its
customers. This enables the organization to retain customers,
attract new ones, increase market share, and enhance top-line
revenue growth.
A QMS enhances an organizations competitive position by allowing
it to present itself as a viable supplier in situations where a
customer requires its suppliers to have a formal QMS in place
(although in certain cases customers also seek registration to a
QMS standard).
A QMS enhances customer confidence in the ability of a supplier
to deliver products and services according to specified quality
requirements (quality assurance).
A QMS reduces the organizations reliance on heroes to make
projects a success, because all employees are aware of the required
quality management practices. In other words, it enhances an
organizations ability to achieve quality requirements because
employee competencies are augmented by a process infrastructure
that helps achieve the Identified requirements.
A QMS reduces (or eliminates) an organizations dependence on a
few individuals for information regarding critical processes,
because such processes are now formally documented. This reduces
organizational vulnerability to employee turnover.
A QMS reduces waste of resources and loss of reputation
resulting from rejection and rework of inferior-quality products
(referred to as Cost of Poor Quality). This enables the
organization to shift from a reactive mode of operation (performing
corrective action) to a proactive mode (performing preventive
action).43
A QMS promotes employee understanding that quality is everyones
responsibility. The realization that each employee contributes to
the achievement of quality requirements helps institutionalize
quality improvements across the organization, at all levels.
Employee morale and satisfaction improve as employees
participate in defining their processes, and are empowered to own,
monitor, and continually improve those processes.
A QMS results in improved communication both internally and
externally, which results in improvements in efficiency and
effectiveness, and improved customer supplier relations.
Quality Management Systems Philosophy: A system is an ordered
set of ideas, principles and theories or a chain of operations that
produce specific results, and to be a chain of operations they need
to work together in a regular relationship. Shannon defined a
system as a group or set of objects united by some form or regular
interaction or interdependence to perform a specified function.
Deming defines a system as a series of functions or activities
within an organization that work together for the aim of the
organization. These three definitions appear to be consistent
although worded differently. A quality management system is not a
random collection of procedures, tasks or documents (which many
quality systems are). Quality management systems are like
air-conditioning systems they need to be designed. All the
components need to fit together, the inputs and outputs need to be
connected, sensors need to feed information to processes which
cause changes in performance and all parts need to work together to
achieve a common purpose.
44
ISO 9000 defines a quality management system as a set of
interrelated or interacting processes that achieve the quality
policy and quality objective. But the word quality gets in the way
of our thinking. It makes us think that quality management systems
operate alongside environmental management systems, safety
management systems, and financial management systems. In ISO 9000
it is stated that the quality management system is that part of the
organizations management system that focuses on the achievement of
outputs in relation to the quality objectives, therefore the
quality management system must exist to achieve the organizations
quality objectives. This concept was unclear in the 1994 version
with the result that many quality systems were focused on
procedures for their own sake rather than on serving objectives. It
would appear therefore that other parts of the management system
are intended to serve the achievement of specific objectives. For
example, we could establish: Safety systems to serve safety
objectives Environmental systems to serve environmental objectives
Security systems to serve security objectives Human resource
systems to serve human resource objectives Marketing systems to
serve marketing objectives Innovation systems to serve innovation
objectives Financial systems to serve financial objectives Many
organizations have appointed specific managers to achieve each of
these objectives so that we have for instance an Environmental
Manager, fulfilling Environmental Objectives through an
Environmental Management System and a Quality Manager fulfilling
Quality Objectives through a Quality System. Do the same for the
others and you would have multiple management systems. This is what
functional management produces and as a result puts the managers in
potential conflict with each other as each tries to achieve their
objectives45
independently of the others. Many of these objectives are in
reality not objectives at all but constraints that exist only by
virtue of the organizations necessity to satisfy customers.
However, several questions arise: Are quality objectives,
objectives of the same kind as the other objectives or are these
other objectives a subset of quality objectives? and Is the quality
management system just one of a series of systems or is it the
parent system of which the others are a part? To find the answer it
is necessary to go back a step and ask: Which comes first, an
objective or a need? We dont set financial objectives because we
think its a good idea; there is a need that has its origins in the
organizations mission statement. The mission statement tells us
what our goal is and where are we going. Without customers there is
no business therefore the basic purpose of a business is to satisfy
a particular want in society and so create a customer. Its mission
is related to these wants and is expressed in specific terms. To be
effective, a mission statement should always look outside the
business not inside. For example, a mission that is focused on
increasing market share is an inwardly seeking mission whereas a
mission that is focused on bringing cheap digital communication to
the people is an outwardly seeking mission statement. From the
mission statement we can ask, What affects our ability to
accomplish our goal? The answers we get become our critical success
factors and it is these factors that shape our objectives: If our
success depends on the safety of our products, we need safety
objectives. If our success depends on securing the integrity of
information entrusted to us by our customers, we need security
objectives. If our success depends on the impact our operations
have on the environment, we need environmental objectives.46
If our success depends on capital investment in modern plant and
machinery, we need financial objectives. This list is incomplete,
but if we were to continue, would we find a reason for having
quality objectives? Business will only create customers if they
satisfy their needs; therefore success in all businesses depends on
fulfilling customer needs and expectations. Quality is defined in
ISO 9000 as the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics
fulfils requirements. Note that the definition is not limited to
customer requirements and the inherent characteristics are limited
to products. It could apply to any set of requirements internal or
external, technical or nontechnical including health, safety and
environmental requirements. It could also apply to any process
outcome: products, services, decisions, information, impacts, etc.
It extends to all those with an interest in the business. Quality
is therefore a term that describes the condition of business
outcomes. Everything a business does must directly or indirectly
affect the condition of its outcomes and therefore all business
objectives are quality objectives. Therefore we do not need quality
objectives in addition to all the other objectives because all
objectives are quality objectives and the quality management system
is not part of the management system it is the management system.
We can therefore describe the relationship between the management
system and the organization diagrammatically as shown in
Figure.
47
All the objectives only arise as a result of the organization
seeking to create and satisfy customers. There is no environmental
objective, impact or anything else if the organization does not
have customers. Objectives for the environment, safety, security,
finance, human resources etc. only have meaning when taken in the
context of what the business is trying to do, which is to create
and satisfy customers. While many might argue that the purpose of
business is to make money for the shareholders or owners this is
different from the purpose of a business, which is to create and
retain customers and do this in a manner that satisfies the needs
and expectations of all stakeholders. Without a customer there is
no business at all, therefore customer needs must come first.
Satisfying customers becomes the only true objective; all others
are constraints that affect the manner in which the organization
satisfies its customers. It may help therefore if we view any
objective that serves a stakeholder other than the customer as a
constraint or a requirement that impacts the manner in which
customer objectives are achieved. The management system is the way
the organization operates, the way it carries out its business, the
way things are. Its purpose is to enable the organization to
accomplish its mission, its purpose, its goals and its objectives.
All organizations possess a management system. Some are formal,
some are informal. Even in a one-person business, that person will
have a way of working a way of achieving his or her objectives.
That way is the system and comprises the behaviors,48
processes and resources employed to achieve those objectives.
The system comprises everything that affects the results. It only
has to be formalized when the relationships grow too large for one
person to manage by relying on memory. It is unlikely that you will
be able to produce and sustain the required quality unless you
organize yourselves to do so. Quality does not happen by chance, it
has to be managed. No human endeavor has ever been successful
without having been planned, organized and controlled in some way.
Scope of the System: As the quality management system is the means
by which the organization achieves its objectives, it follows that
the scope of the system (what it covers) is every function and
activity of the organization that contributes to these objectives.
This should leave no function or activity outside the system. The
system must also include suppliers because the organization depends
on its suppliers to achieve its objectives. The chain of processes
from the customer interface and back again includes the suppliers.
Including every function and activity within the system should not
be interpreted as compelling every function and activity to
certification to ISO 9001 far from it. Design of the System:
Imagine you are designing an air-conditioning system. You would
commence by establishing the system requirements, then design a
system that meets the requirements, document the design and build a
prototype. You would then test it and when satisfied it functions
under the anticipated operating conditions, launch into production.
If problems are detected during production, solutions would be
developed and the design documentation changed before recommencing
production. If problems were experienced during maintenance, the
design documentation would be consulted to aid in the search for
the fault. If49
improvements are to be made, once again the design documentation
would be consulted and design changes made and the documentation
revised before implementation in production. This traditional cycle
for products therefore has some redeeming features: Design does not
commence without a specification of requirements if it does, the
wrong product is likely to be designed. Designs are documented
before product is manufactured if they are not documented, it is
likely that the product cannot be manufactured or will not fit
together or functions as intended. Designs are proven before
launching into production if production commences before design
proving, the product will probably fail on test or in service.
Design documentation is changed before changes are implemented in
production if documentation is not changed before implementation,
the product will be different each time it is made; solved problems
will recur and no two installations will be alike. If we apply the
same logic to the design and implementation of a management system,
we would: Define the requirements before commencing management
system design, i.e. we would establish the objectives the system is
required to achieve (The vision, mission, corporate goals etc.)
Document the management system design before implementation. Verify
that the management system meets the requirements before commitment
to full operation. Document changes to the management system before
implementation in practice.50
But what often happens is: Management system development
commences without a specification of requirements or a clear idea
of the objectives is need to achieve; often the system exists only
to meet ISO 9000, or some other standard. The management system is
documented before it has been designed. The management system is
made fully operational before being verified it meets the
requirements. Changes are made to practices before they are
documented. Improvements are made to the management system without
consulting the documentation because it is often out of date. As
the management system is the means by which the organization
achieves its objectives, the management system delivers the
organizations products. (This includes hardware, software, services
and processed material including information products.) If we
analyze the factors on which the quality of these products depends
we would deduce they include: The style of management (autocratic,
democratic, participative, directive etc.) The attitude and
behavior of the people (positive, negative etc.) The capability of
the available resources (capacity, responsiveness, technology) The
quantity and quality of the available resources (materials,
equipment, finance, people) The condition and capability of the
facilities, plant and machinery
51
The physical environment in which people work (heat, noise,
cleanliness etc.) The human environment in which people work
(freedom, empowerment, health and safety)
It follows therefore that a management system consists of the
processes required to deliver the organizations products and
services as well as the resources, behaviors and environment on
which they depend. It is therefore not advisable to even
contemplate a management system simply as a set of documents or if
we do go some way towards ISO 9000:2000, a set of processes that
simply converts inputs into outputs. Three out of the seven factors
above relate to the human element, we therefore cannot afford to
ignore it. QMS Planning Phase: The QMS planning phase entails the
specification of the QMS implementation goal, and lays out the
roadmap that the organization will follow to achieve the defined
goal. Plans devised at this stage may be revised later (as needed),
but for the most part, decisions made in this phase will have a
profound effect on the pace and thoroughness of the QMS
implementation effort, and quality of the resulting QMS. It is
therefore important that there be adequate forethought and
meticulous planning in this phase. These items are summarized below
Implementation prerequisites: Identify prerequisites for success,
and ensure that they have been secured. Doing so helps maximize the
chances of success and helps mitigate risks from the beginning of
the QMS implementation. Implementation goal: Establish a clear goal
statement that satisfies the SMART criteria.
52
Implementation team: Plan for an implementation team with
adequate crossfunctional representation and clearly defined roles
and responsibilities that are communicated to all implementation
team members. Implementation strategy: Brainstorm the
implementation strategy and ensure that it is clearly communicated
to all implementation team members and staff members.
Implementation process: Define an implementation process that lays
out the highlevel roadmap for implementing the QMS. This includes
main phases of QMS implementation and key activities within each
phase. Implementation schedule, needed resources, and cost: For the
implementation roadmap defined in the previous step, estimate the
resources for each activity and establish an implementation
schedule. Ensure that an adequate contingency is included within
each phase. Also, estimate the major expenses for the
implementation and budget for the anticipated implementation costs.
Mechanisms to manage the implementation, communicate progress, and
encourage employee participation: Identify the mechanisms that will
be used to track and control implementation progress to ensure that
the project progresses according to plans. Identify means that will
be used to communicate progress, especially to senior management,
and to facilitate timely management intervention in case progress
lags. Identify means that will be used to encourage employee
participation and recognize employee contribution. QMS
documentation: Ensure that the key elements of a sound QMS
documentation management system are in place. Ensure that the
process for creating, reviewing, and approving new QMS
documentation is defined and communicated to all employees. QMS
Definition Phase:
53
The QMS definition phase entails the definition and
documentation of the organizations QMS. If the organization has
selected a quality management system standard for use, this phase
entails the definition of the QMS in accordance with the standards
requirements. Activities in this phase include but are not limited
to: 1. Requirements analysis (if applicable): Analyze each
requirement in the QMS standard to clearly understand what is
required and how the requirement can be satisfied. 2. Gap analysis:
Assess the current state of the system (processes and procedures)
against best practices in the given industry, or against
requirements in the QMS standard (if one was selected). This
exercise is intended to obtain answers to the question Where are we
right now? With a better understanding of where one is and where
one is headed (project goal), one is better able to plan future
action. The gap analysis may reveal that processes and procedures
are already in place in certain areas of the organization. When
appropriate, reuse all or part of the current implementation as
opposed to beginning from scratch. The gap analysis may also reveal
critical quality discrepancies requiring immediate attention; these
should be planned for immediate rectification. 3. Revise
implementation plan: As is obvious from the foregoing explanation,
the gap analysis typically will cause the implementation plan to be
fine-tuned as per the insight gained into the current state of the
system. 4. Correct critical quality (or process) deficiencies: Act
upon the results of the gap analysis to correct critical quality
(or process) deficiencies that can be fixed relatively easily.
Doing so provides immediate return on investment for initiating the
quality implementation effort. It also provides an opportunity to
cite the success stories to sustain management commitment and
encourage employee participation.54
5.
Perform
high-level process
mapping
and
create
supporting
process
documentation: Perform process mapping for high-level
organizational processes, and create supporting process
documentation, as needed. 6. Perform low-level process flowcharting
and create supporting process documentation: Perform process
flowcharting for lower-level organizational processes, and create
supporting process documentation as needed. 7. Create additional
QMS documentation: In addition to QMS documentation in the form of
process maps, create additional documentation as needed, such as
procedures, templates, and forms.
QMS Refinement Phase: The QMS refinement phase involves a final
verification of the entire QMS to ensure that all processes
interact as originally planned and, further, that all processes are
mutually consistent and correctly defined. This phase also involves
a final validation to ensure all elements of the QMS comply with
the organizations quality requirements (and, if applicable,
requirements of the QMS standard in use). Deficiencies identified
during this phase are addressed by requesting corrective action
from the respective process (or document) owners. QMS Deployment
Phase: The QMS deployment phase involves institutionalizing the QMS
across the organization. In this phase, the QMS is rolled out
incrementally so that it gradually is adopted and becomes the new
way of working. As each process is defined, documented, and
approved for use by employees, it enters the QMS deployment phase.
In this phase, employees are trained on the defined processes, and
execution of the55
processes is monitored by the quality assurance personnel (and
by QMS implementation team members, as appropriate) who participate
in or observe activities as they are executed. They verify that
processes are being executed correctly and that they are adequate
and effective. Process execution also is verified by means of
internal quality audits performed during or after process
execution. This does not imply that during QMS deployment, all old
processes are thrown out and replaced with new high-quality
processes. However, establishment of a QMS will cause the
organization to examine all its existing processes, and it is safe
to assume that most of them would be impacted to some extent during
QMS implementation (mostly in terms of needed improvements). This
examination also may reveal some inadequate and inefficient
processes that need to be discarded and replaced with new ones. For
the most part, however, implementation of the QMS generally will
result in changes to existing processes, with some processes
undergoing major change and others undergoing minor change. It is
important to plan for a certain amount of time (typically, months)
between completion of employee training and commencement of
internal quality audits. This time period, referred to as the
process establishment period, is required for two reasons: first,
some amount of time is required to adequately promulgate a QMS
throughout an organization such that it becomes well entrenched in
the organization by becoming an inherent part of how the
organization conducts everyday business. Second, some amount of
time is required to build sufficient amount of evidence of use of
the QMS that then can be audited. Starting an internal quality
audit program too soon might not provide internal auditors
sufficient evidence that is necessary to assess adequacy and
effectiveness of the QMS. The process establishment period varies
from one organization to another and depends on factors such
as:
56
Lead time to develop the products (in order to allow all product
development processes to be exercised at least once); Extent of
change to current processes; Amount of QMS training provided to
employees. It is to be expected that, beginning with the process
establishment period, the organization will encounter growing
(maturing) pains because the natural human tendency to resist
change will begin to surface once the QMS begins to directly affect
how everyone does their work. Further, employees and management
personnel unaccustomed to the new and/or refined processes in
certain cases will attempt to circumvent the process when
operational and schedule considerations overtake quality
considerations. The QMS implementation team will need to address
the aforementioned challenges by continually educating management
and personnel (and managing their expectations), emphasizing
benefits already realized, monitoring process execution, and
reasoning with personnel and working cooperatively with them to
overcome resistance to change. Continuous Improvement: With the
completion of the QMS deployment phase, an organization effectively
transitions to a state where compliance with the defined QMS needs
to be continually monitored and the defined system needs to be
continuously improved and optimized. This is the final and
never-ending phase of QMS implementation the continual improvement
phase. It entails the use of mechanisms necessary to facilitate
continuous improvement of the QMS. Mechanisms for continuous
improvement are not necessarily established in this phase only.
Some of them may have been defined in the QMS definition phase and
deployed in the QMS deployment phase. Others may have been defined
but57
their deployment deferred until the continuous improvement
phase. Yet other continuous improvement mechanisms may remain
undefined until this phase. For example, an organization typically
does not start collecting customer satisfaction data until a few
months after completion of the QMS deployment phase, else it would
be too early for its customers to realize benefits from the
implementation of the QMS. Moreover, collecting customer
satisfaction data too soon might not provide readily actionable
information because many of the known deficiencies might be
attributed to causes that the organization already is addressing
under the QMS implementation underway. Quality is not something
that is done at the end of a phase or at the end of the project, is
a continuous process to ensure quality is performed in all aspects
of the project. The goal is to continuously improve based on the
lessons learned and new insights provided by the project. To be
effective it should happen during all activities of the project.
Continuous improvement, in regard to project quality always focuses
on improving stakeholder satisfaction through continuous and
incremental improvements to processes, including the removal of any
unnecessary activities. By applying a process that continuously
improves every element of the project can achieve better results
than trying to wait until the end of a phase or a mid term
evaluation to start making adjustments and improvements to the
work. It requires little effort and by doing small incremental
improvements the project can reach significant levels of quality.
To implement continuous improvements, it necessary to have a
culture of reflection that allows the project team to learn from
mistakes and apply the lesson on the next phase or cycle and not
spend time and effort trying to put blame, otherwise, the team will
fear reporting any problems with quality and it will be too late to
do anything once the donor or the beneficiaries find out.
58
Objectives of the study:
The main objective of the study was to find out the following:
-
To study the effectiveness of Quality Management System in
Vardhaman. Employee attitude towards present Quality
Management
System. Investigate about the leading policy of Vardhaman.
To find History of Vardhaman.
To identify areas where there can be scope for improvement
in Quality Management System. For partial fulfillment of MBA. To
give suitable recommendations.
59
Scope of the Study: This project is done within the
Vardhaman.
To know about the Quality Product strategies of Vardhaman
industries.
To know Quality Management System that has changed over a period
of
time. To know the requirement of in Quality Management System on
an
organization. To know Pros and cons of in Quality Management
System.
To know practical application of Quality Management System in
Vradhaman.
To identify Quality Management System behind public sector
industry.
Sample taken from around 100 people.
60
Research Methodology:The study was descriptive in nature and
except for a few instances where statistical analysis of
considerable region was used, the researcher tried to present the
findings in a simple format. The respondents were selected through
simple random sampling. The method of contact was through personal
interview as it was the most versatile amongst the alternatives.
This helped provide clarification to the respondents and also had
the advantage of recording additional information and opinion.
Research Design: Research design refers to framework or plan for a
study that guides the collection and analysis of data. A typical
research design of a company basically tries to resolve the
following issues: Determining Data Collection design. Determining
Data Methods. Determining Data Sources. Determining Primary Data
Collection Method. Developing Questionnaires. Determining Sampling
Plan.
Explorative Research Design: Explorative studies are undertaken
with a view to know more about the problem. These studies help in a
proper definition of the problem, and development of specific
hypothesis is to be tested later by more conclusive research
designs. Its basic purpose is to identify factors underlying a
problem and to determine which one of them need to be further
researched by using rigorous conclusive research design.61
Conclusive Research Design: Conclusive research studies are more
formal in nature and are conducted with a view to eliciting more
precise information for purpose of making decisions. These studies
can be either Descriptive or Experimental. Thus, it was mix of both
the tools of Research Design that is, Explorative as well as
Conclusive. Data collection: Primary data: Primary and Secondary
data. Questionnaire, Direct interview, Interaction with the present
staff within the organization. Secondary data: Data collection
procedure: Research Instrument: Sampling Plan: Internet,
Journal/Magazines. Survey. Structured Questionnaires. Sample size:
100 Sample area: Within Nagaon . Guwahati and nearby areas. Sample
procedure: Random Sampling. Data representation: Tabulation and
graphical Representation method will be adopted. Data analysis: For
analyzing data, statistical projections and sampling methods will
be used.
62
Limitations:-
The study being very extensive might be very difficult to
complete within the
stipulated time of two months. The project may suffer from
financial constraint.
It may suffer from biasness & ignorance of the
respondents.
Data Analysis:QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN: The questionnaire method of
survey was undertaken due to its main advantages of versatility,
speed and cost. The questionnaire helps to get accurate point of
view of personnel. In order to learn the awareness of persons
working at Vardhaman about quality management system as well as to
collect other relevant information. The questionnaire intended
broadly covered the following areas: Workers awareness Comparative
statements Satisfaction level
QUESTIONNAIRE:63
In survey made of data collection, questionnaire is by far the
most popular means of data collection instrument. A questionnaire
uses a structured standardized format of data collection to record
verbal responses to questions. Particularly, when the sample is
large and the study wishes to collect data about specifics of
consumers attitude. I have chosen the questionnaire technique, to
collect the primary data because of its obvious advantages which
are as follow:(a) Versatility-The unique advantage of using a
questionnaire is its versatility. Respondents can be probed on a
wide diversity of issues by questioning. (b) Speed and cost-
questionnaire method is usually cheaper and faster than
observations. (c) Ease of communication- since the questions are
formulation in advance, all the required information can be
obtained in an orderly and systematic manner. The exact wording of
the questions can be carefully worked art to reduce the possibility
of ambiguity and misunderstanding. (d) Control- since same
questions are put before all respondents in the same order, it
offers maximum control on the interviewing process and information
content. For this project on workers and outsider peoples awareness
& profile, only one questionnaire was designed and used. It was
for both those working in the company and the prospective
personnel. The questionnaire was designed in such a way that the
respondent would have no hesitation in fully expressing his/her
views. Moreover, care was taken in the sequencing of questions.
Again care was taken in the wordings of questions direct, simple
and unbiased wording were used.64
Analysis & findings: The data collected through
questionnaire are suitably arranged in table for the purpose of
effective and in-depth analysis and interpretation. Use of
percentage, pie-diagram, bar-diagram etc is also made for the study
whenever necessary. Only the management, worker and related
personnel are targeted respondents of the questionnaire. This
questionnaire deals with all the analysis and findings related to
quality management system. Three different types of analysis are
done covering almost all the objectives that are need to be found.
The questionnaire was divided into two segments so that correct
information is achieved when conducting the survey. First type of
the questionnaire was designed to gather information regarding the
general concept of the respondents. Second type of questionnaire
was specially designed to collect information regarding the
technical solution.
Questionnaire Analysis: The first question of the questionnaire
was asked- What does the term ISO stand for? What standards make up
the ISO 9000 2000 series? The findings are mentioned below: The
respondents simply share with me and they suitably give me their
view:65
The term ISO stands for the International Organization for
Standardization. You would reasonably assume that it ought to be
IOS, but it isn't. Apparently, the term ISO was chosen (instead of
IOS), because ISO in Greek means equal, and ISO wanted to convey
the idea of equality - the idea that they develop standards to
place organizations on an equal footing. Tabulation of Respondents
Perception: Respondents View Able to Define Unable to Define
Management Personnel 45 00 Worker 43 2 Other 7 3 Percentage
95Percentage Wise Respondent 5
5%
95%Able to define Unable to define
The second question asked to the respondents to find out the
Total Quality Management (TQM) helps business because it
The findings are mentioned below:
Says that every person in the business must work together to
make excellent quality products. Excellent product increase sales
and profits or lowers a66
businesss costs because making excellent produc