The concept of "quality" and its use in projects

Quality management in the organization's projects

In a generalized form, quality can be characterized as the degree of compliance of certain characteristics of the project (services and products) with a certain list of requirements. Requirements, in turn, are expectations and needs (of customers and buyers), which are well-known and documented. Requirements may also be generally accepted.

Observation 1

Quality management and quality in modern economic science are of high strategic importance for ensuring the competitiveness of the organization.

Citing the characteristics of quality management in various projects, two aspects can be distinguished:

• The quality of the products, which does not depend on its subject areas.
• The quality of products, which is determined by their subject area.
• As a critical moment of project quality management is the process of translating the desires, expectations and needs of participants into specific requirements that are fulfilled in the process of analyzing the participants in the situation of planning the essence of the project.

The requirement of consumers, as well as compliance with them, act as a subject of standardization.

Observation 2

The establishment of common requirements for the quality management system in each organization that wants to show its own ability to consistently produce products that meet the requirements of consumers and relevant regulatory requirements, and can also increase the level of customer satisfaction is reflected in the series of standards ISO 9000: 2000.

Principles of quality assessment in the organization's projects
The standard is based on three fundamental principles:

• The principle of continuous improvement.
• Customer orientation.
• Process approach.

The principle of continuous improvement assumes that all major processes remain measurable, as well as that criteria and mechanisms for continuous optimization and improvement are established and defined for them. The standard contains a developed certification support system – that is, confirmation of compliance with the standards.

The principle of continuous improvement assumes that all major processes remain measurable, as well as that criteria and mechanisms for continuous optimization and improvement are established and defined for them. 

 

The standard contains a developed certification support system – that is, confirmation of compliance with the standards.

Customer orientation is aimed at ensuring that the quality of the service or product is defined as the degree of customer satisfaction. The organization of communication with the consumer in the standard is assigned a large role.

In the process approach, it is assumed that a qualitatively functioning enterprise has established processes, as well as the fact that the quality of the process can predetermine the quality of products.

The requirements of the standard stipulate that all organizational processes should be clearly established (that is, they should have a mechanism for clear reproduction, not be designed for luck and not be random) and defined (that is, they should document in detail the entire array of operations, documents and regulations used).

Observation 3

Certification should be carried out by independent specialized certification structures that have internationally recognized accreditation.

Auditors of certification bodies verify that all organizational processes comply with the established regulations and documentation and are actually implemented in strict accordance with how it is described in the documentation of the enterprise.

It is not the responsibility of auditors to determine which processes can be considered "correct" for a particular enterprise. Certificates provide information that the organization implements all the actions that are reflected in the documents - no more, and no less than that. On this basis, standards in this area are flexible, dynamic and widely applied throughout the world.

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Since the principles that are laid down in the standards correspond to the ideology of project management, it can be argued that project management complies with ISO standards. In addition, there is a close relationship between project management and quality management.

The most common principle of quality assurance is based on a systematic approach, as well as the postulates of the overall quality management system (Total Quality Management – TQM). The expectations and needs of consumers in this area of management determine the settings of management processes for quality assurance work, as well as the scope of actions.

TQM-based management processes are implemented according to the following scheme:

• Conducting a study and analysis of production, as well as preparing a special report.
• Based on the results of the study and the actual state of production processes, the choice of a quality management system is implemented, and quality programs are developed.
• Development of a manual for the implementation of the quality program, in which it is necessary to describe the specifics and mechanisms of the quality management system.
• Discussing the details, deadlines, as well as the organization of the quality program and the management of its implementation, making the necessary corrections and making decisions (including those related to staff training and certification).
• Incorporate activities from the management and program into the overall project plan.
• Launch of the quality program and guidance in the production mechanism.
• Conducting a production survey and preparing a special report.
• In accordance with the survey and analysis of the actual state of production, a quality management system is selected, as well as a quality program is developed.
• Development of a manual for the implementation of the quality program, which reflects the mechanism of functioning of the quality management system and its essence.
• Discuss the details, timing and organization of the leadership and quality program, make the necessary adjustments and make decisions (including those related to training and certification of personnel).
• Inclusion of activities from the management and quality program in the overall project plan.
• Launch of the manual and quality program into production.
• TQM is a work in the field of continuous improvement of the project and products. It includes tracking the actions of competitors, involving all members of the project team in improving products, as well as encouraging teamwork.

Observation 4

The basis of all processes in the field of quality assurance is based on the application of ISO 9000 series standards, as well as similar American standards.



Standards and processes of project quality management in the organization
Standards EN 29001 and ISO 9001 are necessary for quality assurance in development, design,

installation, production and maintenance. They include the following elements:

•     analysis of contracts;
•     making changes;
•     quality documentation;
•     identification devices;
•     products supplied by the customer;
•     control and testing;
•     project logistics;
•     equipment for control, measurement and testing;
•     maintenance;
•     training;
•     managerial responsibility;
•     registration of products that do not meet the requirements;
•     quality system;
•     statistical methods;
•     inspection and test status;
•     management of information flows;
•     design management;
•     management of the product creation process;
•     storage, packaging and delivery.

    Observation 5

The EN 29002 and ISO 9002 standards are necessary to ensure quality in installation and production. These standards are also necessary for quality assurance in the situation of control of the final product and its testing.

In a system of building codes "System of regulatory documents in construction.

 

 


In the event that an increase in the project budget is not possible, the quality requirements for the supply of project products may be reduced in a shorter time for the existing budget.


Project quality management processes include the following impacts:



Quality planning. It is the process of formulating requirements and/or quality standards for the product and projects, together with documenting how exactly the compliance of the project products and the project itself with the specified standards and requirements will be demonstrated and confirmed. The result of this process is a quality management plan, which includes methods for achieving quality goals, goals and criteria for quality assurance, a description of measures to achieve the required level of quality in the project.



Quality assurance. This is the process of verifying the organization's compliance with all quality requirements, as well as the results of measurements carried out in the quality control process in order to ensure the use of the necessary quality standards and established requirements, together with the fulfillment of all requirements that have been planned in the quality system requirements. The implementation of quality assurance implies the need to follow systematic patterns in order to be sure that the project will eventually meet the entire list of requirements reflected in the quality standards.
Implementation of quality control. It is a process of directly monitoring and recording the results of the implementation of quality assurance activities in order to evaluate performance, as well as to develop recommendations in the field of necessary changes.