A Quality Management Plan (QMP) is necessary to determine the required level of quality and describe the methods to achieve it. Therefore, quality management is an important system that helps to ensure that the company’s products meet quality standards, work processes are effective, and all potential imperfections are identified and improved. A QMP can be applied to project deliverables and workflow. The main goal of this paper is to design a quality management plan for a real-life construction project.
Project Outline
The construction project will be located on a parking lot in a central part of a city. It is a two-story building that includes a 100-seat auditorium, two 20-seat rehearsal rooms, offices, a lobby, and different supporting spaces. The main deliverables of this project will be for external stakeholders. They include a complete product – the building; design documents, and customer services.
Organizational Readiness for Quality Management
There are several quality systems that the organization can employ for this project. The first system is ISO 9000. It is a set of international standards that address different aspects of quality management and assist organizations in maintaining an effective quality system (“ISO 9000 – Quality management,” n.d). These standards can be applied in various industries and are suitable for any companies regardless of their capacity. ISO 9000 provides organizations with instructions and instruments that ensure that their products and services always meet the expectations of clients, constantly improving their quality. However, this system alone cannot guarantee a high level of quality, thus some other sets of guidelines should be applied. The second system is Six Sigma. It is a methodology that is aimed at eliminating defects in all processes of production including manufacturing, transactions, and distribution stages (Pyzdek & Keller, 2014).
The main purpose of this system is to implement measurement-based techniques that are focused on the improvement of every process and reduction of variations. The third system is Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI). This program is also aimed at improving production processes. It allows organizations to achieve high-performance operations. This system is made up of tested practices that promote behaviors that enhance the overall performance of a company. CMMI identifies and fosters the major capabilities, which leads to higher quality and profitability (“What is CMMI,” n.d.). This system offers several models that can be adapted by any company regarding their needs. However, in order to incorporate these quality management systems, the organization needs additional support. A knowledgeable quality champion can assist in the implementation of this goal. A quality champion demonstrates passion and commitment to cultivate a motivating work environment. This position requires advanced communication skills, confidence in making decisions, and ability to overcome barriers, applying innovative solutions.
There are several indicators that demonstrate the organization’s readiness to incorporate this project. The first indicator is the application of different quality systems as it ensures the highest quality of the product. The second indicator is organizational stability that implies predictability and control. It requires elaborated structure and policies that ensure effective daily operation. The third indicator is the level of dedication as it demonstrates the potential of the organization.
Quality Systems Analysis
Each quality system has its advantages and drawbacks. There are several main benefits of the ISO 9000 model. First, it ensures order in an organization as it allows systemizing all inner processes. Second, it makes these processes clearer and more reliable. Third, this system helps to find weaknesses that are necessary to improve. However, there are several disadvantages of the ISO 9000 model. It shifts the company’s priorities, making it focus on profits only. Also, this system creates a great deal of unnecessary documentation, thus it might waste work time of employees. Finally, it requires many auditors who hinder the progress of work processes.
The next model, Six Sigma, also has significant advantages. First, it improves the effectiveness of processes at all organizational levels. Second, it cultivates the culture of detecting and removing potential defects before they occur, thus it saves both time and money. Third, Six Sigma helps to set up a learning environment that allows the company’s specialists to share their experience with others. The major downside of this system is that it might lead to increased manufacturing costs as it requires more resources.
However, another system, CMMI, allows keeping costs down, which is its main benefit. This model standardizes repeatable processes in order to satisfy the customers’ demands. It also reduces the number of software defects, which is necessary to improve workflow. However, the main drawback is that this system cannot guarantee the increase in customer savings.
Analysis of these systems indicates that the combination of Six Sigma and CMMI will be the most appropriate for this project. CMMI might help to avoid the main drawback of Six Sigma, high production costs. In addition, these systems ensure order in organizational processes and improve the overall performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, a QMP is a necessary approach for any construction projects. Quality is the major aspect that might affect a venture both positively and negatively. There are many international models that offer different methods to control and ensure quality. However, they have their upsides and downsides. Therefore, it is very necessary to assess all such systems in order to choose the most appropriate one or a combination of several, taking into consideration the objectives of an existing project.
References
ISO 9000 – Quality management. (n.d.). Web.
Pyzdek, T., & Keller, P. A. (2014). The six sigma handbook (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
What is CMMI? (n.d.). Web.