What Is Quality Planning?

Q&A on Quality

Q: Why is quality planning needed?

A: Managers consider quality planning in conjunction with the rest of the project (product or contract) planning because it influences costs, scheduling, and other factors. Without vital quality planning, a project (product or contract) carries an increased risk that the client will not be satisfied with the results.  

Q: What should be included in a QA Plan?

A: A quality assurance plan should include an organizational structure, details on each employee’s responsibilities, and the qualifications an employee needs to fulfill those responsibilities. A QA Plan also specifies requirements for suppliers and the materials they ship.

Q: What should be included in a QC Plan?  

A: Your inspection procedures should include how you control the following:

• Making sure that the work order is ready to begin
• Handling material receiving and inspections
• Monitoring work in process
• Verifying that completed work meets project (product or contract) specifications

Q: What are quality planning tools?

A: There are nine quality tools identified as appropriate for use in both the quality management plan and control quality processes.

1. Cause-and-effect diagrams
2. Flowcharting
3. Check sheets
4. Pareto diagrams,
5. Control charts
6. Histograms
7. Scatter diagrams
8. 5S concept (short – set in order – shine – standardize – sustain) 
9. Value stream analysis involves drawing up a process flow chart for the business and then asking at each stage (including the stages between activities) whether cost/waste or value is being added. This often highlights unnecessary space, distance traveled, processing inefficiency, etc.

Q: What is Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

A: Purchase, Delivery, Install, Training, Operation Labor, Maintenance, Water, Energy/Fuel Use, Health & Safety, Disposal & Recycling.

• Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) involves considering all the costs associated with a product over its lifetime—from initial purchase price through its use, maintenance, and disposal costs.
• Many of these additional costs are associated with social and environmental impacts, such as energy use, worker exposure, and landfill/incineration.
• Therefore, reducing a procurement’s TCO is often a win for an organization’s bottom line and a win for sustainability.
• Prevention is the Key to Reduced Quality Costs. Customer-facing processes must be designed to prevent errors and minimize the cost of failure.
• True failure costs  = Commonly measured failure costs + Hidden failure costs
• Visible costs & hidden costs range 20-25% of Total Cost