KC 1.5.4 - TQM (Total Quality Management)

TQM used to be mentioned as one of the parts of the Quality Concepts Sub-domain in CBOK Skill Category-1 of CBOK. But now, though it is not explicitly mentioned, it is still a buzz word among QA professionals. So, I am putting it as a part of Quality Vocabulary & am giving the necessary resources for it.

TQM - Introduction

Total Quality Management (TQM), a buzzword phrase of the 1980's, has been killed and resurrected on a number of occasions. The concept and principles, though simple seem to be creeping back into existence by "bits and pieces" through the evolution of the ISO9001 Management Quality System standard.

Companies who have implemented TQM include Ford Motor Company, Phillips Semiconductor, SGL Carbon, Motorola and Toyota Motor Company.

The latest changes coming up for the ISO 9001:2000 standard's "Process Model" seem to complete the embodiment. TQM is the concept that quality can be managed and that it is a process. The following information is provided to give an understanding of the key elements of this process.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

Total = Quality involves everyone and all activities in the company.

Quality = Conformance to Requirements (Meeting Customer Requirements).

Management = Quality can and must be managed.

TQM = A process for managing quality; it must be a continuous way of life; a philosophy of perpetual improvement in everything we do.

TQM Compared to ISO 9001

ISO 9000 is a Quality System Management Standard. TQM is a philosophy of perpetual improvement. The ISO Quality Standard sets in place a system to deploy policy and verifiable objectives. An ISO implementation is a basis for a Total Quality Management implementation. Where there is an ISO system, about 75 percent of the steps are in place for TQM. The requirements for TQM can be considered ISO plus. Another aspect relating to the ISO Standard is that the proposed changes for the next revision (1999) will contain customer satisfaction and measurement requirements. In short, implementing TQM is being proactive concerning quality rather than reactive.

TQM Process Improvement and Problem Solving Sequence
PLAN (PLAN A CHANGE)			DO (IMPLEMENT THE CHANGE)	CHECK (OBSERVE THE EFFECTS)	ACTION (EMBED THE FIX INTO THE PROCESS FOR GOOD)
DEFINE THE PROBLEM	IDENTIFY POSSIBLE CAUSES	EVALUATE POSSIBLE CAUSES	MAKE A CHANGE	TEST THE CHANGE	TAKE PERMANENT ACTION
1. Recognize that what you are doing is a "PROCESS" 2. Identify the commodity being processed. - Process Inference 3. Define some measurable characteristics of value to the commodity. 4. Describe the "PROCESS" o Process Flow Analysis's o Flow charts o List of steps 5. Identify the "Big" problem o Brainstorming o Checklists o Pareto analysis	6. "BRAINSTORM" what is causing the problem. 7. Determine what past data shows. o Frequency distribution o Pareto charts o Control charts - sampling	8. Determine the relationship between cause and effect o Scatter diagrams o Regression analysis 9. Determine what the process is doing now o Control charts - sampling	10. Determine what change would help Your knowledge of the process Scatter diagrams Control Charts - sampling Pareto analysis ****Then make the change.	11. Determine what change worked (confirmation). Histograms Control charts - sampling Scatter diagrams	12. Ensure the fix is embedded in the process and that the resulting process is used. Continue to monitor the process to ensure: A. The problem is fixed for good. and B. The process is good enough o Control charts - sampling ****To ensure continuous improvement, return to step 5.

Courtesy:

• http://home.att.net/~iso9k1/tqm/tqm.html#Introduction

Resources:

1. http://home.att.net/~iso9k1/tqm/tqm.html#Introduction
2. http://www.mapnp.org/library/quality/tqm/tqm.htm

KC 1.5.3 - Quality Pioneers - Joseph M. Juran

Joseph M. Juran
 

Joseph M. Juran made many contributions to the field of quality management in his 70+ active working years. His book, the Quality Control Handbook, is a classic reference for quality engineers. He revolutionized the Japanese philosophy on quality management and in no small way worked to help shape their economy into the industrial leader it is today. Dr. Juran was the first to incorporate the human aspect of quality management which is referred to as Total Quality Management.

The process of developing ideas was a gradual one for Dr. Juran. Top management involvement, the Pareto principle, the need for widespread training in quality, the definition of quality as fitness for use, the project-by-project approach to quality improvement--these are the ideas for which Juran is best known, and all emerged gradually.

Juran is well known for his Quality Trilogy.
The following table outlines the major points of Dr. Juran's quality management ideas:

Quality Trilogy:

Quality Planning	Identify who are the customers. Determine the needs of those customers. Translate those needs into our language. Develop a product that can respond to those needs. Optimise the product features so as to meet our needs and customer needs.
Quality Improvement	Develop a process which is able to produce the product. Optimise the process.
Quality Control	Prove that the process can produce the product under operating conditions with minimal inspection. Transfer the process to Operations.

You can find out more at the links given below:

1. More on Joseph M. Juran
2. An Interview with Juran

KC 1.5.2 - Quality Pioneers - Philip Crosby

 

Philip Crosby

"Do It Right the First Time"

Dr. Deming and Dr. Juran were the great brains of the quality revolution. Where Phil Crosby excelled was in finding a terminology for quality that mere mortals could understand. His books, "Quality Without Tears" and "Quality is Free" were easy to read, so people read them. He popularized the idea of the "cost of poor quality", that is, figuring out how much it really costs to do things badly.

Like Frederick Taylor, Philip Crosby's ideas came from his experience on an assembly line. He focused on zero defects, not unlike the focus of the modern Six Sigma Quality movement. Mr. Crosby was quick to point out, however, that zero defects is not something that originates on the assembly line. To create a manufacturing process that has zero defects management must set the tone and atmosphere for employees to follow. If management does not create a system by which zero defects are clearly the objective then employees are not to blame when things go astray and defects occur. The benefit for companies of such a system is a dramatic decrease in wasted resources and time spent producing goods that consumer's do not want.

Mr. Crosby defined quality as a conformity to certain specifications set forth by management and not some vague concept of "goodness." These specifications are not arbitrary either; they must be set according to customer needs and wants.

Four Absolutes of Quality Management

1. Quality is defined as conformance to requirements, not as 'goodness' or 'elegance'.
2. The system for causing quality is prevention, not appraisal.
3. The performance standard must be Zero Defects, not "that's close enough".
4. The measurement of quality is the Price of Nonconformance, not indices.

Courtesy: www.skymark.com

More Resources:

1. About Philip Crosby
   
2. Travelling & the MBA world - An article from Philip Crosby

KC 1.5.1.1 - Deming's 14 Principles

Deming's 14 Points

1. Create constancy of purpose for improvement of product and service. Dr. Deming suggests a radical new definition of a company's role: A better way to make money is to stay in business and provide jobs through innovation, research, constant improvement and maintenance.
2. Adopt the new philosophy. For the new economic age, management need to take leadership for change into a 'learning organisation'. Furthermore, we need a new belief in which mistakes and negativism are unacceptable.
3. Cease dependence on mass inspection. Eliminate the need for mass inspection by building quality into the product.
4. End awarding business on price. Instead, aim at minimum total cost and move towards single suppliers.
5. Improve constantly and forever the system of production and service. Improvement is not a one-time effort. Management is obligated to continually look for ways to reduce waste and improve quality.
6. Institute training. Too often, workers have learned their job from other workers who have never been trained properly. They are forced to follow unintelligible instructions. They can't do their jobs well because no one tells them how to do so.
7. Institute leadership. The job of a supervisor is not to tell people what to do nor to punish them, but to lead. Leading consists of helping people to do a better job and to learn by objective methods.
8. Drive out fear. Many employees are afraid to ask questions or to take a position, even when they do not understand what their job is or what is right or wrong. They will continue to do things the wrong way, or not do them at all. The economic losses from fear are appalling. To assure better quality and productivity, it is necessary that people feel secure. "The only stupid question is the one that is not asked."
9. Break down barriers between departments. Often a company's departments or units are competing with each other or have goals that conflict. They do not work as a team, therefore they cannot solve or foresee problems. Even worse, one department's goal may cause trouble for another.
10. Eliminate slogans, exhortations and numerical targets for the workforce. These never help anybody do a good job. Let workers formulate their own slogans. Then they will be committed to the contents.
11. Eliminate numerical quotas or work standards. Quotas take into account only numbers, not quality or methods. They are usually a guarantee of inefficiency and high cost. A person, in order to hold a job, will try to meet a quota at any cost, including doing damage to his company.
12. Remove barriers to taking pride in workmanship. People are eager to do a good job and distressed when they cannot. Too often, misguided supervisors, faulty equipment and defective materials stand in the way of good performance. These barriers must be removed.
13. Institute a vigorous programme of education. Both management and the work force will have to be educated in the new knowledge and understanding, including teamwork and statistical techniques.
14. Take action to accomplish the transformation. It will require a special top management team with a plan of action to carry out the quality mission. Workers cannot do it on their own, nor can managers. A critical mass of people in the company must understand the 14 points.

KC 1.5.1 - Quality Pioneers - Edwards Deming

Dr. W. Edwards Deming
 

If you can't describe what you are doing as a process, you don't know what you're doing.
W. Edwards Deming

Dr. W. Edwards Deming is known as the father of the Japanese post-war industrial revival and was regarded by many as the leading quality guru in the United States. He passed on in 1993.

Trained as a statistician, his expertise was used during World War II to assist the United States in its effort to improve the quality of war materials.

He was invited to Japan at the end of World War II by Japanese industrial leaders and engineers. They asked Dr. Deming how long it would take to shift the perception of the world from the existing paradigm that Japan produced cheap, shoddy imitations to one of producing innovative quality products.

Dr. Deming told the group that if they would follow his directions, they could achieve the desired outcome in five years. Few of the leaders believed him. But they were ashamed to say so and would be embarrassed if they failed to follow his suggestions.

As Dr. Deming told it, "They surprised me and did it in four years."

He was invited back to Japan time after time where he became a revered counselor. For his efforts he was awarded the Second Order of the Sacred Treasure by the former Emperor Hirohito.

Japanese scientists and engineers named the famed Deming Prize after him. It is bestowed on organizations that apply and achieve stringent quality-performance criteria.

Deming's business philosophy is summarized in his famous "14 Points," listed in my previous post. These points have inspired significant changes among a number of leading US companies striving to compete in the world's increasingly competitive environment.

But the 14 Points pose a challenge for many firms to figure out how to apply them in a meaningful way that will result in continual improvement. Leadership Institute has developed powerful processes for coaching executive teams, and eventually their entire organizations, to begin accomplishing what Deming referred to as "the transformation."

His work is outlined in two books: Out of the Crisis and The New Economics, in which he spells out his System of Profound Knowledge.

Courtesy: www.lii.net

Other Very good resources on Edwards Deming:

1. About Deming & Elaboration on his 14 principles and links to other good sources on Deming
2. Wikipedia on Deming

KC 1.4.2 - Just in Time (JIT) technique

Coming Soon....

KC 1.4.1 - Quality Assurance & Quality Control

Quality Assurance

A planned and systematic set of activities to ensure that variances in processes are clearly identified, assessed and improving defined processes for fullfilling the requirements of customers and product or service makers.

A planned and systematic pattern of all actions necessary to provide adequate confidence that the product optimally fulfils customer's expectations.

A planned and systematic set of activities to ensure that requirements are clearly established and the defined process complies to these requirements.

"Work done to ensure that Quality is built into work products, rather than Defects." This is by (a) identifying what "quality" means in context; (b) specifying methods by which its presence can be ensured; and (c) specifying ways in which it can be measured to ensure conformance.

Quality Control

Also called statistical quality control. The managerial process during which actual process performance is evaluated and actions are taken on unusual performance.It is a process to ensure whether a product meets predefined standards and requisite action taken if the standards are not met.

Quality Control measures both products and processes for conformance to quality requirements (including both the specific requirements prescribed by the product specification, and the more general requirements prescribed by *Quality Assurance*); identifies acceptable limits for significant *Quality Attributes*; identifies whether products and processes fall within those limits (conform to requirements) or fall outside them (exhibit defects); and reports accordingly. Correction of product failures generally lies outside the ambit of Quality Control; correction of process failures may or may not be included.

KC 1.3.4.2 - Earned Value Management - Example

Earned value provides an objective measurement of how much work has been accomplished on a project. Using the earned value process, the management team can readily compare how much work has actually been completed against the amount of work planned to be accomplished. All work is planned, budgeted, and scheduled in time-phased "planned value" increments constituting a Performance Measurement Baseline (PMB).

Let's look at a simplified example:

(Fig) Baseline plan
The baseline plan shown in the above graph illustrates a task with a total budget amount of $240k, which is planned for accomplishment over 24-month time frame. The "time-now" line shows that $100k of the project resources was planned to be completed at this point in the project. Another way to look at this is that the project was planned to be 41.6% complete ($100k / $240k) at this point in time.

As work is performed, it is "earned" on the same basis as it was planned, in dollars or other quantifiable units such as labor hours. Comparing earned value with the planned value measures the dollar value of work accomplished versus the dollar value of work planned. Any difference is called a schedule variance.

Earned Value - Planned Costs = Schedule Variance (SV)

(Fig) Schedule variance chart

In our example the task was planned to have accomplished $100k worth of work in twelve months, but the real accomplishment was only $60k. The graph shows a "behind schedule" condition. The schedule variance in dollars would be a negative $40k, the difference between the earned value accomplished ($60k), and the value of the planned work ($100k) to date. According to our formula then:

$60k - $100k = ($40k)

The value earned for the work performed compared with the actual cost incurred for the work performed (taken directly from the contractor's accounting systems), provides an objective measure of cost efficiency. Any difference is called a cost variance.

Earned Value - Actual Costs = Cost Variance (CV)

A negative variance means more money was spent for the work accomplished than was planned. Conversely, a positive variance means less money was spent for the work accomplished than was planned to be spent.

(Fig) Cost variance chart
From the performing organization's own accounting system, we determine the actual costs for performing the $60K work was $110K.

When the actual costs are compared with the earned value of $60k, the difference is the cost variance. The earned value of $60k less the actual cost of $110k, is a negative cost variance of $50k. In this example, the task is in an overrun condition by $50k.

$60k - $110k = ($50k)

Analysis of these variances should reveal the factors causing the deviation from plan.

The Task Manager uses this information in conjunction with his knowledge of the task, to project an estimate to complete for this task. The Task Managers analyzes variances resulting from comparisons of these five basic data elements; planned work, work accomplished, actual costs, total budget at completion and the estimate at completion. The work breakdown structure provides a useful framework for summarizing this performance information for all levels of management.

Earned value improves on the "normally used" spend plan concept (budget versus actual incurred cost) by requiring the work in process to be quantified. The planned value, earned value, and actual cost data provides an objective, quantifiable measurement of performance, enabling trend analysis and evaluation of any cost estimate at completion within multiple levels of the project.

EVM is a valuable tool in the Project Manager's "toolbox" for gaining valuable insight into project performance and is the tool that integrates technical, cost, schedule and risk management. In addition, EVM provides valuable quantifiable performance metrics for forecasting at-completion cost and schedule for their project.

KC 1.3.4 - Earned Value Management - Basics

Earned Value Management is a methodology used to measure and communicate the real physical progress of a project taking into account the work complete, the time taken and the costs incurred to complete that work.

Earned Value helps evaluate and control project risk by measuring project progress in monetary terms.

We spend time and materials in completing a task. If we are efficient we complete the task with time to spare and with minimum wasted materials. If we are inefficient we take longer and waste materials.

We also plan how we will accomplish the task. How long it will take, the resources we need and the estimated costs.

By taking a snap-shot of the project and calculating the Earned Value metrics we can compare the planned with the actual and make a subjective assessment of the project progress.

By extrapolating the curves and further calculation we can also estimate the costs to project completion and the probable completion date.

The basics of Earned Value can best be shown on the ubiquitous 'S-Curve'.

The S-curve in its simplest form is a graph showing how project budget is planned to be spent over time.
We can complicate the graph by showing the actual costs of doing the work over the same period.
And also on the same graph we can show how the value of the product of the project increases over the same period.

The three curves on the graph represent:

• Budgeted Cost for Work Scheduled (BCWS) - the budgets for all activities planned to be completed.

• Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) - the real costs of the work charged against the completed activities.

• Budgeted Cost of Work Performed (BCWP) - the planned costs of the work allocated to the completed activities. This is the Earned Value.

The BCWS curve is derived from the Work Breakdown Structure, the project budget and the Project Master Schedule. The cost of each Work Package is calculated and the cumulative cost of completed Works Packages is shown based on the planned completion dates shown in the Master Schedule.

The ACWP curve is found by actual measurement of the work completed. Actual costs recorded from invoices and workmen's time sheets. This appears a daunting task but it can be very simple with sufficient planning and organising.

The BCWP is calculated from the measured work complete and the budgeted costs for that work.
Earned Value = Percentage project complete X Project Budget

Variances

Schedule and cost variances can both be calculated in monetary terms from the data needed to produce the S-curves.

Schedule variance is the difference between the Earned Value and the planned budget.
SV = BCWP - BCWS

Cost Variance is the difference between the Earned Value and the actual costs of the works.
CV = BCWP - ACWP

Performance Indices

Schedule Performance Index and Cost Performance Index give indications of the health of the project. Is the project on time, in budget or what?

Schedule Performance Index is a ratio of Earned Value and the planned value of completed works. A SPI < spi =" BCWP">

Cost Performance Index is a ratio of Earned Value and the actual costs of completed works. A CPI < cpi =" BCWP">

Estimate At Completion

The EAC gives an idea of the final costs of a project. It takes into account the original budget (BAC), the Earned Value and the Cost Performance Index of the already completed works.
EAC = ACWP + ((BAC - BCWP)/CPI)

Other Resources:

1. Earned value management website
2. AT&L Workforce on EVM
   
3. Wikipedia on EVM
4. EVM for Program Managers
   

KC 1.3.3 -Six Sigma, Benchmarking, Continuous Improvement & Best Practices

I dont feel there is need of long notes here as many resources are available on the web. So I am just briefly giving their definitions with the related resources.

Six Sigma
The goal of Six Sigma is to increase profits by eliminating variability, defects and waste that undermine customer loyalty.

Six Sigma can be understood/perceived at three levels:

1. Metric: 3.4 Defects Per Million Opportunities. DPMO allows you to take complexity of product/process into account. Rule of thumb is to consider at least three opportunities for a physical part/component - one for form, one for fit and one for function, in absence of better considerations. Also you want to be Six Sigma in the Critical to Quality characteristics and not the whole unit/characteristics.
2. Methodology: DMAIC/DFSS structured problem solving roadmap and tools.
3. Philosophy: Reduce variation in your business and take customer-focused, data driven decisions.

Six Sigma is a methodology that provides businesses with the tools to improve the capability of their business processes. This increase in performance and decrease in process variation leads to defect reduction and vast improvement in profits, employee morale and quality of product.

Resources:

1. What is Six Sigma - A Paper
2. isixsigma.com
3. SixSigma Tutorial

Benchmarking
The concept of discovering what is the best performance being achieved, whether in your company, by a competitor, or by an entirely different industry.

Benchmarking is an improvement tool whereby a company measures its performance or process against other companies' best practices, determines how those companies achieved their performance levels, and uses the information to improve its own performance.

Benchmarking is a continuous process whereby an enterprise measures and compares all its functions, systems and practices against strong competitors, identifying quality gaps in the organization, and striving to achieve competitive advantage locally and globally.
Resources:

1. Complete info on Benchmarking
2. Benchmarking – Uncovering Best Practices & Lessons Learnt from others
3. Is Benchmarking And Identifying Best Practices Worth It?
4. iSixSigma's resources on Benchmarking

Best Practice
A way or method of accomplishing a business function or process that is considered to be superior to all other known methods.
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A lesson learned from one area of a business that can be passed on to another area of the business or between businesses.

Continuous Improvement (CI)
Continuous Improvement (CI): Adopting new activities and eliminating those which are found to add little or no value. The goal is to increase effectiveness by reducing inefficiencies, frustrations, and waste (rework, time, effort, material, etc). The Japanese term is Kaizen, which is taken from the words "Kai" means change and "zen" means good.
Resources:

1. Continous Improvement - A paper
2. Library Info on Continuous Improvement
3. KAIZEN's concept of Continuous Improvement

KC 1.3.2.2 - Cost of Quality (Contd..)

Just came across this S/W Quality Icerberg - showing the importance of internal Quality maintenance which is invisible to the external agent. Looking at this iceberg, the amount by which the Orgnanisation spends towards reducing the Cost of Poor Quality should idealy be more compared to the cost incurred in meeting the external defects identified.

Read more on this Quality Icerberg here:
http://www.asq.org/pub/qualityprogress/past/0501/qp0501defeo.pdf

The Total Quality View is given in the figure below. Realize from the figure that as the emphasis on Prevention & Appraisal Cost is increasing, the failure cost is reducing at a linear slope. Also see the slope of the Prevention & Appraisal Cost is less than that of the Cost of Failure which clearly indicates the cost reduction because of the difference in slope gives you the net profit. Also shown below is the ideal divisions among the different Costs of Quality.
















Interested ones can go to this to find out why more organisations cannot use it effectively.
http://www.asq.org/ed/conferences/aqc/public_proceedings/57_2003/19384.pdf

KC 1.3.2.1 - Cost of Quality & it's Components

Cost of Quality (COQ) is one of the very important sub domain of the Knowledge Domain-1 in the CSQA BOK. Getting this concept clarified is very important for any QA Professional and more importantly for CSQA aspirants. I am starting here with the definitions and the best possible sources here on COQ.

Cost Of Quality

The cost associated with the quality of a work product.

As defined by Crosby ("Quality Is Free"), Cost Of Quality (COQ) has two main components: *Cost Of Conformance* and *Cost Of Non-Conformance* (see respective definitions).

Cost of quality is the amount of money a business loses because its product or service was not done right in the first place. From fixing a warped piece on the assembly line to having to deal with a lawsuit because of a malfunctioning machine or a badly performed service, businesses lose money every day due to poor quality. For most businesses, this can run from 15 to 30 percent of their total costs.

Cost of Poor Quality - COPQ

COPQ consists of those costs which are generated as a result of producing defective material.

This cost includes the cost involved in fulfilling the gap between the desired and actual product/service quality. It also includes the cost of lost opportunity due to the loss of resources used in rectifying the defect. This cost includes all the labor cost, rework cost, disposition costs, and material costs that have been added to the unit up to the point of rejection. COPQ does not include detection and prevention cost.

There usually goes confusion between these two definitions COQ and COPQ.

Cost of quality (COQ) is actually a phrase coined by Philip Crosby, noted quality expert and author and originator of the "zero defects" concept, to refer to the costs associated with providing poor-quality products or services. Many quality practitioners thus prefer the term cost of poor quality (COPQ).

To illustrate the impact this can have on the workforce can not be underestimated. With a little imagination you could imagine the impact of storing all scrap for one year then presenting it as an "in-your-face" visual presentation tactic at a business improvement initiative.

Cost Of Conformance

(COC) A component of the *Cost Of Quality* for a work product. Cost of conformance is the total cost of ensuring that a product is of good *Quality*. It includes costs of *Quality Assurance* activities such as standards, training, and processes; and costs of *Quality Control* activities such as reviews, audits, inspections, and testing.

COC represents an organisation's investment in the quality of its products.

Cost Of Non-Conformance

(CONC.) The element of the *Cost Of Quality* representing the total cost to the organisation of failure to achieve a good *Quality* product.

CONC includes both in-process costs generated by quality failures, particularly the cost of *Rework*; and post-delivery costs including further *Rework*, re-performance of lost work (for products used internally), possible loss of business, possible legal redress, and other potential costs.

Cost of Quality (COQ )

1. Cost of Control (Conformance)

• Prevention Cost
• Appraisal Cost

2. Cost of not controlling (Non-conformance)

• Internal Failure Cost
  
• External Failure Cost

Wanna know the definitons more clearly? Here they are:

Four categories of costs contribute to an organization's overall COQ:

1. Internal failure costs - costs associated with defects found before the customer receives the product or service
2. External failure costs - costs associated with defects found after the customer receives the product or service
3. Appraisal costs - costs incurred to determine the degree of conformance to quality requirements
4. Prevention Costs - Costs incurred to keep failure and appraisal costs to minimum.
   

Table - Examples of Quality Costs Associated with Software Products

Prevention	Appraisal
Statistical Process Control Capability/feasibility studies Improvement programmes Preventive actions Consultancies Training Procedures/Work instructions Communications Calibration systems	Inspection Design review Code inspection Audit (internal & external) Testing Glass box testing Black box testing Training testers Beta testing Test equipment & automation Usability testing Pre-release out-of-box testing by customer service staff
Internal Failure	External Failure
Rectification Scrap Rework Concessionary work Investigations Corrective Actions	Rectifying returned products Replacements Warranty claims Complaints Site repairs Lost custom/reputation Legal ramifications

The minimum total cost,for example is shown below as being achieved at 98% perfection. This percentage is also known as best practice. That is, the cost of achieving an improvement outweighs the benefits of that improvement.

In my previous post, similar cost curve created doubts to few as the X-axis was labelled "Defects" there. In fact it is the Degree of perfection achieved towards the individual curves like Appraisal, Prevention etc. In few instances, this axis is taken with increasing Quality of Design.

Sources referred:
http://www.isixsigma.com/dictionary/glossary
http://www.asq.org/topics/coq.html
http://www.educesoft.com/quality/costofquality.htm
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/hqlibrary/ppm/ppm35.htm

KC 1.3.1 - The Deming's PDCA Cycle

I am giving simple definitions of P-D-C-A here. There are very good resources available for PDCA cycle which is also known as Deming's Cycle or Schewart's Cycle. Please go through the sources below for better info on PDCA cycle.

• PLAN: Design or revise business process components to improve results
• DO: Implement the plan and measure its performance
• CHECK or STUDY: Assess the measurements and report the results to decision makers
• ACT: Decide on changes needed to improve the process

Benefits of the PDCA cycle:

- Daily routine management-for the individual and/or the team
- Problem-solving process
- Project management
- Continuous development
- Vendor development
- Human resources development
- New product development
- Process trials
Note: The PDCA cycle was in fact originally developed by Walter A, Shewhart, a Bell Laboratories scientist who was Deming's friend and mentor, and the developer of Statistical Process Control

Kaoru Ishikawa has expanded Deming's four steps into Six

1. Determine goals and targets.
2. Determine methods of reaching goals.
3. Engage in education and training.
4. Implement work.
5. Check the effects of implementation.
6. Take appropriate action.
   

PDCA Resources:

1. iSixSigma's Definition of PDCA
2. Plan-Do-Check-Act from HCi.com
3. PDCA from ASQ

KC 1.2.1 - Quality Attributes for an Information System

Correctness

The software system's fulfillment of the specifications underlying its development. The correctness of a software system refers to:

• Agreement of program code with specifications
• Independence of the actual application of the software system.

The correctness of a program becomes especially critical when it is embedded in a complex software system.

Example 1.1 Let p be the probability that an individual program is correct; then the probability P of correctness of the software system consisting of n programs is computed as P = pⁿ .

If n is very large, then p must be nearly 1 in order to allow P to deviate significantly from 0 [Dijkstra 1972b].

Reliability

Reliability of a software system derives from

• Correctness, and
• Availability.

The behavior over time for the fulfillment of a given specification depends on the reliability of the software system.

Reliability of a software system is defined as the probability that this system fulfills a function (determined by the specifications) for a specified number of input trials under specified input conditions in a specified time interval (assuming that hardware and input are free of errors).

A software system can be seen as reliable if this test produces a low error rate (i.e., the probability that an error will occur in a specified time interval.)

The error rate depends on the frequency of inputs and on the probability that an individual input will lead to an error.

User friendliness:

• Adequacy
• Learnability
• Robustness

Adequacy

Factors for the requirement of Adequacy:

1. The input required of the user should be limited to only what is necessary. The software system should expect information only if it is necessary for the functions that the user wishes to carry out. The software system should enable flexible data input on the part of the user and should carry out plausibility checks on the input. In dialog-driven software systems, we vest particular importance in the uniformity, clarity and simplicity of the dialogs.
2. The performance offered by the software system should be adapted to the wishes of the user with the consideration given to extensibility; i.e., the functions should be limited to these in the specification.
3. The results produced by the software system:
   The results that a software system delivers should be output in a clear and well-structured form and be easy to interpret. The software system should afford the user flexibility with respect to the scope, the degree of detail, and the form of presentation of the results.Error messages must be provided in a form that is comprehensible for the user.

Learnability

Learnability of a software system depends on:

• The design of user interfaces
• The clarity and the simplicity of the user instructions (tutorial or user manual).

The user interface should present information as close to reality as possible and permit efficient utilization of the software's failures.

The user manual should be structured clearly and simply and be free of all dead weight. It should explain to the user what the software system should do, how the individual functions are activated, what relationships exist between functions, and which exceptions might arise and how they can be corrected. In addition, the user manual should serve as a reference that supports the user in quickly and comfortably finding the correct answers to questions.

Robustness

Robustness reduces the impact of operational mistakes, erroneous input data, and hardware errors.

A software system is robust if the consequences of an error in its operation, in the input, or in the hardware, in relation to a given application, are inversely proportional to the probability of the occurrence of this error in the given application.

• Frequent errors (e.g. erroneous commands, typing errors) must be handled with particular care
• Less frequent errors (e.g. power failure) can be handled more laxly, but still must not lead to irreversible consequences.

Maintainability

Maintainability = suitability for debugging (localization and correction of errors) and for modification and extension of functionality.

The maintainability of a software system depends on its:

• Readability
• Extensibility
• Testability

Readability

Readability of a software system depends on its:

• Form of representation
• Programming style
• Consistency
• Readability of the implementation programming languages
• Structuredness of the system
• Quality of the documentation
• Tools available for inspection

Extensibility

Extensibility allows required modifications at the appropriate locations to be made without undesirable side effects.

Extensibility of a software system depends on its:

• Structuredness (modularity) of the software system
• Possibilities that the implementation language provides for this purpose
• Readability (to find the appropriate location) of the code
• Availability of comprehensible program documentation

Testability

Testability: suitability for allowing the programmer to follow program execution (run-time behavior under given conditions) and for debugging.

The testability of a software system depends on its:

• Modularity
• Structuredness

Modular, well-structured programs prove more suitable for systematic, stepwise testing than monolithic, unstructured programs.

Testing tools and the possibility of formulating consistency conditions (assertions) in the source code reduce the testing effort and provide important prerequisites for the extensive, systematic testing of all system components.

Efficiency

Efficiency: ability of a software system to fulfill its purpose with the best possible utilization of all necessary resources (time, storage, transmission channels, and peripherals).

Portability

Portability: the ease with which a software system can be adapted to run on computers other than the one for which it was designed.

The portability of a software system depends on:

• Degree of hardware independence
• Implementation language
• Extent of exploitation of specialized system functions
• Hardware properties
• Structuredness: System-dependent elements are collected in easily interchangeable program components.

A software system can be said to be portable if the effort required for porting it proves significantly less than the effort necessary for a new implementation.

Find out more info on Quality Attributes in the Technical Report of Carnegie Mellon University on QUALITY ATTRIBUTES. You can also download this paper from: THIS LINK of SEI.

Reference: SOFTWARE ENGINEERING By Nguyen Xuan Huy

CSQA CBOK 2006 Contents (Ref: csqa.blogspot.com)

KC1 - Quality Principles and Concepts - CONTENTS
KC 1.1 - Vocabulary of Quality
KC-1.2.1-The Different Views of Quality
KC 1.2.1 - Quality Attributes for an Information System
KC 1.3.1 - The Deming's PDCA Cycle
KC 1.3.2.1 - Cost of Quality & it's Components
KC 1.3.2.2 - Cost of Quality (Contd..)
KC 1.3.3 -Six Sigma, Benchmarking, Continuous Improvement & Best Practices
KC 1.3.4 - Earned Value Management - Basics
KC 1.3.4.2 - Earned Value Management - Example
KC 1.4.1 - Quality Assurance & Quality Control
KC 1.4.2 - Just in Time (JIT) technique
KC 1.5.1 - Quality Pioneers - Edwards Deming
KC 1.5.1.1 - Deming's 14 Principles
KC 1.5.2 - Quality Pioneers - Philip Crosby
KC 1.5.3 - Quality Pioneers - Joseph M. Juran
KC 1.5.4 - TQM (Total Quality Management)

KC1 - Quality Principles and Concepts - CONTENTS

2006 CSQA Body of Knowledge
Knowledge Category 1

Quality Principles and Concepts

Before an organization can begin to assess the quality of its products and services, and identify opportunities for improvement, it first must have a working knowledge of quality principles and basic concepts. This category will test the CSQA candidate's ability to understand and apply these principles, which include the quality vocabulary, various ways of defining quality, key concepts, distinguishing between quality control and quality assurance, and the contributions of quality pioneers.

Vocabulary of Quality

Understand the terms used to explain and implement quality in an IT organization.

The Different Views of Quality

The Two Quality Gaps
Quality Attributes for an Information System

Quality Concepts and Practices

PDCA Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act)
Cost of Quality
Six Sigma Quality
Baselining and Benchmarking
Earned Value

Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Quality Control
Understanding and Using the Just-In-Time (JIT) Technique
Quality Assurance
Differentiating Between Quality Control and Quality Assurance

Quality Pioneers Approach to Quality

Dr. W. Edwards Deming
Philip Crosby
Dr. Joseph Juran
Total Quality Management

KC 1.1 - Vocabulary of Quality

Coming Soon...

KC1 - Quality Principles and Concepts - CONTENTS <<

KC-1.2.1-The Different Views of Quality

The Two Quality Gaps

The definitions in summary are given below. For those who love to read more, further info is given.

From the customer's perspective, satisfaction after the delivering of the product is the ultimate validation of the product quality. It is clear that the concept of quality must involve customers or, simply put, quallity is conformance to customers' expectations and requirements. Crosby's "conformance to requirements" and Juran's "fitness for use" both implied the customers' perspective.

From the producer's perspective, developing and producing the product in accordance with the specifications is the path to achieving quality.

Therefore the three ideal metrics any organization should have are product quality, process quality, and customer satisfaction (referred to as the big capital "Q").

From a high-level definition of a concept, to a product being operationally defined, many steps are involved, each of which may be exposed to possible shortcomings. For example, to achieve the state of conformance to requirements, customers' requirements must first be gathered and analyzed, then specifications from those requirements must be developed, and the product must be developed and manufactured appropriately. In each phase of the process, errors may have occurred that will negatively affect the quality of the finished product. The requirements may be erroneous (especially in the case of software development), the development and manufacturing process may be subject to variable that induce defects, and so forth. Form the customer's perspective, satisfaction after the purchase of the product is the ultimate validation that the product conforms to requirements and is fit to use. From the producer's perspective, once requirements are specified, developing and producing the product in accordance with the specifications is the basic step to achieving quality. Usually, for product quality, lack of functional defeats and good reliability are the most basic measures. In order to be "fit for use," the product first has to be reliably functional.

Because of the two perspectives on quality (i.e., customer satisfaction as the ultimate validation of quality, alnd the producer's adherence to requirements to achieve quality), the de facto definition of quality consists of two levels. The first is the intrinsic product quality, often operationally limited to product quality,often operationally limited to product defect rate and reliability; this narrow definition is referred to as the "small" q (q for quality). The broader level of the definition of quality includes both product quality and customer satisfaction; it is referred to as the "big" Q.

In software, the norrowest sense of product quality is comonly recongnized as lack of "bugs" in the product. This definition is usually expressed in two ways: defect rate (e.g., number of defects per million lines of source code, or per function point), and reliability (e.g., number of failure per n hours of operation, mean time to failure, or the probability of failure-free operation in a specified time). Customer satisfaction is usually measured by the percentage of those satisfied or nonsatisfied (neutral and dissatisfied) on customer satisfaction surveys. To reduce bias, usually techniques such as double-blind surveys (the interviewer not knowing who the customer is, and the customer not knowing what company the interviewer represents) are used. In addition to overall customer satisfaction with the software product, satisfaction toward specific attributes is CUPRIMDSO satisfaction levels of its software products (i.e., capability [functionality], usability, performance, reliability, instalability, maintainability, documentation/information, service, and overall satisfaction). The Hewlett-Packard Co. focuses on FURPS (functionalilty, usability, relability, performance, and supportability)[1].

For people with much more interest, here is the link from HP's Center for Quality Management Journal. I believe the differences between Customer's & Producer's view of qualities cant be better enumerated. The copyrights do not allow to reproduce any part of it. You can go to this link to find this quite a long paper: http://cqmextra.cqm.org/cqmjournal.nsf/reprints/rp08300
The PDF form of this article can be downloaded from this link: DOWNLOAD Article(PDF)

References:

1. Software quality: an overview from the perspective of total quality management - Tutorial - IBM Systems Journal, March, 1994 by Stephen H. Kan, Victor R. Basili , L arry N. Shapiro

Become a Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA)

CSQA - An Overview

Certified Software Quality Analyst (CSQA) is a widely recognized certification in the software industry now. As a CSQA certified professional, the QA executives will be able to put the QA prinicples into practice in the right manner at the right time and hence will be able to play a huge role in building the organisations. Getting certified always helps in three ways:

• Indication of a level of knowledge and competence
• Certification can be a deciding factor in hiring, promotion, and salary action decisions
• Recertification requirements are a spur to continuing education

CSQA - Statistics

The number of active CSQA certified professionals according to the CSQA Active Roster is 7396 as of 24th January, 2006. The earliest person who was CSQA certified and is still active according to the Active Roster is William Perry. This Roster is available at this link: http://www.softwarecertifications.org/static/RosterCSQA.pdf

Exam format

The four and a half-hour exam is made up of four parts; two parts multiple-choice and two parts
essay and short answer. You will have forty-fi ve minutes to complete each of the multiplechoice
sections and one hour and fi fteen minutes to complete each of the essay and short answer sections. There is a ten-minute break between each part.

Application, Recertification & Others

Just to brief you, inorder to be able to sit for the examination, we have to satisfy the pre - requisites, Code of Ethics, Submit a Character Reference along with the application. This information is available in the SoftwareCertifications website in the page - "Applying for CSQA/CSTE"
You can view the complete CBOK contents at this link:
http://www.softwarecertifications.org/csqabok/csqabok.htm

CSQA certified candidates must be recertified 3 years after passing CSQA to stay current in the field. This can be demonstrated by 1) submitting a Recertification Journal of qualified Continuing Professional Education activities, or 2) by taking an Examination for Recertification to demonstrate the maintenance of the certification.

There are individual seven categories eligible for Continuing Professional Education (CPE) reporting which are given at this link:
http://www.softwarecertifications.org/qai_recertification.htm

There are Advanced Levels of Certifications too - Do check them out @ SoftwareCertifications

1. CSTE/CSQA ->
   
2. ASTP/ASQP ->
   
3. MSQA/MSTE
   

More info is available at: http://www.softwarecertifications.org/qai_levels.htm

For further details on the Schedule of the exam, Application procedures, Recertification, Obtaining & Using Credentials etc can go to www.softwarecertifications.org/qai_cqa.htm

Some Tips for CSQA exam

I will be covering some of the points that were helpful to me in clearing my exam in 30 days preparation. Needless to say, this is not a cheat list to clear the exam. My experience tells that unless you have a background of handling development projects, it is difficult to answer the subjective questions.

Some references are given at the end of the article:

ð      Focus on any one quality model: say ISO, CMM, Malcolm
Baldrige etc.; understand the principles on which they are based and the principles behind their applicability. Please note that the exam will not be testing comprehensive knowledge of the various clauses, procedures etc. but your understanding of the concepts and their links to quality processes in the organizations.

ð      Understand Deming's 14 principles: By this I mean that understand the reasons behind Deming's espousing these principles; do not just memorize the principles as mentioned in the CBOK (they have been
slightly modified to fit them to the IT context); instead try to lay your hands on the original principles enunciated by Deming and link them to the current IT context. Then revisit the CBOK for getting a clear understanding of the same. Refer links on this site to get more info on Deming.

ð      Quality tools: Quality tools are an indispensable aid to a quality manager to collate data, analyse and arrive at meaningful conclusions. The coverage to the tools in the CBOK is limited. Do read more about the tools (check out any good book on quality, it is bound to cover them). Remember, the stress is on understanding the principles and their applicability to real life. Which means do not waste time drawing control charts (say) and calculating the UCLs and the LCLs

ð      Web based projects: A recent session by George Winters in the SEPG conference held at New Delhi by QAI India focused on the changes happening at SEI to accommodate web based applications and the concepts behind them. Web based projects turn the SDLC life cycle on its head. It also challenges
the applicability of the software engineering fundas like requirement management etc. Besides George Winters stressed on the concept of 'trusted software'. Trusted software by definition means software that does what it is required to do, by people who are authorized to use it, and which alerts the people in case anyone abuses the 'trust'. Needless to say this is a real challenge for web based applications.

As a QA we must be aware of the ramifications of security violations. It is no longer the sole preserve of the system administrator.

For the exam do some background study on the challenges posed by web based projects and their impact on the software engineering principles.

ð      Real life case studies of software engineering principles: get a good grip of the real life case studies of software engineering.

For example:
1. Tools: used for testing, metrics, configuration management and why?
2. Function Points: their usage with examples

References:Online: CSQA.info

Reference Books:

1. The Mythical man-month (an excellent book for Software engineers)
2. Software Engineering by Pressman (just to get an overview; don't waste time reading the whole book end to end)
3. Statistics by Levin and Rubin (to get an idea of the applicability of some of the QC tools)

How much time is needed ? (Sample Study Plan)

Remember the PDCA cycle , Planning should precede all the work you do . So a proper plan is key to getting your CSQA certification. See the Sample plan below. However this is just to help you to prepare your own plan.

How much time is needed ?

Generally 60 days or 10 weeks are enough for most people. Considering that you have atleast 1 year experience in a CMMI level 5 company or 2 years otherwise.

Sample Study Schedule: 

ð      30-40 hours time per week. ( 3-4 hrs weekday and 6-8 hours on weekends ) 

ð      For each Knowledge Domain (KD)  (i) Study from CBOK, (ii) Read External material for things you dont understand, (iii) Answer some Sample Objective (10-20) and Subjective questions. ( 3 - 6)

Week 1: Read Introductions about CSQA, Exam Etc. and Complete KD1.
Week 2: KD2, KD3.
Week 3: Revise KD1, KD2, KD3 and Solve questions. Your focus this week should be to get as much into Questions.

Week 4: KD5, KD6
Week 5: KD7. KD8
Week 6: Revise KD5 to KD 8 and Solve Objective and Subjective Questions.
Week 7: KD9, KD10
Week 8: Second Reading of Entire CBOK and answer as many questions as you can.
Week 9: Third Revision if needed OR continue Solving questions.
Week 10: Enough hard work Relax and recollect everything for the Grand Finale.