POSTER 25
Extension · Quality Management
Quality Management
Quality = the degree to which a deliverable meets requirements (fitness for purpose & conformance). The golden rule: quality is planned in, not inspected in — prevention beats inspection. Plan quality, build it in (assurance), and verify it (control), improving continuously.
Visual Map — Control Chart (Statistical Process Control)
Control limits = the voice of the process (±3σ, set by the process). Specification limits = the voice of the customer (the requirement). A point beyond a control limit, or a run of 7, signals a special (assignable) cause to investigate.
Plan → Assure → Control
Plan Quality
standards, metrics, CoQ▸ Manage / Assure
audit & improve process▸ Control
inspect & accept output
standards, metrics, CoQ▸ Manage / Assure
audit & improve process▸ Control
inspect & accept output
- QA = process-focused — "are we doing things right?" (prevention, audits).
- QC = product-focused — "is this output correct?" (inspection, measurement).
Cost of Quality (CoQ)
- Conformance
- · Prevention — training, good process
- · Appraisal — inspection, testing, audits
- Non-conformance
- · Internal failure — rework, scrap
- · External failure — warranty, recall, reputation
Rule of thumb: $1 prevention < $10 appraisal < $100 failure.
The 7 Basic Quality Tools
- Cause-&-effect (Ishikawa / fishbone)
- Flowchart
- Check sheet
- Pareto chart (80/20)
- Histogram
- Control chart
- Scatter diagram
- + 5 Whys for root cause
Improvement Approaches
- PDCA (Deming) — Plan · Do · Check · Act.
- Six Sigma — DMAIC; 6σ ≈ 3.4 defects / million.
- Lean — eliminate waste; Kaizen — continuous small improvement.
- TQM — org-wide quality culture.
Exam Concepts
- Prevention over inspection; quality is planned in.
- QA = process, QC = product.
- Control limits (process, ±3σ) ≠ spec limits (customer).
- Quality vs grade: low quality is bad; low grade may be fine.
- Gold plating (extra beyond requirements) is waste.
Executive View
- Failure is the expensive part — invest in prevention.
- Quality is customer-defined, then engineered in.
- Build a continuous-improvement culture, not a blame one.
Industry Example
Manufacturing
- SPC control charts on the line, Pareto on defect types, 5 Whys root cause, and a Six Sigma DMAIC project to cut scrap — justified by a CoQ case favouring prevention.
Relationships
- Realises PMBOK 7 Principle 8 (Quality) & the Delivery domain (Poster 3).
- Accuracy vs precision echoes the distinctions on Poster 22.
- Lean/Kaizen tie to your operational-excellence world.
Memory Hooks
- "Quality is planned in, not inspected in."
- Prevention > appraisal > failure ($1 / $10 / $100).
- Control limits = voice of the process; spec limits = voice of the customer.
60-sec Review
QA vs QC
CoQ: conformance vs not
Name the 7 tools
Control vs spec limits
Quality vs grade
PMI Visual Wall · Poster 25 · Quality Management · original instructional design · A3 landscape