CHAPTER 3

Planning for Quality Management

Learning Objectives

1. To emphasize the importance of planning in the quality

management system.
2. To compare and contrast formal and informal planning.
3. To provide a systematic approach to planning
• Planning is the management function that produces and
integrates objectives,strategies, and policies.
• The planning process answers three basic questions:
1. Where are we now?
2. Where do we want to be?
3. How can we get there from here?
• Planning is concerned with future actions and decisions of
management.
• By setting objectives and establishing a course of action,
management commits to “making it happen.”
• Planning is the easiest where change happens the least.
Planning is the most useful where change is the greatest.
• Most planning is carried out on an informal basis
Elements of an Effective Quality System

Marketing
1. Identify the customer(s). (Market)
2. Identify the customer’s product and service needs.
(Product features)
3. Identify how much the customer is willing to pay.
(Pricing)
4. Identify where the customer goes to buy. (Placement)
5. Identify how the customer hears about companies like
yours.(Promotion and sales)
Setting Objectives

1. It begins at the top with a clear statement of what you

are in business for.
2. Long-range goals are formulated for this statement.
3. The long-range goals provide the bases for short-term
objectives (they are linked).
4. Objectives are established at every relevant level and
function in the company.
5. This process continues down throughout the entire
company.
Long- and Short-Range Objectives

1. Formulate long-term goals.

2. Develop overall objectives.
3. Establish departmental objectives.
4. Formulate functional quality plans.
5. Establish performance metrics.
6. Implement.
7. Review performance.
After the goals have been established, an action plan for
achieving the goals should be developed as follows:
1. Determine major activities needed to meet the
objectives.
2. Determine subactivities under the major activities.
3. Assign responsibility for each activity.
4. Identify resources required to meet goals.
Setting Business Metrics

• The process of determining objectives and goals is

directly related to the functional categories in the
business, starting with the product- or service-producing
activities.
• These activities are critical for the survival of the
organization, where nonconformities have an immediate
impact on cash flow. Some of these activities are revenue
centers, while others are cost centers.
• The objective should be established to maximize revenue
and/or reduce (or control) cost.
Process Quality Planning

• Each of the classifications or subactivities can be further

analyzed and planned for their respective requirements.
• This is done by identifying the process tasks in
chronological order.
• In short, this is a task listing without any of the detail.
Detailing each task or step would require an explanation
of how each step is accomplished
Project Planning

• While the process quality plan is established for those

activities which are an integral part of the business, there
are those times when planning occurs for short-duration
processes
• Project plans are an effective means of depicting a project
• schedule and reporting progress as it occurs.
• The type of plan most often used is a Gantt-type chart
• In the body of the Gantt chart, the first column is used to identify the tasks to
be performed.
• This may require you to break down a task into constituent parts called
parent-child relationships.
• The study phase task is the parent and the steps below are the children
belonging to this task.
• Adjacent to each step is a reporting column for percentage completed, where
we would designate what percentage of the step has been finished.
• Next to this is a column which provides a graphical status indicator. The plot
portion of the chart shows a bar for the duration of the task or step in which
black represents completion and gray indicates the scheduled time allotted.
• The bar turns black as the project progresses based upon the percentage
completed.
Product Quality Planning
Product Verification and Validation Planning

• Responsibility and Interfaces

• Information Accessibility
• Files and Records
• Validation Facilities
• Validation Personnel
• Validation Procedures
• Scheduling and Revising Validation Plans
Policies, Procedures, and Objectives

• Organizational goals, policies, and procedures are not

mutually exclusive components.
• Each is related to the other; for example, policies relate to
objectives, while procedures relate to policies.
• Similarly, they are an integral part of the organizational
structure.
• Policies identify what departments do, whereas
procedures tell us how to do it.
• Goals are achieved through policies and procedures
Policies

1. Determine major activities in the company.

2. Determine subactivities.
3. Assign primary and alternate responsibilities.
4. Identify the resources needed.
A general outline for writing a policy statement is as follows:
1. Describe the major activities and subactivities.
2. Identify the objective.
3. Define the department that is responsible.
4. Identify the associated procedure.
5. State the policy.
Procedures and Rules

• Procedures and rules define in step-by-step fashion the

methods through which policies are achieved. They
outline the manner in which a recurring activity must be
accomplished. Procedures should allow for flexibility and
deviation.
• Rules require that specific actions be taken with respect
to a given situation (step). Rules leave little doubt
concerning what is to be done. They permit no flexibility or
deviation. Unlike procedures, rules do not necessarily
specify a sequence.
A basic outline for a procedure is as follows:

1. Number. (control number assigned for reference)

2. From (the person approving the procedure)
3. To (the person responsible for executing the procedure)
4. Date (the date the procedure was approved)
5. Subject (major activity)
6. Regarding (subactivity)
7. CC: (carbon copy list)
8. Procedure steps and rules
Forms and Records

• The task of designing forms for quality is the responsibility

of the quality management.
• The management representative must know (1) what data
the user wants to collect, and (2) how the form is going to
be used in the quality system
The basic parts of a form are as follows:
1. Title (identifies the form)
2. Instructions (tells how to complete the form)
3. Heading (contains all the general data)
4. Body (specific data the form is designed to collect)
5. Conclusion (contains approvals, signatures, and
summary data)
Blueprints (Product Sp ecifications)

• Product specifications developed internally should be

identified along with a revision letter code which can be
cross-referenced in some manner to a definition of what
changed.
• Normally, there is a list showing the history of revisions for
each part.
• In most cases, these specifications are maintained in a
filing system.
Process Flowcharting

• Flowcharting is a graphical technique specifically

developed for use in computer science.
• It is a pictorial representation that uses predefined
symbols to describe data flow in a business, or the logic
of a computer program or process.
Co mmunication

• The business quality plan is the first plan to be developed.

• The process quality plan is derived from the business
quality plan, ideally for each activity listed.
• For short-term processes a project plan is used, while a
product quality plan is made for each type of material
used from raw material to finished goods.
 Summary
• The planning process starts with the business quality plan, from
which in turn the process quality plans are derived.
• Additionally, product and project plans are generated based upon
the process quality plan.
• Projects can be in the form of design control for new product
development, or the implementation of corrective or preventive
actions.
• The product quality plans define the features, functions, and
characteristics of the product and/or its components. These plans
are integral to each other and cannot be performed separately.
• Nor can these plans start with the product and work backward.
• Doing so would indicate a lack of management commitment and
overdelegation.
Review Questions
1. What is the purpose of organizational planning?
2. Describe the different types of plans.
3. Define the business quality plan.
4. Define the basic process and product plans.
5. Describe goal incongruence.
6. Describe how the various plans relate to each other.
7. Describe the principles of project planning.
8. Describe how goals are defined.
9. Define how plans are communicated.
10. Explain the following:
a. The business-planning function
b. The process-planning function
c. The product- and project-planning functions