The role of quality in delivering successful projects

Airbus in Newport kindly hosted the latest branch event where members heard from Dean Allen about the role quality plays in delivering a successful project.

Quality in project management needs to be better understood. At its most basic, quality is about fitness for purpose: does a product, or project output, meet the stated requirement? 

This event sought to broaden the understanding of quality management (ISO 9001:2008) and its application to the project life cycle. 

Quality plays a vital role in the ultimate success of projects delivering the required outputs. In order to achieve the desired quality it is necessary to understand some of the fundamental aspects of quality management and how best to deliver them. 

Since the development of ISO 9001:2000 the purpose of the quality management standard has moved from a previous focus on verification of product characteristics (predominantly “inspection”/quality control) to establishing baselines for conducting good business practice from which effective process management will evolve under planned and controlled conditions. 

It should also be recognised that ISO 9001:2008 is one of a suite of “management systems” which underpin good management practices. All of these systems share a common approach to control through the effective management of processes and, in many modern progressive businesses, form part of an “integrated management system”.

The presentation examined what quality management should ‘look like’ and drew on experience gained from within both the public and private sectors using worked examples.