Quality management in an engineering firm environment

Abstract

Engineering firms find themselves in the middle of the quality movement. Clients want quality services and products. More than that, clients of engineering firms want evidence that engineering firms are improving internal quality while reducing fees to the clients. There is a shift from thinking high quality engineering services means high costs, to a demand for higher quality at lower prices. The challenge of quality management in an engineering firm environment has some interesting aspects. Three of the most important aspects of implementing a quality management process are the roadblocks in the environment, the struggles in identifying systems and solutions, and the recognition that improvements have been accomplished. Roadblocks include failure to see a need to make a change, the need to be chargeable, profit divisions between departments, and choosing a philosophy of quality management. Struggles include understanding and documenting systems, gathering data, learning to work as teams, understanding continuing improvement versus one-time fixes, and making decisions based on facts and data instead of reacting based strictly on hunches. Recognizing accomplishments is important to the life of the quality management process. It's important to see and capture improved quality. Successes help to foster more improvements and translate into real savings for both engineering firms and their clients. Quality management in engineering firms is not an option. The challenge to improve quality is an exciting one with many benefits.<>