CMS Quality Control

CMS Quality Control

SEAPORT-e support is essential to sustain ongoing operations for the Navy. A significant factor in the success of SEAPORT-e is the delivery of high quality services that meet Task Order performance requirements. As a direct result to our commitment to quality, CMS has established a formal quality control organization at the corporate level to develop contract operational standards, implement our Quality Control Program (QCP), provide oversight to all support services activities and deliverables, interface with government personnel, and resolve any quality issues that may arise. Using ISO 9001 principles, CMS’s QCP processes are integrated not only at the contract level, but throughout all aspects of our organization; from financial matters to HR, from operational procedures to Business Development, we use QCP processes to measure performance. We use our QCP in order to enhance the value of our organization and our services, and most importantly, to guarantee that we provide consistent and quality service that meets and exceeds our customer requirements.

Within CMS’s organizational structure, ALL employees are responsible for quality control. However, at the Corporate level CMS’s President, Amy Przymuzala, is responsible for all matters involving quality. Ms. Przymuzala is responsible for the overall quality of the entire organization and will act in a supportive role to the SEAPORT-e PM monitoring contract performance, providing advice and ensuring that the appropriate corporate resources are available.

To ensure the superior delivery of our products and services, CMS incorporates our QCP as a required element in all our projects. We perform routine quality reviews and customer satisfaction surveys at key milestone dates as part of our in-process review schedule. All deliverables receive technical reviews by the CMS Corporate Quality Control Analyst that acts independently of GBS management team and reports directly to CMS’s President. CMS will perform our own trend analysis and integrated management assessment of our overall SEAPORT-e contract performance as a part of our Continuous Process Improvement focus and make these available to the government. The QCP will include a customer comment and complaint program with quantitative processing of results. All feedback will be identified and correction plans implemented.

CMS’s QCP has been a fundamental element on contracts managed by the company and through lessons learned and continuous improvement, the QCP has evolved over time. We have taken best management practices from our teaming partners on contracts and internally developed our own procedures to establish an effective process for ensuring performance. CMS’s QCP will be utilized for the Task Orders of the GBS contract within our Total Performance Management process.

The QCP will assure compliance with established quality standards, and will continuously strive to improve on processes and procedures to improve the level of services and deliverables provided. CMS’s QCP is based upon ISO 9001 standards and tenets based upon the rigorous documentation and quality processes of the system. We have a cohesive approach to our quality program and constantly implement new industry best practices, a philosophy which years ago led to our adoption of ISO standards. Our ISO approach does not simply inspect for errors; it measures performance against a standard, thereby enabling us to control processes and make continual improvements. Data-driven quality control applies to our work, program management, quality and the timely performance of our subcontractors.

The CMS QCP will be tailored to the specific needs of each Task Order as identified in the PWS requirements and utilize Quality Control tools (e.g. sampling procedures, levels of surveillance, sample size, discrepancy reports, etc.) commensurate with those requirements. Direct and immediate customer feedback using surveys, inspections, and production analyses provide metrics enabling CMS to measure not only the level of performance, but to develop and document trends over time.

Quality Training

Quality training is the foundation for the success of the QCP. As such, quality training will be an ongoing activity conducted by the CMS PM, MANCON PM, AFSC PM, Team CMS Regional Managers, and the Corporate Quality Control Analyst. MANCON’s and AFSC’s PM and Regional Managers will also participate in Quality Control training. All personnel will take part in a formal quality training program designed to educate personnel in CMS’s overall approach to quality control as well as specific requirements applicable to each individual’s support function.

Within the first week of employment with Team CMS, new personnel will be briefed by the Regional Manager in quality expectations and will be introduced to the QCP and the government’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Program (QASP). Personnel will be tasked with becoming familiar with the QCP and QASP, and more specifically, in the quality requirements applicable to their job function. The Regional Manager will query employees to ensure a full understanding of quality requirements.

All existing personnel will take part in ongoing quality training activities designed to ensure knowledge of, and conformance with the quality standards specific to the SEAPORT-e Task Order on which they are performing. Components of this training will include

• Familiarization with the Government’s QASP and CMS’s QCP
• Quality Standards applicable to job function
• Surveillance methods
• Continuous process improvement
• Quality records

This training will intensify as Task Order requirements are changed or modified, as process improvements that affect quality and performance take place, and as deficiencies in quality performance are identified. Quality training will be conducted and records of training will be maintained by the CMS PM.

Tracking Performance

Team CMS Regional Managers will be the focal point for our quality program on a day-to-day operational basis, reviewing performance of all Task Order activities. The CMS PM will monitor all quality initiatives on a continuous basis and maintain management oversight on every corrective action within the program, from the initial formulation of the corrective action to the final successful resolution and documentation of that corrective action. CMS’s President will establish policies and procedures governing the QCP, review all QCP reports to ensure performance expectations are being achieved, receive information and input from the CMS Quality Control Analyst, and lead the QCP for the GBS contract. As part of the QCP, CMS will perform the following quality control activities defined in Table 2.

Ability to Resolve Performance Issues Using the QCP

The QCP provides an objective standard by which performance can be measured. This objective standard not only allows the managers to evaluate staff performance, but also provides the information to each individual performing on the contract. The PWS of Task Orders includes Performance Requirement Standards with specific Performance Standards and Acceptable Quality Levels (AQL) that Team CMS at a minimum must achieve on each engagement. These standards will form the base metrics for CMS’s QCP. Within the QCP, when the level of quality of services or deliverables does not fall within the stated AQL, it is recognized that quality defects result. The occurrence of defects over the QCP defined performance period is the basis for establishing Observed Defect Rates (ODR). This information will be used to measure quality performance and as necessary take action to resolve performance issues. If the ODR exceeds the AQL, action is warranted under the direction of Team CMS’s SEAPORT-e management team, which initially can include the increased level of surveillance and inspection, additional training and/or counseling, and process investigation. Should the ODR continue to exceed the AQL after initial remedies have been implemented and/or explored, additional action will be taken as necessary.

CMS’s QCP will be applied to all Performance Requirements at the individual Task Order level. In the establishment of performance metrics, CMS will review the objective for each individual task and the actions necessary to achieve goals. This process review will provide a means to evaluate each individual so they know the quality of their work.