VRC Approach to Quality Assurance

VRC Inc.has and will provide outstanding quality Technical, and Programmatic support services while maximizing innovation and cost reduction initiatives on all assigned task Orders. VRC’s approach to integrating professional support services within and across the Virtual SYSCOM is to institute best practices throughout and realize cost savings.

VRC Inc (VRC) is an 8(a) Women Owned, Minority and Disabled Veteran Owned small business dedicated to providing strategic planning, system analysis and management support to the Federal Government. The company’s senior staff are retired military personnel with life long experience in providing management support to the Army National Guard, Homeland Security and the Defense Department. The owner and founder of VRC Inc., is Ms. Awilda Velez-Rodriguez. Ms Velez-Rodriguez has spent over 30 years in the military, first as a soldier, then a senior NCO, a consultant and now as the President of a defense consulting company. Based on VRC’s past performance with NPS CHDS, we understand the issues facing Navy clients and the need for qualified professionals in support of contract supported programs.

VRC’s President, Ms Velez-Rodriguez, heads a very experienced management team. Her military experience and the experience she has gained working with other Defense Department and Homeland Security clients gives her a unique background for managing this company wide effort. VRC’s executive staff has vast experience in government work as well as corporate experience in successful management of contract of the same size and scope of the SEAPORT requirement.

(1)The benefit of working directly for senior leadership is to understand quickly what their priorities are and change direction as required to support those initiatives.

(2)VRC has a dynamic staff,whichhas gained valuable experience while supportingthe Naval Post-Graduate School (NPS) and the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) leadership and the Homeland Security Digital Library as a prime contractor. The only way to keep the staff small, functional, and efficient is to cross train and ensure team members are multi-functional. The effective process for multi-functional teams is experience with the task at hand, working together as a flexible team, and delivering a high quality product.

  1. VRC has access to experienced staff and sub-contractors that have had numerous years of experience delivering high-quality products to senior Navy leadership. The relationships that have evolved over the years of support to NPS ensure quality staff is always available to deliver products when required.
  1. Capability to manage the effort.

The team assembled has numerous years working with each other. The team is highly functional. VRC has been flexible to deliver quality products in the past and will use the same management techniques in the future to ensure a consistent quality product. The primary focus is listening to the Voice of the Customer and providing what they ask for. In order to support SEAPORT with the most efficient management structure, Mr. Robert Vaughan, VRC Inc., Senior Manager, will have Executive Oversight responsibility for this contract and lead the quality oversight requirement. Bob has vast experience within the Government and has been administering government contracts for the last ten years. He has extensive knowledge and proven expertise in managing multi-task order contracts. In addition to Bob, our sub-contracting partner is assigning Mr. Edward Livingston with Executive Oversight responsibility for MPSC.

  • Plans and implements program services and activities in accordance with the program goals and objectives, and supervise the day-to-day delivery of the contract.
  • Interfaces with internal and external agencies to ensure program integration with critical organizations upon direction.
  • Oversees life-cycle management of the contract employees which includes: hiring, supervision, initial training, systematic refresher training, professional development and sustainment, mentoring, quality control, deficiency identification and resolution, reporting, tracking and follow-up, transition and timely replacement of contractors in coordination with SEAPORT POC.
  • Ensures resolution of issues, concerns, and problems raised though VRC’s risk management and mitigation plan.
  • Collects and analyzes program data and participates in evaluating program effectiveness; identifies problems and makes changes; with prescribed guidelines, or recommends major changes to our support.
  • Compiles information, develops report requirements and reporting processes to: supply analytical data to SEAPORT POCs as required, identify systematic problems for resolution and track progress.
  • Serves as a resource to the contract employees on matters relating to program policies, procedures and activities.

The Program Manager will afford Navy task orders holders with a knowledgeable point of contact with thorough understanding of the scope, deliverables, and management /administrative requirements of the contract.

VRC understands that stability of the work force employed within this contract is the key to consistently exceeding all government requirements. To maintain this uniquely qualified team, VRC ensures that we provide a highly competitive salary and benefit package. This package is consistent with salary levels paid nationally requiring the same scope of work today, and will allow us to maintain program continuity delivering the highest standard of work while retaining and attracting qualified employees.

Each member of the VRC support team has seen change and they are adept at change with it. New requirements from the customer come down often and we change quickly to meet the need.

We consider every employee ‘key’ personnel. Every position required to execute specific tasks that, when added with other positions, assist in overall organizational success. We also know that former incumbent staff can be a valuable addition to the contract team. We will closely analyze the former staff and strongly pursue the key performers. Our overall staffing plan includes the following imperatives:

Attracting high-quality personnel and motivating employees to produce high quality work.

Combining skills in the right mixture to achieve optimum skill utilization.

Time-phased work and real-time rescheduling of work to meet changing requirements.

Evaluating progress and making corrections to ensure adherence to performance requirements.

Adopting new procedures and method as they become available, with a focus on employee suggestions/input to enhance effectiveness.

Keep employees well trained and updated in their skills.

Provide management attention and control.

In the case when a vacancy arises, we will utilize a number of sources to identify potential employees—referrals, contacts within government agencies, local and national advertising, and others.

Maximize Quality

Most of the staff has numerous year of experience in delivering quality products. To ensure the quality is maintained a review process is in place that another team member must review the product before delivery and a healthy discussion concerning the content takes place. Even when the team member reviewing the product is junior, his or her comments are reviewed, discussed, and final resolution is reached. In addition, we add task and management requirement critical to execution of the contract, which results in all the quality expectations being understood by al prior to starting a project.

Each team member is attuned to customer requirements. Most of the staff have daily interface with their customers. If there are any issues or concerns, they are discussed and corrective action is taken to resolve issues promptly. We will exceedthe Navy’s requirements by utilizing our time-tested processes. We have an efficient and effective system to manage all aspects of a professional services contract that include the technical, administrative, clerical, and overall management of the contract. This process, coupled with a proactive quality control plan, assures all elements of the contract are managed and completed in a successful manner.

Upon notification of contract award from SEAPORT, we will immediately schedule a kick-off meeting with the Task representative. At that time, we will review specific staffing requirements, time schedules, milestones, reporting and meeting requirements, and government requirements to successfully fulfill all aspects of the contract (deliverables).

After the initial Kick-off meeting we will continue to the remainder of our process actions. The key to success is proper staffing. We conduct a thorough review of each position to determine the: knowledge, experience, and skills required for the position; supervisory controls associated with the position; guidelines available for the execution of the work of the position; complexity of the work; scope and effect of the position, and level and purpose interaction with other parties.

Determining the specific functional requirements for each position is important for a number of reasons. The most critical aspect of employee job satisfaction is, as studies have shown, job performance. Employees who perform well are satisfied employees—and satisfied employees tend to produce more. Our attention to this element is central to our core function, and our success. Successful job performance depends on how we answer this question “Is this the right person for the job?”

Problem Resolution

Most problems occur because of lack of management of expectations. When a new job is undertaken, the deliverables and process to get to the final product are clearly defined and time lines are established. If the planning time line was off or new requirements are introduced, a meeting is quickly requested to discuss the new requirements or schedule to deliver to meet the customer requirements

VRC’s Senior Staff will meet and review all contract deliverables with the Program Manager. The intent is to ensure contract deliverables and standards are being achieved as set forth by the customer. Mr. Bob Vaughan is the quality project leader for the SEAPORT contract and is responsible for:

  • Ensuring that comprehensive quality targets are defined for each deliverable
  • Implementing QA methods to assure the quality of deliverables
  • Recording and tracking the level of quality achieved in the quality targets
  • Identifying quality deviations and improvement actions for implementation
  • Reporting quality status to SEAPORT e task managers

Summary: VRC’s leadership establishes a corporate climate focused on quality and performance. They accomplish this by (1) setting the example, (2) demanding quality be the core of performance planning and execution, (3) establish policies and procedures to ensure quality is incorporated and integrated into every aspect of the business, (4) systematically review and evaluate quality programs for effectiveness, (5) provide resources to ensure quality is achieved, and (6) enhance quality achieved at every opportunity and exploit lessons learned across all contracts. .

The management approach was developed by VRC Inc. Team.

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