QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

IEA uses internal quality processes of ISO 9001:2008 and PMBOK® as part of our standard operating procedures to maintain consistent quality across all of our contracts and task orders.

Quality Assurance is of paramount importance and enables us to meet or exceed performance standards and acceptable quality levels. IEA has extensive experience managing quality programs using customer FAM, FAH, and Quality Assurance Surveillance Plans (QASP), and we are compliant with industry best standards, including ISO 9001:2008 Quality Systems and FAH-5 H-200 Project Management. These guidelines set the framework for analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and continuous improvement activities by task order. Each task order has a quality control plan (QCP) to ensure our staff efficiently meets service expectations.

IEA continually seeks improvement in the delivery of its services to customers. We systematically monitor, evaluate, assess risk, and recommend preventative and corrective actions to ensure we sustain customer satisfaction. Our Team believes the responsibility for quality rests with all service delivery stakeholders. For instance, our corporate quality policy states that all personnel who manage, perform, or verify work related to customer services share responsibility in ensuring those services are provided with quality.

Our QCP defines guidelines at the contract level. The Program Manager (PM) is responsible for setting the general guidelines that are appropriate for providing staffing services to customer guidelines, which are focused on performance management and service delivery. The guidelines include clear definition of the objectives for the task and the metrics for evaluating performance success. The PM monitors and reports the metrics, and executes required data gathering. This data is provided to the PM to monitor all inspections, audits, systems, and documentation.

IEA uses a proven foundation of establishing quality for a contract. As the scope of the task defines "what" is to be delivered during the course of the project, the QCP defines "how" the scope will be validated. The key elements of the QCP are as follows:

define the contractual requirements for quality so that they are understood and observed

define the appropriate requirements for quality

determine any consequent design, production, inspection, and documentation procedures and processes are mutually compatible

anticipate any special requirements for skills, training, environment, tools, or test equipment in the future implementation of the quality plan

The QCP defines procedures, codes of practice, and standards to be applied during the contract. IEA documents the specific QCP at task start. Figure is a sample baseline QCP documenting acceptable quality levels for a staffing contract. This sample plan is a starting point for each task. At task initiation, the PM collaborates with the customer to create a specific task order quality plan, expectations for performance, and the approach for monitoring and tracking quality indicators.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

Figure 1. Quality Control Plan – A strong QCP outlines performance expectations in accordance with task order requirements and provides the means to monitor and track quality indicators.

METHODS AND PROCEDURES FOR QUALITY MONITORING AND TRACKING

IEA uses five primary methods for gathering the data required for monitoring and tracking. Each of these methods is executed under the guidance of PM and may include additional management staff to acquire data and review results. They include:

1. Physical Observation: PM captures data about onsite operations by interviewing staff and observing deficiencies.

2. Processes and Procedures: Internal quality assurance (QA) auditors review existing processes and procedures to assess compliance.

3. Work Product Reviews: Work product reviews are conducted as peer or management reviews. As appropriate, management performs technical reviews, walkthroughs, design reviews, and testing to ensure deliverables meet requirements.

4. Staffing Management Documents: PM reviews status reports and logs to determine if goals and deliverables of the project are being met and interviews the customer to determine overall satisfaction with the work product.

5. Feedback: PM reviews all feedback provided by the CO, COR, Government supervisor, and professional service employees. Deficiencies and issues are evaluated for corrective or preventive action, presented in an audit report, and integrated into employee and process improvement.

QUALITY ASSURANCE PROGRAM

Our QC processes involve monitoring contract performance and recommending corrective and preventive actions to ensure customer satisfaction. Our VETS GWAC Team takes a proactive approach to quality control by focusing on communication, prevention, and continuous improvement activities. Specifically, our PM and quality support staff systematically record, monitor, analyze, and report on key customer experience indicators as a byproduct of our monitoring and evaluation of quality metrics.

CORRECTING SERVICE DEFICIENCIES AND PREVENTING

RECURRENCE

IEA's personnel understand our quality policy and objectives, and they ensure the quality of their work. Our personnel are responsible for initiating action to identify and correct deficiencies in performance. The Corrective Preventive Action Request (CPAR) process enables employees to surface problems and issues for management attention. If a problem, deviation, or non-conforming product is identified at any level, the individual that identifies the problem notifies the PM by initiating a CPAR. The PM, with the support of our Quality experts, has the responsibility of processing and responding to the QA Deficiency Report.

Figure shows the process flow map for the IEA's standard ISO-compliant corrective action process. Major steps in this process are the identification of the problem or issue using the CPAR form; the assessment of the legitimacy of the problem, root cause analysis, and the formulation of a corrective action strategy; execution of this strategy; and explicit determination of the effectiveness of the corrective action. Full documentation is provided at each step of the process by progressively completing each section of the CPAR. When the corrective action is completed and properly closed, the CPAR becomes part of the permanent quality performance record. Our preventive action process is identical in all respects except that it does not include a root-cause analysis activity.

Figure 2. Corrective Action Process – IEA recognizes the need for responsive resolution to problems as soon as they occur.