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Kingfisher Systems, Inc.
Quality Assurance Plan
1. INTRODUCTION: Kingfisher Systems, Inc. has invested in the people, the tools, and the procedures necessary to execute an effective, sustainable and practical Quality Assurance Plan. Our procedures are based upon and comply with ISO 9001 guidelines. Our QA approach significantly reduces business risk for our clients. This is a direct result of our unconditional corporate buy-in and the commitment of our staff. Our investment in implementing the plan and improving the skill levels and quality performance of our staff members translates into a direct advantage to the government. This is a mutual advantage. Kingfisher is aware that government agencies will soon begin to track and to share information on contractor performance, from small task orders to major programs. In a performance-based world, QA is an inescapable precondition for success. Our habitual emphasis on QA will allow us to build upon our record for high performance as we serve our clients. Our Plan requires each and every one to assure the systematic implementation, achievement, and verification of the goals and procedures to ensure continuous process improvement.
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2. BACKGROUND: The Government has signaled its unmistakable preference for Performance Based Contracting (FAR Part 37.6, Update May 2001) and Quality Assurance (QA) is an integral part of that methodology. Kingfisher Systems adopted quality assurance as a corporate standard at its inception. Kingfisher Systems employs the same proven quality assurance philosophy since its inception in 2005. Our approach requires that we provide an environment conducive to achievement of our QA goals at all levels of management, across all functional areas, and among all our employees; it is our standard business practice, not an add-on. Kingfisher Systems builds quality assurance into each element of the work breakdown structure. As those elements flow into deliverables, they are systematically measured against performance criteria established by the project’s QA plan.
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3.RESPONSIBILITIES: The Quality Assurance Plan is implemented as an integral component of the Kingfisher infrastructure and is inherent in our corporate culture. As depicted in Figure (1), our Quality Assurance Chain of Command commences with the CEO of Kingfisher Systems and extends through all levels of the corporation, with responsibility for performance and product quality vested in all employees. Corporate authority for implementation, maintenance, promulgation and enforcement of Quality Assurance Plans and Processes is exercised by the Corporate Quality Assurance Manager. The CEO and President of Kingfisher Systems maintain oversight of the QA function to assure that the prerogatives and directives of the QA Manager are adhered to within the context of this QA Plan. The requirements of this plan extends to and will be imposed on all subcontractors and consultants in the employ of Kingfisher Systems. The QA Manager is our primary Point of Contact for Quality Assurance, and is responsible for implementation and maintenance of this Quality Assurance Plan. Specific individual responsibilities will be published under separate cover.
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Figure (1) Kingfisher Systems QA Chain of Command |
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4. PROCESS: The Quality Assurance process and related procedures incorporated in our Plan follows traditional QA approaches within our industry, and are generically designed for flexibility and tailoring to specific customer contract requirements for services, software or hardware.
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| 4.1 Kingfisher Systems Quality Assurance Process. The basic components of the Kingfisher Systems Quality Assurance Process are depicted notionally in Figure (2). For the sake of clarity, feedback loops are minimized. |
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* Including but not limited to special considerations such as Multiple Task Order requirements, Avoiding Conflicts of Interest, and meeting customers' Urgent, Surge and Unexpected Requirements. |
Figure (2) Kingfisher Systems Quality Assurance Process
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4.2 PROMULGATION, IMPLEMENTATION AND MAINTENANCE. The Generic QA plan is the responsibility of The Kingfisher Systems Quality Assurance Manager. Issues or changes requested or required to the Generic QA Plan must be brought to the attention of the Corporate QA Manager for consideration and disposition. Implementation, maintenance and promulgation of Specific QA Plans is the responsibility of the cognizant Director, Program Manager or Task Manager, as appropriate.
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| 4.3 TRAINING, MENTORING AND COACHING: Maintaining a Corporate Culture dedicated to Quality Assurance requires that each and every employee understand our commitment to Quality Assurance as espoused in our QA Plan, and aspire to the highest levels of quality in our products and services. Scheduled Quality Assurance training sessions, discussions and working groups are conducted to expand awareness of Quality Assurance requirements and to introduce new and innovative ways of improving our performance. We regularly sponsor our employees’ attendance at formal training courses and seminars to bring us the latest Quality Assurance concepts applicable to our processes and our customers’ needs. We provide these opportunities at no direct cost to our clients. New employees or employees requiring reinforcement of Quality Assurance Standards will be assigned a senior mentor to guide and instill the principles of our Quality Assurance Principles and QA Plan. In specific instances where employee QA performance is not up to standards, a senior staff member will be assigned to provide coaching to resolve deficiencies and prevent issues from becoming problems. |
| 4.4 UNDERSTANDING CUSTOMER REQUIREMENTS: Understanding Customer Requirements is of key importance; it provides the necessary foundation for the achievement of our Quality Assurance plan. Foremost we must assure that we are fully aware and understand all of our customers' contractual, schedule, cost and technical performance requirements, and the guiding specifications and technologies that drive our performance and products. Our staff members are afforded opportunities to attend professional training in a number of engineering and support disciplines that enhance their ability to understand customer requirements and refresh their understanding of changes in technology and its application. Additionally, it is important that our company’s internal operating processes and tools are understood and properly utilized in our day-to-day efforts. We have dedicated ourselves to assuring that all of our employees are trained and understand all aspects of job performance through training, monitoring and mentoring of our staff for the achievement of the mutual Quality Assurance goals of our company and customers. We will continuously evaluate our understanding of customer requirements to maintain our responsiveness to special considerations, including but not limited to the following: |
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Quality Assurance over multiple Task Orders: Methods in place at Kingfisher will assure the uniform implementation of our Quality Assurance Plan over multiple Task Orders. Our Managers will continue to cross-pollinate the quality requirements, as well as the methods for meeting them, across all taskings and all personnel. By assigning those managers and staff members who have demonstrated a consistent professional commitment to our quality goals, Kingfisher will assure the continuation of high quality performance by our team in meeting the government’s needs as new tasks arise. |
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Avoiding Organizational Conflicts to Assure Quality Assurance: Kingfisher Systems will rigorously and swiftly address all conflicts of interest internal to our support organization that might impact the quality of our performance on work. With the experience, resources, commitment and support, we will ensure that conflicts of interest that may arise through our involvement with various government or commercial agencies either do not occur or, once identified, are quickly resolved. We are committed to conform to FAR Regulations (Part 3- Improper Business Practices and Personal Conflicts of Interest). Our contracting support personnel are trained to discern the presence of such conflicts and to propose effective remedies. |
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Meeting Urgent Requirements. Kingfisher Systems employs a Quick Reaction Capability (QRC) approach to executing urgent work orders. This QRC technique allows for an early start of urgent tasks and rapid ramp-up in response to a client’s unanticipated schedules or a change of policy. Staff resources at the corporate office and the expedited procedures necessary to rapid deployment are at the disposal of the Program and Project Managers who must respond to the client’s new requirements. These managers are trained to compress the QA process into restricted timeframes assuring both quality and timely delivery. Kingfisher Systems maintains a highly experienced technical staff that can be mobilized for a sure response to urgent and surge requirements, and still maintain responsiveness to our QA Plan. Project managers and task leaders are trained to involve officers at the highest levels of management in such circumstances to assure that the full measure of corporate resources are placed at the disposal of the client. |
| 4.5 FOUR STEP PROCESS: Kingfisher’s engineering performance follows a five-level process applicable to both product development and delivery of services. |
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1. Once Task Managers or Project Managers have gained an understanding of customer requirements, it is their responsibility to provide Quality Assurance direction and leadership to our Engineers to assure that they understand all of the performance requirements of their effort and that they are following appropriate Quality Assurance procedures. |
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2. The Kingfisher Program Manager for each Contract or Task Order will ensure that Task Managers or Project Managers who execute our contractual obligations have the experience, the authority, and the responsibility to exercise technical oversight, monitor technical progress, and conduct a final Quality Assurance review of all products and deliverables. The managers and project leaders are regularly evaluated; their compensation is commensurate with their performance on each and all of these tasks. |
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3. Issues discovered requiring actions are surfaced immediately for resolution at appropriate levels of the organization. The CEO will assure that Division Managers, Operations Center Managers, Program Managers and Task leaders are provided with the necessary resources to maintain the highest standards in support of our Quality Assurance Plan. |
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4. For all engineering efforts, Kingfisher adopts QA surveillance plans that provide written procedures for the assessment of contractor performance against the applicable standards. These plans will use methods that require a minimal use of government resources with no disruption of contractor operations. Among the methods available are random surveys of customers or end-users and controlled sampling of system logs to assess reliability. All such plans will conform to the Inspection of Services Clauses (52.246-4 FFP, 52.246-5 CR). |
4.6 QUALITY BENCHMARKS AND REVIEWS. Specific QA Plans will reflect customer product and services performance benchmarks in areas including cost, schedule, technical and program management requirements. Metrics will be gathered relative to each of these Quality Assurance performance benchmarks. The results of our findings will be scheduled and reviewed internally and with our customers. Indication of the need for remedial action will result in an immediate response by Kingfisher and will be reported to the customer. A continuing process of status reporting and formal reviews will be conducted throughout each period of performance. |
| 4.7 METRICS. A metrics plan will be developed and implemented in support of each Specific Quality Assurance Plan. Detailed metric data gathering will be conducted as indicated in section 4.7 and statistical charts will be maintained to identify trends, reflect performance, and highlight issues for resolution and problem avoidance. These metric status reports will be discussed at periodic customer reviews and on an ad-hoc basis as urgency requires. |
| 4.8 PROBLEM AVOIDANCE. A Problem Avoidance Plan will be developed to support each specific Quality Assurance Plan. In addition to the Reporting and Metrics discussed earlier, the Problem Avoidance Plan will identify critical product and service points of contact at Kingfisher Systems (including subcontractors and consultants as appropriate), and related interfaces and points of contact in the customer's organization. |
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