Faculty of engineering .

Structural engineering program

Quality control basics and systems.

Published by: Mohamed Mahmoud Hashim

Mohamed Salah Hamed
Moemen Negm El Den
 Index:
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………..4

Abstract..…………………………………………………………………………………………5

Brief history about QC\QA………………………………………………………………..6

Standards and specification………………………………………………………………8

Importance of standards and specifications…………………….………………10

QC\QA in construction field…………………………………………………………….10

Stages of QC……………………………………………………………………………………12

Universal QC\QA systems……………………………………………………………….14

Universal QMS systems ………………………………………………………………….15

Inputs of quality plan………………………………………………………………………17

Outputs of quality plan……………………………………………………………………32

Benefits of QMS………………………………………………………………………………33

ISO………………………………………………………………………………………………….34

ANSI………………………………………………………………………………………………..35

ASRM………………………………………………………………………………………………35

BSI…………………………………………………………………………………………………..36

6 SIGMA………………………………………………………………………………………....37

2
References ………………………………………………………………………………..……48

List of figures:
fig 1: QC hierarchy ………………………………………………………………………..12

fig 2: quality phases………………………………………………………………………16

fig 3: control chart…………………………………………………………………………20

fig 4: flow chart…………………………………………………………………………….21

fig 5: cause and effect diagram……………………………………………………..27

fig 6: histogram……………………………………………………………………………..28

fig 7: pareto diagram…………………………………………………………………….29

fig 8: run chart………………………………………………………………………………30

fig 9: scatter diagram…………………………………………………………………….31

fig 10: defect per each sigma level………………………………………………….37

fig 11: DMAIC cycle…………………………………………………………………………38

fig 12: control chart…………………………………………………………………………41

fig13: DMADV………………………………………………………………………………….43

fig 14: Motorola 6 sigma concept…………………………………………………….47

3
Introduction:
Quality is one of the main important aspects that are used to
assess cost and efficiency of any product, but in civil engineering
field, quality deals with safety of a structure and serviceability, so
it was necessary to ensure that any structure is at an acceptable
level of quality. And in order to do that, a new science called
Quality control was introduced. And in order to manage quality
effectively, it should be understood clearly.
Quality control, or QC for short, is a process by which entities
review the quality of all factors involved in production. And it’s
done during the production (construction) process by the
contractor’s engineers to make sure of the quality of the work.
Quality assurance (QA) refers to the planned and systematic
activities implemented in a quality system so that quality
requirements for a product or service will be fulfilled. It is the
systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring
of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error
prevention, it’s usually made after the construction process is over
by a non biased party.

4
 Abstract:
Mainly, the concept of quality control is applying a system of routine
technical activities to measure and control activities.
In this publication you will find two main tracks of discussion, the
quality control procedures in construction field, and also you will
find its procedures in project management field in scale of planning,
execution, and control.
Also you will find a brief about types of sources of specifications.
Also the methodology of six sigma which is mainly used to optimize
the quality of production.

5
Brief history about quality control and quality assurance:

6
7
Standards and specifications:
It’s hard to imagine achieving quality without standards, the
American Webster dictionary defines standards as a basis of
comparison, a criterion and measure, a standard is also something
that is established by authority, custom or general consent as a
model or example to be followed, it is also something established
for use as a rule or basis of comparison in measuring or judging
capacity, quantity, content, extent, value, quality, ect…
According to ISO (international standardization organization),
standards are documented agreements containing specifications or
other precise criteria to be used consistently as rules, guidelines, or
definitions of characteristics, to ensure that materials, products,
processes and services are fit for their purpose. A standard is a
detailed statement of requirements.

The primary types of technical standards are:

A standard specification is an explicit set of requirements for an
item, material, component, system or service. It is often used to
formalize the technical aspects of a procurement agreement or
contract. For example, there may be a specification for a turbine
blade for a jet engine which defines the exact material and
performance requirements.

8
A standard test method describes a definitive procedure which
produces a test result. It may involve making a careful personal
observation or conducting a highly technical measurement. For
example, a physical property of a material is often affected by the
precise method of testing: any reference to the property should
therefore reference the test method used.
A standard practice or procedure gives a set of instructions for
performing operations or functions. For example, there are
detailed standard operating procedures for operation of a nuclear
power plant.
A standard guide is general information or options which do not
require a specific course of action.
A standard definition is formally established terminology.
Standard units, in physics and applied mathematics, are commonly
accepted measurements of physical quantities.
And when it comes to specifications there are mainly two types:
Performance Specifications and design Specifications.
- Performance based specifications focus on outcomes or results
rather than process, and the required goods and services
rather than how the goods and services are produced, it allows
respondents to bring their own expertise, creativity and
resources to the bid process without restricting them to
predetermined methods or detailed processes.
9
 - Design specifications outline exactly how the
engineer/contractor must perform the service or how the
product is made.

Importance of specifications:
Presence of international standard specifications is very important
and vital nowadays due to the following reasons:
1- Standards facilitate communication and prevent
misunderstanding.
2- Standards make parts interchangeability possible and as a result,
mass production is possible.
3- Standards can be used in marketing strategy to promote
purchase of products that meet recognized requirements,
especially when conformance is backed by certification program.
4- Standards and specifications are important when the product is
manufactured in one country and exported worldwide as markets
became more global.

QC \ QA in construction field:
Quality Control (QC) is a system of routine technical activities, to
measure and control the quality of the inventory as it is being
developed.

10
The QC system is designed to:
(i) Provide routine and consistent checks to ensure data integrity,
correctness, and completeness;
(ii) Identify and address errors and omissions;
(iii) Document and archive inventory material and record all QC
activities.
QC activities include general methods such as accuracy checks on
data acquisition and calculations and the use of approved
standardized procedures for emission calculations, measurements,
estimating uncertainties, archiving information and reporting.
Higher tier QC activities include technical reviews of source
categories, activity and emission factor data, and methods.
Quality assurance is important in the engineering and construction
industry because of the risk involved in any project. The risk
involved in not completing the project on time is high, because
many external factors will affect the performance of the project. It
is vital that a built-in quality assurance system is developed to
avoid any inefficiency that could result in poor quality of products
and service being delivered to the customer. Everyone involved in
the engineering and construction business has, in different ways,
benefited from a common approach to quality work. Systematic
quality work reduces the costs of failure in one’s own work and in
the final product. The standards can make quality work more

11
 efficient by creating uniformity. A contractor’s in-house quality
assurance system is of utmost importance; it prevents problems
and their reoccurrence and allows his or her clients to relax. One of
these quality system standards is the ISO 9000 standard, which has
been adopted by a large number of countries around the world and
is applied in various industries including engineering and
construction.

Stages of QUALITY CONTROL:

Quality Control
Stages

technical Technical
Stuctural Design
inspection on inspection while
Revision
materials execution

processing and
ensuring concrete stages of technical
handiling of Before casting During casting After casting
materials inspection
specimen

pricipels of taking sources of taking handling product materials

ensuring source Primary Periodic out of site additional tests
specimens specimens specimens certification rejecting

Fig 1 : QC hierarchy

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1- Structural design inspection
2- Technical inspection on materials:
2.1- insuring concrete materials:
2.1.1- insuring source
2.1.2- product certification
2.1.3- materials acceptance or rejection
2.2- processing and handling of specimen:
2.2.1- sources of taking specimens.
2.2.2- principles of taking specimens.
2.2.3- handling specimens.
2.3- stages of technical inspection:
2.3.1- primary.
2.3.2- periodic.
2.3.3- out of site.
2.3.4- additional tests.
3- technical inspection while execution:

13
 3.1- before casting.
3.2- during casting. 3.3- after casting.

Universal QC\QA systems:

Quality systems involve internal and external aspects. An internal
quality system covers activities aimed at providing confidence to
the management of an organization that the intended quality is
being achieved. This is called a ‘‘quality management system.’’
Successful implementation of quality management systems can
contribute to an increase in product quality, improvements in
workmanship and efficiency, a decrease in wastage, and increased
profit.
An external quality system covers activities aimed at inspiring
confidence in the client that the supplier’s quality system will
provide a product or service that will satisfy the client’s quality
requirements.
This is called a ‘‘quality assurance system.’’ The quality
System can work effectively only when the top executive
responsible for engineering or production takes full responsibility
for interpretation and implementation of the quality assurance
program.

14
A contractor’s quality assurance system is very important to her/his
clients, who will gain confidence that ‘‘getting it right the first
time’’ will be the contractor’s norm.

The universal QMS systems:

A QMS can be defined as:
“A set of co-ordinated activities to direct and control an
organization in order to continually improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of its performance.”
These activities interact and are affected by being in the system, so
the isolation and study of each one in detail will not necessarily lead
to an understanding of the system as a whole.
The main thrust of a QMS is in defining the processes, which will
result in the production of quality products and services, rather
than in detecting defective products or services after they have
been produced.
Project quality management includes the processes and activities of
performing organization that determine quality policies, objectives,
and responsibilities so that the project will satisfy the need for
which it was undertaken. It implements quality management
system through policy and procedures with continuous process
improvement activities conducted through

15
 it consists of three main phases:

1-Plan 2-Quality 3-Quality

Quality Assurance Control

fig 2: quality phases.

These processes interact with each other and with all project
activities, each occurs at least one time during the project, its
applicable on any project, regardless to its nature, in this
publication, each phase will be presented in terms of inputs
needed, tools and techniques, and output.

1-Plan Quality:
Process of identifying quality requirements and/or standards for
project and product, and documenting how project will
demonstrate compliance. It should be performed in parallel with
other project planning processes.

16
 TOOLS AND OUTPUTS
INPUTS
TECHNIQUES
scope baseline • cost benifet analysis • quality management •
stackholders register • cost of quality • plan
cost performance • control charts • quality metrics •
baseline benchmarking • quality •
schedule baseline • design of expermints • checklistsprocess
risk register • improvement plan
statistical sampling •
entrprise • project document •
flowcharting •
environmenta factors updates
proprietary quality •
organizational process • •
management
assets methodologies
additional quality •
planning tools
•

Inputs of quality plan:

1-Scope baseline:
 Define project, major project deliverables, and acceptance
criteria
 Contain details of technical issues
 Define acceptance criteria with quality costs and needs of
customer

2-Stakeholders register:
Identifies stakeholders interests and their impact on quality

3-Cost performance baseline:

document accepted time phases to measure performance.
4-Schedule baseline:
document accepted schedule performance measure including
start and finish dates.

17
5-Risk register:
Threats and opportunities that may impact quality requirements.
6-Enterprise environmental factors:
 Governmental agency relations.
 Rules, standards, and guidelines.
 Working / operating conditions that may affect quality.

7-Organizational process assets:

 Organizational quality policies, procedures and
guidelines.
 Historical database.
 Previous experience learned.

Tools and techniques of Quality Plan:

1-Cost benefit analysis:
comparing cost of quality to expected benefits.
2-Cost of quality:
Includes all costs incurred over the life of the product by
investment in preventing non conformance to requirements,
appraising product quality to conform to requirements.

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 cost of Cost of non-
conformance conformance
any costs expent to avoid failures
Costs expent because of failures

trainig costs
Rework costs
Equipments

Time to do it right Waranty work

Testing
Lost in business
Destructive testing loss

fees of high technology consaltants

Inspection

3-Control charts:

 Charts used to monitor various types of quality variables.

 Reflect minimum and maximum values allowed.
 It contain two types of limits:
- Upper and lower specification limits: maximum and minimum
values allowed
- Upper and lower control limits: limits set by Project
management team and stakeholders reflect point of
corrective actions.

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 Fig 3: control chart.
4-Benchmarking:
Comparing actual or planned practices to those of comparable
projects to identify best practices.

5-Design of Experiments:
Statistical method for which factors may influence specific
variables of a product or a service. It should be done in planning
20
 phase to determine number of tests and their impact on
quality.

6-Statistical sampling:
Choosing part of population interest for inspection.
7-Flowcharting:
 A graphical representation of process showing relationships
among process steps.
 It must show activities, decision points, and order of processes.

Fig 4: flow chart.

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8-Properiatory Quality Management methodologies:
 Which include six sigma, lean six sigma, quality function
development, CCMI etc.
 in the last chapter, six sigma methodology was chosen to be
presented clearly.
9-Additional quality plan tools:
 Brainstorming
 Affinity diagrams
 Force field analysis
 Nominal group techniques
Outputs of plan quality:
1-Quality management plan:
Describes how project management team will implement the
organization quality policy.

2-Quality metrics:
Operational definition that describes project attribute and how
quality control process will measure it.

3-Quality checklist:
a structured tool, used to verify steps has been performed.

4-Process improvement plan:

Details the steps for analyzing process to identify activities which
enhance their values area to consider.

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 2-Perform Quality Assurance

Process of auditing quality requirements and the results of quality

control measurements to ensure appropriate quality standards.
Tools and
Input Output
Techniques
• project • plan quality • organizational
management perform quality process assets
plan control tools and updates
• quality metrics techniques • change requests
• work • quality audits • project
performance • process analysis management
informations plan updates
• quality control • project
measurments document
updates

Inputs of quality assurance performance:

1-Project management plan: discussed in outputs of plan quality.

2-Quality metrics: discussed in outputs of plan quality.

3-Work performance information:

 Technical performance measure
 Project deliverables status
 Schedule process
 Costs incurred

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4-Quality control measurements:
Are results of quality control activities. They are used to analyze
and evaluate quality standards.

Tools and techniques of quality assurance:

1-Plan quality & perform quality control tools and techniques:
Discussed in plan quality tools and techniques and the section
related to quality control tools and techniques will be discussed
in the upcoming papers
2-Quality Audits:
A structured independent review to determine whether project
activities comply with organization and project policies
 Identify good/best practices
 Identify gabs/shortcomings
 Offer assistance, raise productivity
 Highlights contributions of each audit
3-Process analysis:
 Indentify needed improvements
 Examines problems experienced, constrains and non-value
added activities during process

Outputs of quality assurance:

1-Organizational process assets updates:
Elements organizational process assets that may be updated

24
 but are not limited to quality standards.

2-Change requests:
taking actions to increase effectiveness or efficiency of the
policies.

3-Project Management plan updates:

 Quality management plan
 Schedule management plan
 Cost management plan

4-Project management updates:

 Quality audit reports
 Training plans
 Process documentation

3-Quality Control

It is the process of monitoring and recording results of executing

quality activities to asses performance and recommend
necessary changes.

Team should have a working knowledge of statistical quality

control, especially sampling and probability. They must know
the difference between the following pairs of terms:
 Prevention "keeping errors out of process" and inspection
"keeping errors out of hands of customer"

25
  Attribute sampling "the results conform or not" and variables
sampling "the result is rated on continuous scale that
measures degree of conformity"
 Tolerance "specified range of acceptable results" and control
limits "which can indicate whether the process is out of
control"

quality control
Input Tools and techniques
measurments
• Project managemnt • cause and effect • Validated changes
plan diagrams • Validated
• Quality metrics • controlcharts deliverables
• Quality checklists • flowcharting • organizational
• Workperformance • histogram process assets
measurments • pareto chart updates
• approved change • runn chart • Change requests
requests • scatter diagram • Project
• deliverables management plan
• statistical sampling
• organizational updates
• inspection
process Assets • Project document
• approved change updates
requests review

Input of Quality Control:

1- Project management plan: discussed in output of plan quality
2- Quality metrics: discussed in outputs of plan quality
3- Quality checklists: discussed in outputs of plan quality
4- Work performance measurements: a comparison between
the following:
 Planned versus actual technical performance
 Planned versus schedule performance

26
  Planned versus actual cost performance
5- Approved change requests: discussed in outputs of quality
assurance
6- Deliverables:
some of the change requests are approved, some are not. It
may include modifications such as defect repair, revised work
methods and revised schedules.
7- Organizational process assets:
 Quality standards and policies.
 Standard work guidelines
 Issue and defect reporting procedures and
communication policies.

Tools and techniques of quality control:

1-Causes and effect diagrams:

diagrams used to illustrate how various factors may be
linked to potential problems or effects

Fig 5: cause and effect diagram.

27
2-Control charts: discussed in tools and techniques of quality plan.
3-flowcharts: discussed in tools and techniques of plan quality.
4-histograms:
 A vertical par chart that shows how often a variable state can
occur
 Columns represent attributes, nd column height represent
frequency
 Helps to illustrate common causes of a problem in state of
frequency
causes of setting delay
6

0
inaccurate W/C ratio Inaccurate plasticizer content ambitious conditions

Fig 6: histogram
5-Pareto charts:
 A specific type of histogram shows frequency of occurrence.
 Shows how many defects generated by a type or category of
identified cause
 Rank ordering focus corrective actions

28
  Relatively small number of causes will typically produce majority
of problems or defects
 It refers to 80/20 principle "80% of problems are due to 20% of
causes"

Fig 7: pareto diagram.

6-Run chart:
A run chart is a line graph that shows data points plotted in the
order in which they occur.
Run charts show trends in a process over time, variation over time,
or declines or improvements in a process over time.
Trend analysis is performed using run charts and involves
mathematical techniques to forecast future outcomes based on
historical results.
Trend analysis is often used to monitor:

29
 - Technical performance: how many defects or errors have been
identified, and how many remain uncorrected?
- Cost and schedule performance: how many activities per period
were completed with significant variances?

Fig 8: run chart.

7-Scatter diagram:
A scatter diagram shows the relationship between two variables,
this tool allows the quality team to study and identify the
possible relationship between changes observed in two
variables.
The closer the points are to a Diagonal line, the more closely
they are related.

30
 Fig 9: scatter diagram.
8- Statistical sampling:
Samples are selected and tested as defined in the quality plan.
9- Inspection: an inspection is the examination of a work
product to determine whether it conforms to documented
standards. The result of an inspection generally includes
measurement and may be conducted at any level.
10- Approved change requests review: all approved requests
should be review to verify that they were implemented as
approved.

31
Outputs of quality control:

1-Quality control measurements:

Are documented results of quality control activities in the format
specified during quality planning
2-Validated changes:
Any changed or repaired items are inspected and will be either
accepted or rejected before notification of the decision is
provided. Rejected items may require rework.
3-Validated deliverables:
A goal of quality control is to determine the correctness of
deliverables. The result of execution of quality control processes
are validated deliverables which are an input to verify scope for
formalized acceptance.

4-Organizational process assets update:

 Completed checklists
 Lessons learned documentations
5-change requests:
If the recommended corrective or preventive actions or a
defect repair requires a change to the quality management
plan, a change request should be initiated in accordance with
the defined problem integrated change control.

6-project management plan updates:

Elements of the project management plan that may be
updated include, but not limited to:

32
  Quality management plan
 Process improvement plan

7-project document updates:

Project documents that may be updated include, but not limited
to, quality standards.

The benefits of a QMS:

A fully documented QMS will ensure that two important
requirements are met:
• The customers’ requirements – confidence in the ability of the
organisation to deliver the desired product and service
consistently meeting their needs and expectations.
• The organization’s requirements – both internally and
externally, and at an optimum cost with efficient use of the
available resources – materials, human, technology and
information.
These requirements can only be truly met if objective evidence is
provided, in the form of information and data, to support the
system activities, from the ultimate supplier to the ultimate
customer.
A QMS enables an organization to achieve the goals and objectives
set out in its policy and strategy. It provides consistency and
satisfaction in terms of methods, materials, equipment, etc, and
interacts with all activities of the organization, beginning with the
identification of customer requirements and ending with Their
satisfaction, at every transaction interface.

33
Management systems are needed in all areas of activity, whether
large or small businesses, manufacturing, service or public sector.

A good QMS will:

• Set direction and meet customers’ expectations
• Improve process control
• Reduce wastage
• Lower costs
• Increase market share
• Facilitate training
• Involve staff
• Raise morale

There’s more than a quality system available worldwide but the

most known systems are provided by:
ISO, ANSI, 6 SIGMA.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

ISO is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO
member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards
is carried out through ISO technical committees, in liaison with
international organizations, governmental and non-governmental

34
 bodies. ISO’s most recent family of standards for quality
management systems are currently in their final draft (FDIS)
form, and comprises:
• ISO/FDIS 9000:2000 - Quality management systems
Fundamentals and vocabulary
• ISO/FDIS 9001:2000 - Quality management systems
Requirements
• ISO/FDIS 9004:2000 – Guidelines for performance improvement

American national standards institute (ANSI):

•ANSI provides tests for new standards statements
•ANSI approved standards becomes mandatory when and if they
are adopted and referenced by the government when market make
them imperative.
• ANSI was a founding member of the ISO and plays an active role in
its governance.
• ANSI Standards on quality management and quality assurance are
internationally recognized as being identical to the ISO 9000 quality
standards

ASTM “American Society for Testing Materials”:

-ASTM publishes standard test methods, specifications, guides,
classifications and terminology
-ASTM standards development includes metal, paints, plastics,
textiles, petroleum, construction, energy, environment, consumer
35
 products, medical services, devices, electronics and many other
areas
- ASTM publishes standards for all areas

BSI “British Standards Institute”:

* national standards body for the UK, BSI became the world’s 1st
national standards body
* established 1901 as the Engineering Standards Committee
* BSI pioneered international collaboration on the standards writing
as early as 1910 and 1946 was instrumental in the formation of the
International Standards Body, ISO
* In 1979 BSI produced the world’s 1st management system
standard (BS 5750) this standard was the prototype for ISO 9000
series
* BSI produces independent standards through a committee
process
* British Standards are national guidelines for products ranging
from toys to digital audio equipments, for services like complaint
management
* Standards are voluntary although they can be mandatory made by
law or regulation
* All standards are reviewed every 5 years

36
6 SIGMA:
6σ: the 6σ approach to managing the defects that might be
happening and affects your project, taking actions to reduce the
errors that cost your time, money, opportunities, and costumers.
The 6σ methodology collects data on variation in outputs
associated with each process, so it can be improved and those
variations reduced.
So basically it’s a statistical concept that measures a process in
terms of defects, achieving 6σ level means your process are
delivering only 3.4 defects per million opportunities (DPMO).

σ level DPMO

2 308,537
3 66,807
4 6210
5 233
6 3.4
Fig10: number of defects per deferent σ levels.

37
 The central idea of 6σ management is that if you can measure the
defects in a process, you can systematically figure out ways to
eliminate them, to approach a quality level of zero defects.
So in short 6σ is several things:
- A statistical basis of measurement: 3.4 dpm.
- A philosophy and goal: as perfect as practically possible.
- A methodology.
- A symbol of quality.
6 σ has 2 different systems; they consist of 4 or 5 phases.
1- DMAIC: (define- measure- analyze- improve- control)

Fig 11: six sigma DMAIC cycle

38
- Define the project, the goals, and the deliverables to costumers.
- Measure: identifies one or more product or service characteristics,
maps the process, evaluates measurement systems and estimates
baseline capability.
- Analyze: evaluates and reduces the variables with graphical
analysis, hypothesis testing and identifies the vital few factors for
process improvement.
- Improve: discovers variable relationships among the vital few
factors, establishes operating tolerance, and validated
measurements.
- Control: determines the ability to control the vital few factors and
implements process control systems.
Making a control chart to the measuring process:
Control charts are an efficient way of analyzing performance data
to evaluate a process. Control charts have many uses; they can
be used in manufacturing to test if machinery is producing
products within specifications, or it can be used to evaluate the
results of tests taken for materials quality control.
Steps:
1-Check to see that your data meets the following criteria:
- Data should usually be normally distributed revolving around a
mean (average).
39
- Measurements need to be independent of one another.
2-Find the mean of each subgroup:
To find the mean, add all measurements in the subgroup and
divide by the number of measurements in the subgroup.
3- Find the mean of all of the means from the previous step (X).
This will give you the overall mean of all the data points, the
overall mean will be the centerline in the graph (CL).
4- Calculate the standard deviation (S) of the data points.
5- Calculate the upper and lower control limits (UCL, LCL) using the
following formula:
UCL = CL + 3*S
LCL = CL – 3*S
The formula represents 3 standard deviations above and 3
standard deviations below the mean respectively.
6- Refer to the following chart through step 7 to step 10:

40
 Fig 12: control chart.
Draw a line at each deviation:
In the above example, there is a line drawn at one, two, and three
standard deviations (sigma’s) away from the mean.
Zone C is 1 sigma away from the mean (green).
Zone B is 2 sigma away from the mean (yellow).
Zone A is 3 sigma away from the mean (red).
8- Graph the X-bar Control Chart, by graphing the subgroup means
(x-axis) verses measurements (y-axis). Your graph should look like
something like this:

41
 9- Evaluate the graph to see if the process is out-of-control:
The graph is out-of-control if any of the following are true:
- Any point falls beyond the red zone (above or below the 3-sigma
line).
- 8 consecutive points fall on one side of the centerline.
- 2 of 3 consecutive points fall within zone A.
- 4 of 5 consecutive points fall within zone A and/or zone B.
- 15 consecutive points are within Zone C.
- 8 consecutive points not in zone C.
10- State whether the system is in-control or out-of-control.

42
 When to Use DMAIC:
The DMAIC methodology, instead of the DMADV methodology,
should be used when a product or process is in existence at your
company but is not meeting customer specification or is not
performing adequately.
2- DMADV (define- measure- analyze- design- verify)

Fig 13: six sigma DMADV cycle.

- Design: Design (detailed) the process to meet the customer needs.
- Verify: Verify the design performance and ability to meet
- Customer needs.

43
 When to Use DMADV:
The DMADV methodology, instead of the DMAIC methodology,
should be used when:
• A product or process is not in existence at your company and
one needs to be developed.
• The existing product or process exists and has been optimized
(using either DMAIC or not) and still doesn't meet the level of
customer specification or six sigma level.
6σ key players:
6σ systems has 2 vital key players, known as champions and black
belts who acts as agents to facilitate the change, these 2 titles
play pivotal roles in the success of 6σ management.
- A champion: generally selected from the top ranks of management,
serves as a coach mentor and leader, supporting project teams
and allocating necessary resources.
- A black belt leads a defined project on a full time basis, working
strictly on defining, measuring, analyzing, improving, and
controlling processes to reach desired outcomes, black belts do
nothing else, and their only responsibility is to root out variations
and identifies the vital few factors, they devote 100% of their

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energies to the chosen project, supported by project team
members.

Components of 6σ project:
There are 3 important components that characterize a 6σ project:
1- A critical to quality metric (CTQ): elements of a process that
significantly affects the output of a process.
Identifying these elements is vital to figuring out how to make the
improvements that can dramatically reduce costs and enhance
quality.
2- An actual cost associated with a defect affecting the CTQ metric.
3- A specific time frame for eliminating the defects to attain the
CTQ metric.
6σ numeric system and calculations:
Definitions
Unit: A unit is any item that is produced or processed which is
liable for measurement or evaluation against predetermined
criteria or standards
Opportunity: Any area within a product, process, service, or other
system where a defect could be produced or where you fail to

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 achieve the ideal product in the eyes of the customer. In
products, product parts or connections may have defects.
In process, any step that does not add value is not an opportunity.
Defect: Any type of undesired result is a defect or is a failure to
conform to requirements’ (Crosby, ‘Quality Is Free’), whether or
not those requirements have been articulated or specified.
Total opportunities: number of opportunities for a defect could
appear in number of units. TOP = OP*units
Defects per total opportunities DPO: number of defects per total
number of opportunities within a number of units.
DPO = D / TOP
Defect per units DPU: number of defects per number of units.
DPU = D*U
DPMO: is the average number of defects per unit observed during
an average production run divided by the number of
opportunities to make a defect on the product under study
during that run normalized to one million.
DPMO = DPO * 1000000
Defects (%): The total number of defects counted on the
population in question divided by the total population count.
Yield (%): percentage of products that is free of defects.
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FIG 14: the Motorola 6 sigma concept.

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 References:
*Quality Management System for Concrete Construction ACI 121R-04
* IPCC Good Practice Guidance and Uncertainty Management in
National Greenhouse Gas Inventories, CHAPTER 8 QC\QA.
* An Introduction To Quality Assurance For The Retailers
By: Pradip V. Mehta‫‏‬. 2004.
* ISO 9000 QUALITY STANDARDS IN CONSTRUCTION.
*QMS DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND INDUSTRY www.dti.gov.uk/quality/qms
* Egyptian code of practice.
* Project management book body of knowledge (pmbok), fourth
edition.
* MC.graw brief case books: six sigma.

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