Quality Assurance

Quality and operational excellence are the cornerstones of our business. The value of our investment in quality flows directly to our customers.  VMC demonstrates our commitment to quality through consistent and reliable execution of processes and projects, better assets and human resource management; and leveraged learning from systematic sharing of best practices across business units.

VMC embraces and incorporates industry quality standards such ITIL and ISO 20000 in our Quality Management System.

Recognizing the importance of continuous improvement as the main pillar of consistent delivery of high quality service and customer satisfaction, VMC deploys Six Sigma as an enterprise-wide strategy for quality improvement.

The VMC quality system is built on these fundamental principles:

• Embed quality in our business practices as a way of life
• Focus on customer needs
• Proactive project management
• Process-based and data-driven management
• Continuous improvement.
• Embed quality in our business practices as a way of life

We do not see quality and continuous improvement as a one-time initiative distinct from our day to day operations.  Instead, we strive to have a total integration and alignment of quality activities to standard business processes, such as employee performance management, management reviews, and training and development.  Quality is everyone’s responsibility, from technicians to executive management.

Focus on customer needs

VMC partners with client teams to understand quality expectations, set goals for improvement and communicate on progress.  We take a proactive approach in listening to the voice of the customer so that we incorporate their requirements and needs into our analysis and consultative services. For example, when Six Sigma process improvement projects (DMAIC, DFSS) are initiated for a client, the link to the needs of the customer and VMC’s strategic project goals are stated clearly and evaluated upfront. This ensures focus of resources and a total alignment of continuous improvement of quality to the customer priorities. 

Proactive Project Management

VMC has deployed a structured process for incident management that drives timely containment and correction of non-conformance, as well prevention of re-occurrences.  This process employs Six Sigma tools and methodologies such as CAPA (Corrective Action/Preventative Action) to drive systemic process improvement based on structured incident information tracking, root cause analysis and solutions planning.  Incident information is tracked and stored in a central VMC incident information repository.  Trends and process capability analysis are conducted based on historic incident information and improvement activity is launched as needed to prevent incidents. Such preventative work is the foundation for effective partnering with our customers and their high confidence in our process and organizational capability.

An example of CAPA application

Corrective Action: An error during a routine task caused a server to go offline temporarily.  A VMC employee corrected the situation immediately, following incident management protocol.  An incident analysis report including the client and VMC management concluded that no adverse impact on the end user was observed.  The corrective action contained the issue and brought the process under in control.

Preventative Action: Operation managers, leads, technicians, and quality managers continued their analysis by collecting data surrounding the incident for a 360o exploration of potential root causes of the problem.  Through the systematic root cause analysis approach, VMC discovered opportunities for improvement that were submitted to the Process and Training Development team for implementation.  The analysis was expanded to all high-risk analogous tasks and the subsequent process improvement activity encompassed them as well in its scope.  In addition, temporary process patches were put in place to ensure similar incidents would not occur while the process improvement project was in course.  The preventative action ensured that this error would not occur in subsequent projects.

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) methodology is frequently used to manage and reduce risks when VMC designs new processes or as part of process improvement activity like the one described above, leading to effective prevention of errors and service delays. 

Process-based and data-driven management

For consistent, high quality delivery of service, all critical processes that affect delivery to the customer are standardized and performance is monitored.  This enables continuous process improvement based on a solid understanding of process behavior driven by data and statistical analysis, not perceptions. 

Joint process review groups are often formed with the customer teams to ensure an integrated view of processes that span across organizational walls.  Our clients benefit from our demonstrated abilities in process capability analysis and data collection, as we are able to identify opportunities for improvement within their domains of responsibility.

Continuous Improvement

Continuous improvement is an essential part of our quality management system, managed through a structured approach. VMC Six Sigma and Project Management (PMO) programs provide comprehensive training programs in problem solving, root cause analysis, and project management skills.  Results of continuous improvement projects and best practices are shared across VMC to accelerate learning and process improvements.  This integrated approach to continuous improvement ensures alignment and synergy of projects throughout the program.