QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND IT

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QUALITY MANAGEMENT AND IT K. Zhang1 and A.D. Russell2 1. Dpartment of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada 2. Dpartment of Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada ABSTRACT: Achieving the design and construction of high-quality facilities that meet owner and endusers requirements is one of the triad of project objectives, the others being time and cost. Despite efforts by both practitioners and researchers, producing superior quality construction products on a consistent basis continues to be a challenge faced by all in the construction industry. Provided in this paper is a comprehensive review concerning the state-of-the-art of quality management research, which was conducted in support of a research program directed at exploring how the use of IT may contribute to improved quality management practices. A central focus of this program is on representing quality management requirements, detecting and diagnosing problem-prone areas using data visualization strategies, and applying knowledge management, both in proactive and reactive modes, all in the context of the contractor’s perspective during the construction phase. 1. INTRODUCTION An understanding of what constitutes quality is essential before measures can be taken to achieve it (Love et al. 1999). A significant amount of literature addresses how quality can be defined. Among the definitions offered, “conformance to requirements” represents a technical view of quality and a rationalized approach which assumes that quality can be translated into technical requirements, and procedures and performance can be measured with precision. Another definition “fitness for purpose” emphasizes enduser requirements, where achievement of quality involves human judgment in addition to technical measurements. As a term and as part of the international quality standard (ISO) series, ISO 8402 defines quality as the totality of features and characteristics of a product，process, organization, person, activity or system that bear on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs. In a contractual environment needs are specified, whereas in other environments implied needs should be identified and defined. The ISO definition of quality also requires the expression of needs or their translation into a set of qualitatively or quantitatively stated requirements. The definition of quality adopted in this paper corresponds to conformance with requirements, with the viewpoint being that of the contractor and other project participants during the construction phase. Further the assumption is that the requirements specified are attainable and appropriate for the input, process or product at hand. Many difficulties can be encountered in the process of achieving the product quality required. These difficulties are mainly rooted in the diversity and complexity of inputs, transformation processes used and output products produced by the construction industry and the fragmentation of quality management tasks. In regards to diversity and complexity, the contractor is faced with very significant challenges in terms of collecting and interpreting a large number of product and procedural requirements, performing

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measurements, and documenting and interpreting measurement results. Currently, most quality management tasks are done manually, efficiency is low and the costs are considerable (Love et al. 2000). From our research perspective, the contractor has difficulty in capturing, representing and managing the vast array of quality requirements that characterize a project. Some of the requirements are set out in the design drawings and specifications, while others are left to be defined by the contractor himself/herself. In regard to fragmentation, many participants are involved in the construction quality management function, including the owner, designer, suppliers, general contractor or construction manager, subcontractors, consultants, regulatory officials, and end-users. Since all of their inputs contribute to the achievement of product quality, ideally their inputs can be integrated in a holistic and consistent way and in a manner which minimizes conflicts of interest. Unfortunately, many problems exist in the interface between the designer and contractor, which affect the constructability of design components and resultant quality. Also, more and more owners want to assign most if not all of the responsibility for quality management to the contractor, while minimizing the owners’ responsibility for quality management. Fragmentation also occurs in the form of the diverse ownership of information amongst project participants. This contributes to the poor quality of communication amongst participants, which is one of the major causes of nonconformance. The investigation conducted by Love et al. (2000) has shown that rework, including non conformance, could be reduced significantly if proper communication was established between the designer and contractor. The development and maturation of information technology has brought about a number of opportunities to improve current quality management practices. One opportunity is to achieve integrated information and knowledge flow amongst project participants in three directions: vertical (amongst organizations), horizontal (amongst departments of an organization), and longitudinal (amongst the tasks of quality management) (Fergusson, 1996). The integration of quality management data has great potential to mitigate problems caused by fragmentation of the construction process. To achieve integration, efforts need to be made to improve communication amongst project participants, and to seek application of appropriate IT technologies such as web-based, communication and documentation technologies to streamline the quality management function. Other opportunities include representing quality requirements in standardized formats, interpreting measurement results and capturing, managing and applying qualityrelated knowledge. These opportunities deal mainly with the problems brought about by the diversity and complexity of the inputs and outputs associated with a construction project, and can benefit from the application of IT technologies such as visualization, artificial intelligence and knowledge management. As part of our pursuit of the forgoing opportunities, we have conducted a thorough literature research on the topic of quality management in construction, with emphasis on the use of IT. It is of interest to note that much of the academic literature focuses on quality management in general terms. However, from the practitioners’ viewpoint, specifically those tasked with translating statements of quality requirements into tangible tests, interpreting quality measurement results to detect nonconformance and identify problemprone areas, and developing an overall quality management plan, their interest lies more with the development of practical tools that help with both proactive and reactive approaches to achieving quality. Thus the primary goal of our research program is to develop IT-based quality management tools that assist with day-to-day quality management tasks. In the following part of this paper, we first present the steps (process) for producing product quality in construction. By examining these steps, we raise a number of practical issues that must be addressed if quality requirements are to be met in a cost effective and verifiable manner. This process helps to place in context contributions in the literature. We then share with the reader an in-depth literature review of the state-of-the-art, which builds on an earlier review by Battikah and Russell (1998). 2. THE STEPS (PROCESS) FOR PRODUCING PRODUCT QUALITY A simplified representation of the basic “steps” involved in producing a finished product and achieving required quality levels is shown in figure 1. These steps include inputs, transformation processes, intermediate products, end products, end-user application(s) and final outputs.

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Requirements

Specify results Measurement

Other Inputs

Requirements

Measurement

Measurement

End products

End users application

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Requirements Measurement

Other Inputs

Requirements

Measurement

Measurement

Intermediate products

Transformation process

Requirements

Requirements Transformation process Measurement

Measurement

Inputs

Requirements

While not all of the steps shown in figure 1 are applicable to all finished products, we have sought the most general case. Collectively, the steps shown in figure 1 can be considered as a general procedure for producing quality. In the quality management literature, most of the research efforts described is directed

Figure 1. Steps for producing product quality explicitly or implicitly at improving this general procedure so as to achieve the quality levels required, with individual research directions being focused on different steps or elements of the steps. As discussed later in the literature review, QA/QC and ISO approaches (especially the early version of the ISO series) focus on specifying requirements and technical measurements (inspections/tests), whereas TQM emphasizes the importance of improving the role of human beings in terms of inputs (skill and motivation) and outputs (judgment and perception). Notwithstanding the many research accomplishments to date, considerable work remains to be done, particularly at the operational level for producing quality products. One challenge for the contractor is to express quality management requirements in a standardized format for each step shown in figure 1. Usually, only the quality requirements for the finished product are given, often in less than precise terms in the drawings and specifications. Thus, in some cases, the contractor is left to define quality requirements for intermediate inputs and transformation processes. As an illustration of this, consider the example encountered on a high rise building currently under construction in Vancouver. The quality requirement for the building enclosure was specified in the form of a statement of intent – i.e. the enclosure shall not leak. It was left to the contractor to determine how to achieve this objective through exercising quality control at each step in the process of building the enclosure system. A second challenge for the contractor is how to efficiently document and interpret measurement results both at the individual test/inspection level and at the level of an entire collection of tests, given the great volume of measurements involved. Interpreting measurement results assists with explaining cause-effect relationships of performance at both ends of the spectrum — non-conformance vs. exceptional performance. The third challenge for the contractor is how to extract knowledge or lessons learned from past projects, and manage and apply this knowledge to the execution of new projects. Included in this knowledge is how to express quality requirements for the various types of systems and components that comprise a building project, and processes to follow to help ensure compliance with requirements. 3. STATE-OF-THE-ART OF CONSTRUCTION QUALITY MANAGEMENT RESEARCH The picture of the state-of-the-art presented here is gleaned from major academic publications and online materials for the time period of the early 1970’s to the present. We seek to present a full picture of the evolution of, theoretical basis for, benefits from, barriers to and development trends of construction quality management, in terms of both practice and research. In what follows, we organize findings from the

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literature under three major headings: (1) Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO); (2) Total Quality Management (TQM); and, (3) Information Technology (IT) applications in construction quality management. QA, QC and ISO standards represent a rationalized approach to quality management that focuses on technical order and quality system management. We discuss mainly the history of their evolution and its problems. Total quality management (TQM) represents a relatively new development trend of quality management. We overview its theoretical basis and practical applications, along with several research endeavors in the past decade that deal with the building blocks of TQM. These research efforts are organized and introduced under different sub headings of TQM. Finally, under the heading of IT applications in construction quality management, we summarize efforts directed at applying IT technologies to assist with the day-to-day tasks that comprise the daily quality management function. 3.1

QA, QC and ISO Standards

Quality assurance (QA) and quality control (QC) are focused on the systematic control of quality. The widespread adoption of QA and QC by the construction industry during the 1970s to 1990s was prompted by the need for the industry to achieve improved quality of their outputs. This drive was inspired in part by the successful application of QA and QC in the manufacturing industry. QA involves establishing project related policies, procedures, standards, training, guidelines, and the system necessary to produce quality, while QC represents the specific implementation of the QA program and associated activities. With the proliferation of QA programs in the world, many countries created their own standards. In 1987, a number of countries ratified an agreement recognizing an international quality system standard, the ISO 9000 series. In mid-1994, the ISO 9000 series was revised and formed an international standard, known as ISO 9000 series 1994 version. The ISO standards were enhanced in 2000, known as ISO 9000 series 2000 version. This new version includes three standards: ISO 9000:2000, ISO 9001:2000 and ISO 9004:2000. ISO 9001:2000 presents requirements, while ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9004:2000 present guidelines. The ISO 9001:2000 requirements abandoned the 20-clause structure of the old standards and replaced it with a more logical 5-section structure, namely: 4 Systemic Requirements — requirements on quality system and system documents; 5 Management Requirements — requirements on policy, customer focus, quality planning, responsibility, authority, internal communication and quality system review; 6 Resource Requirements — requirements on quality resources (personnel and infrastructure), and work environment; 7 Realization Requirements — requirements on realization process, product requirements, product design, purchasing process and products, and monitoring devices; and, 8 Remedial Requirements—requirements on remedial process, monitoring and measuring quality, internal audits, nonconformance (records, correction and verification), information, improvement over quality system, and preventive action (the foregoing numbering system corresponds to that used in the ISO standard). In general, the new standards are more customer-oriented than the old standards. The new standard also emphasizes the need to make improvements. ISO 9001 now requires you to evaluate the effectiveness and suitability of your quality management system, and identify and implement systematic improvements. Another important new concept adopted by the new version is using a systems process approach to quality management. Emphasis is given to identifying and controlling the inputs, outputs and transformation processes of all sub processes, and the large process as a whole. This is reflective of the approach being followed by the authors, as depicted in figure 1. By incorporating the concepts of customer focus and continuous improvement, ISO 9000 series 2000 version is regarded as a substantial step towards reflecting the principles of TQM. Specifically, the 8 underlying principles of ISO, namely: 1 focus on your customers; 2 provide leadership; 3 involve your people; 4 use a process approach; 5 take a systems approach; 6 encourage continual improvement; 7 get your facts before you decide; and, 8 work with your suppliers, are very similar to the principles of TQM, as discussed in the next section (ISO 9000 2000 Introduction, Praxiom Research Group Limited). There has been a surge in ISO certification in the construction industry all around the world, because of the requirement in many countries to be ISO registered in order to bid on public projects. ISO is also an important marketing tool to improve company reputation and a precondition to entering the international market. At the end of 1999, at least 3,433,643 certificates had been awarded in 150 countries, of which 25,273 construction-related firms have achieved certification up to 1999 (Chin et al. 2003).

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There is, however, a continuing debate as to the suitability of ISO 9000 and formal quality assurance to the particular conditions of the construction industry (Moatazed-Keivani et al. 1999). Firms implementing the ISO quality system are reported to be drowning in a sea of distinct, formal and extensively documented procedures. As a result, the ISO system is seen to lead to a stifling of initiative, increased confrontation and excessive cost and paperwork which, in the end, reduces rather than enhances quality, while not bringing any other major benefits to the construction industry (Moatazed-Keivani et al. 1999). QA is also perceived as being concerned with a top-down management style, in which staff at lower levels carry out orders decreed by those in the upper ranks, which can generate adverse relations (Abdelrazig, 2000). Despite these problems, to date, a QA program is still the main tool available for construction companies performing quality management. 3.2

Total Quality Management (TQM)

TQM consists of management principles aimed at achieving quality performance in all aspects, i.e. product, service, process, profit and productivity. The fundamental difference between the QA/QC approach and TQM is that the former is a “top-down” approach, whereas the latter is a centralized approach which makes better use of employee’s intelligence, customer satisfaction, incentives and continuous improvement (a human-centric approach), as shown in Figure 2. As noted earlier, the traditional QA/QC approach emphasizes the need for specifying quality requirements and conducting inspections/tests. The two approaches can be usefully contrasted by comparing figures 1 and 2.

D es ig ne r

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Operative skill, Operative skill knowledge and motivation and motivation

Method

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O r ne w Subcontractor

Communication, partnering and continuous improvement

Figure 2. Human-centric approach of TQM The principles of TQM have been widely used by the manufacturing and service industries, and they have seemingly been welcomed by the construction industry as an opportunity to improve construction quality management. To date, TQM programs have been set up by different sectors to define and promote excellence for overall performance quality at the industry level. For example, the Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) is a popular program in the U.S. which caters to business excellence for all industries. The award criteria include seven categories: leadership, information and analysis, planning, human resources, quality assurance, results, and customer satisfaction. These seven criteria are cited by many researchers as dimensions for TQM (e.g. Arditi et al., 2004 and Liao et al., 2004). Another quality award in the U.S., the National Housing Quality (NHQ) award under the National Housing Quality Program (NHQP), represents the highest recognition by the home building industry for quality achievement. The award is based on ISO 9000 standards, while embracing the major dimensions of TQM, such as customer-focus and continual improvement (National Housing Quality Program, NAHB Research Center, National Assoc. of House Builders, U.S., 2004). In the surface transportation community, TQM principles have been CT-190-5

implemented through the establishment of the National Quality Initiative (NQI) and the American Assoc. of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO). NQI places a national emphasis for all companies of the highway industry on producing quality products. In Europe, the European Quality Award under the European Foundation for Quality Management and the European Organization for Quality was developed to recognize companies that demonstrate excellence in the implementation of TQM. With regard to implementing TQM at the company level, many construction firms have established their own TQM programs. Among the total quality management principles, customer focus and partnership theory are widely used by construction firms to solicit customer involvement and strengthen relations with construction partners (i.e., suppliers, design/engineering firms and subcontractors). Through these programs, mutual satisfaction is sought, although they seem to be implemented mainly at the strategic level. Other TQM principles, such as empowerment of employees, analysis and measurement of results in terms of product, service and process quality, and continual improvement, are not widely implemented. One of the main reasons for this is the apparent lack of effective implementation tools. Considerable research has been directed at implementing TQM in the construction industry. Most of this research deals with specific building blocks of TQM (e.g. service quality, continual improvement), with some attention focused on identifying opportunities, barriers to and procedures for implementing TQM in construction firms. A brief overview of these efforts is given. Issues of General Implementation: Peng et al. (2004) proposed a framework for implementing TQM in construction firms. They conducted case studies in Singapore and found that even for companies that had established a TQM program, it was not fully carried out and the results were not as expected, due to a lack of commitment from company leadership and the considerable cost associated with implementation. They conclude that TQM has yet to be proven to work in the construction industry and a radical cultural change has to be undertaken, because people are accustomed to the traditional approach of quality management. McCambridge et al. (1998), through interviews of 146 mid-level managers from 26 State transportation departments, showed that although most construction firms have a TQM program in place, the level of understanding of TQM differs considerably. Some of them just “adopt” instead of “implement” TQM. Service Quality and Customer Focus: Research in this direction either tries to develop practical tools for measuring service quality, or tries to identify factors, barriers, and opportunities for improving service quality. A model for assessing contractor service quality at both company and project levels was developed using quality function deployment (QFD) (Arditi et al. 2004). Ten service quality dimensions (e.g. timeliness, completeness & courtesy) and 6 quality management system components (e.g., leadership, process results) are identified. Service quality was measured by assessing how well a company incorporates service quality in its quality management system. Al-Momani (2000) identified 15 attributes concerning client satisfaction (e.g. timeliness and completed within budget). “Gap analysis” is used to compare the different expectations on quality between contractor and client. Al-Momani (2000) reported that there is almost a complete lack of attention devoted to the client’s satisfaction in the construction process, and that measures should be taken to improve cooperation and communication amongst designer, contractor and client. Quality Quantification and Continual Improvement: Continual improvement is one of the most important concepts adopted by TQM and the 2000 version of ISO 9000 standards. Continuous improvement can be made in the quality system itself, product quality, service quality and process quality. In order to identify and quantify continuous improvement, a measurement mechanism must be in place. The measurement mechanism referred to here is not the traditional inspection/test, but an approach that aims at forming a composite index as indicator of quality performance. Three research directions in this regard are the qualification of rework, quantification of the cost of quality, and a quality scoring system. With respect to rework, there are two definitions of rework in the literature. The first says that rework occurs when a product or service does not meet the requirements of the customer, while the second says that rework is the unnecessary effort of redoing a process or activity that was incorrectly implemented the first time (Love et al. 1999). The first definition limits the scope of rework to nonconformance, while the second includes both changes and nonconformance. Research by Love (1999 and 2000) provides a classification and causal structure for rework. His work provides a framework for analyzing the cost-effect

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relation of rework so as to take corrective and preventive actions. Fayek et al. (2004) developed a field data collection system to collect contemporary cost data of rework on site. The collected cost data is then used to calculate composite indices for various work types as indicators of work deviation. According to the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), quality costs are a measure of the costs specifically associated with the achievement or non-achievement of product or service quality. The familiar categories for quality cost are prevention, appraisal and failure (PAF). The quality cost approach is an important tool for quantifying quality in the manufacturing industry (Jaafari et al., 2002). Low et al. (1998) developed a system for quantifying quality costs for a construction project. However, it is argued that the PAF approach for capturing quality costs is in fact not suitable for construction projects because of their size and complexity (Tang et al. 2004). With respect to the use of a quality scoring system, this approach aims at quantifying product quality by considering all inspection/test results. Usually, a weighting system that assigns a measure of the relative importance to individual inspection/test results is used in the scoring system. Two such systems are used in Singapore (Building and Construction Authority, Singapore, 2004) and Hong Kong (Housing Department, Hong Kong Housing Authority, 2004) respectively by their public housing construction authority and are reported to be successful in their application. 3.3

Existing IT Applications in Construction Quality Management

IT has significant potential for assisting with the tasks of representing quality requirements, diagnosing and analyzing quality data, managing quality activities, and improving quality information flow, along with knowledge management as it pertains to construction quality management. It is noted that the application of IT to quality management as a research focus has not received a great deal of attention by researchers to date, either in absolute terms or relative to other topics being actively researched. Battikha and Russell (1999) were among the first researchers to seek potential applications of IT to construction quality management. They developed an IT-based conceptual quality management framework, in which the relationships between quality management and other management functions were identified. The process of quality management and the relationships among quality management activities, such as inspection/test planning, inspection/test, conformance verification, feedback and nonconformance reporting, were clearly defined. They also studied the potential for IT applications on the 20 elements of ISO 9001-1994. Leu and Tzeng (2000) developed a CPM-based construction inspection and decision-aid system which made use of three hierarchies, namely: activity, QC inspection and QC documentation. Each hierarchy consists of components that link to a database. Combined with CPM, a quality system is developed to do timely inspection/test and reporting. Chin et al. (2004) developed a process-based quality management information system. The process of quality inspection/test is further elaborated upon in the context of an object-oriented representation. In the proposed model, product components, activities, work items, organization, inspection/test plans and employers are modularized amongst the various quality objects. Quality information is communicated by defining attributes and methods, and by mapping relationships of objects. The model also applies database and multi-media visualization techniques. Liao et al. (2004) developed an expert advisory system for identifying weaknesses in and suggesting priorities for improvement for a company’s quality management system. Abdelrazig et al. (2000) developed a facility surface assessment system using image processing and neural network techniques. A digital camera was used to capture images of the surface of steel decks of bridges. The captured images were then analyzed using a neural network approach to assess the condition of bridge steel decks in terms of percent of defects on the surface. 3.4 Classification of Quality Management Literature Shown in Figure 3 is a classification of the construction quality management literature using ISO 9001:2000. Based on the extensive search conducted, 50 pertinent references were identified. They have been numbered in the reference section according to their position in the reference list. Figure 3 contains a total of 51 references, as reference 6 appears twice, once under ISO category 5 and once under ISO category 7. As seen from figure 3, categories 5, 7 and 8 have enjoyed the most attention by researchers. Resource requirements has received no attention at all, and in terms of applications of IT (denoted by the

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shaded circles in figure 3), they appear only under categories 7 and 8 and relate to only 16% of the total number (50) of references identified. That the highest percentage (35%) of papers identified is devoted to the ISO category Management Requirements is consistent with current trends in quality management research which are directed at TQM. Also, the significant number of papers under Realization Requirements reflects a focus on the 2000 version of ISO 2000 standards and TQM as a process approach for quality management. Research on process management was devoted either to improving the process of overall quality management (e.g. Arditi et al., 1997, 1998 and 1999 and Fok et al., 2001), or to improving the process of inspection/test (e.g., Battikha et al., 1999 and Liao et al., 2004). The substantial amount of literature devoted to Remedial Requirements reflects the desire by the construction industry to control and reduce rework. The main emphasis of IT applications has been on improving the quality mangment process, enhancing information flow, identifying relationships amongst inspection/test activities, conducting timely inspections/tests, and reporting. Such work can result in practical tools for assisting with day-to-day quality management tasks and provides a useful foundation for our own research. Interestingly, however, little work has been carried out to date on potential roles for IT with respect to developing standard formats for representing quality requirements, collecting and interpreting inspection/test data, and visualizing this data to determine if there are clusters of nonconformance in terms of location, organization or time and to identify reasons for this non-conformance. Moreover, the use of knowledge management to assist with both proactive and reactive approaches to quality management, a topic which has the potential to offer significant improvements and efficiencies to the process of achieving quality, has yet to be explored in a meaningful way by the research community.

Figure 3. Classification of construction quality management literature using ISO 9001:2000 4. CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK The paper presented an overview of the state-of-the-art of quality management practices and research. There appears to be a consensus amongst members of the research community on a number of issues related to quality management. The first of these is that quality management should focus more attention on human-related aspects, as stated in the principles of TQM and the 2000 version of ISO standards. The second area of consensus is that attention still needs to be focused on a systematic approach to the technical control of quality, which forms the basis for the traditional QA/QC and early version of the ISO standards approach to quality management. Extracting requirements from drawings and specifications, taking measurements and documenting results remains an integral part of any comprehensive program of quality management. The challenge, addressed in part by researchers, is how to enhance the efficiency of these quality management tasks. Another area of consensus, as reflected in the 2000 version of the ISO series and TQM programs, deals with the recognition of the importance of a process approach for quality management and the resulting benefits in terms of improved product and service quality. An even more important benefit from adopting a process approach could be the capture and transfer of experience from past projects to new ones, allowing the standardization of processes and continuous improvement. Based on our observations from the literature and of current quality management practices, we believe that significant potential exists for enhancing quality management practices through increased application of IT, mainly in the ISO areas of Realization Requirements and Remedial Requirements. This applies to both hardware technologies (hand-held computers, digital photography, voice recording, etc.) and software technologies (visualization, knowledge management, reasoning, the web, etc). In keeping with this belief, we are focusing on developing standardized formats and supporting data structures for CT-190-8

representing quality requirements for a diverse range on input and output products and transformation processes, including the formulation of knowledge management constructs that facilitate the cataloguing and reuse of statements of quality management requirements – a reactive approach to quality management. Work will also be focused on interpreting quality management records, with emphasis on visualization, in order to detect areas of non-conformance and possible reasons for this nonconformance. And finally, attention will be directed at determining how knowledge management can assist with a proactive approach to quality management, in terms of documenting in multi-media formats best practice approaches which help guarantee conformance to quality requirements. All of this work will be done in the context of building and civil engineering projects, with the focus being on structural components, buildingenclosure systems, and building finishes. This focus allows for the treatment of both quantitative and qualitative measures of quality, thus helping ensure generality of the approach. 5.

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