CONFIGURATION

MANAGEMENT: FROM
CONCEPT TO COMPLETION
USING MANAGEMENT BY
OBJECTIVE EVIDENCE
All processes, operations, and functions have objectives. These
objectives are the basis for monitoring success, and are the
organization’s first-line stability indicators.

Quality objectives are established prior to any movement required to

accomplish a task, or even start a business.

Quality objectives - are determined by the tasks that meet the requirements
of the quality policy.

Policies - are established to guide decisions and implementation methods

with projects
Quality planning must include the identification and determination of
quality objectives in system processes.

Quality objectives define the direction and priorities for continuous

improvement.

Quality objectives define the classification of objective evidence that must

be captured, and there are four major categories:

1. Policy objectives : These are principal, strategic objectives that apply to

the whole organization. They are typically included in the quality policy
itself, or may be communicated in memoranda from the top management.
2. Quality performance objectives: These objectives set specific, measurable targets for
improving operational performance to ensure product conformity and customer
satisfaction

3. Product quality objectives: These objectives pertain to improvement of products and

associated services. The president/CEO and top executive managers responsible for
marketing and product development establish product objectives.

4. Quality system objectives: These objectives pertain to the improvement of quality system
processes and performance. Quality system objectives are established, documented, and
monitored within the framework of management reviews of the quality system, and in
accordance with management review procedures.
Quality system planning Quality system planning is designed to correctly
capture data for which objectives, quality system elements, and processes are
planned, while ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the quality system
in meeting its intended purpose. The purpose of the quality system is as
follows:

• To achieve the quality policy

• To ensure and demonstrate the organization’s ability to consistently
provide customer and regulatory requirements
• To ensure a high level of customer satisfaction
• To facilitate continuous improvement
• To comply with requirements of the organizational operating system
 The output of quality system planning is documented in a policy manual,
in associated operational procedures, and in other referenced documents.
These documents identify and define all elements and processes of the
quality system. The objectives are captured in the key elements of the
system.

 To give an example of how objective evidence is captured and reported,

Figure 2.1 shows a monthly cost-of-poor-quality (COPQ) report.
The 5 whys
1. Why did she not do her homework?
2. Did she fall asleep as soon as she opened her books?
3. Did she stay out too late with her girlfriends?
4. Did I give her permission to go to the mall with her girlfriends?
5. Because my wife and I have a policy that our daughter cannot go out on
school nights, did I break that policy?
 The first impression is that my daughter was an irresponsible teenager; my
final impression after the five “whys” is that I was an irresponsible parent,
and she was 13. The corrective action is that I would stick to house policy
and not allow my daughter to go out on school nights, and my wife and I
would make sure that her homework was completed nightly.
Obviously we could fire the shop
supervisor if we went only by the
data and amount of loss, or we can
be smarter and review the internal
corrective action reports (CAR) for
indications of a system that is out of
control. My first action would be to
ask the five most important
questions: why, why, why, why, and
why? Using a home problem as an
example, why did my daughter not
complete her homework?
 In an organizational concept, the objective evidence that is captured must
be the measurement of key indicators. Using the COPQ monthly report
in Figure 2.1 for a small company in Los Angeles, you can see the same
indicator as used in the example of my daughter’s homework problem.
The indicator was $54,250 of monthly losses.

 It takes a team of workers acting as subcontractors, working

independently to review previously completed steps, and possessing the
organizational freedom to raise the red flag whenever any problems are
suspected, without repercussion or any form of discouragement.
 Objective evidence brings to the light what would otherwise be in the
dark: “We can be comfortable living with our mistakes, and even good
at fixing them. But to admit to our mistakes and take steps to remove the
cause of the mistakes is the true answer to success.”