Here is the answer to the seventh of ten statements: “Zero Defects is for manufacturing companies only.”

ANSWER = FALSE

Clearly, if you are reading my blog, you recognize that Zero Defect programs and Enterprise Quality Management programs are critical to any successful construction company, be it a construction manager for fee or at-risk, general contractor or trade contractor, or to any successful owner who contracts out construction services on a regular basis, and are by no means limited to manufacturing.

Quality is one of the three so-called “legs of the stool,” supporting the delivery of construction projects, in addition to:

1. Cost or budget;
2. And, time or schedule.

(Arguably, health and life safety is the fourth “leg.”)

Crosby asserts that “manufacturing” generally translates to the execution of processes and procedures. Defect prevention pays off and yields returns in all industries, in addition to manufacturing, and in construction in particular.

Processes and procedures are central to construction. Delivery of construction work itself is a service, performed by an array of stakeholders and partners, such as owners, construction managers, general contractors, trade contractors, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, architects, engineers, commissioning agents, designers, consultants, vendors and building product manufacturers (BPMs).

The complicated and fragmented network or web of stakeholders and partners forms the construction value chain or value system. Compared to manufacturing, construction presents several unique challenges in implementing and structuring Zero Defect programs and Enterprise Quality Management programs.

Here are examples of three of the unique challenges at hand:

1. Value chain or value system: The value chain or value system for each construction project is generally a unique, complicated and fragmented network or web. Each project has its own value chain.

Accordingly, if a construction company has 100 ongoing and active projects in any given time period, that company is managing 100 unique value chains. And, due to the project-based makeup of construction, the 100 unique value chains dissolve and reform in varying degrees over time, as projects ramp-up and close-out with varying and overlapping start dates and finish dates, month to month and year by year.

Different owners may contract the same but in many cases different contractors.

On the owner’s side, each owner contracts a network of project or program managers, architects, engineers, designers and other consultants.

On the architect’s side, each architect, in turn, contracts a network of engineers and subconsultants.

On the contractor’s side, for any one project, a construction manager or general contractor contracts a web of sometimes two, three or four dozen different subcontractors and trade contractors, to supply the materials, equipment and components and to perform the physical work out in the field.

One contractor probably has many ongoing contracts many different owners at the same time.

--Hence, the term “contracting” – and a lot of it.

To add yet another layer of complexity to this already complicated and fragmented network or web, the contractual relations between the parties is never identical and generally varies to some degree from project to project, as each project is unique, with different sets of owner’s project requirements (OPR), documents, drawings, specifications, budgets, schedules, locations and the like.

2. Uniqueness: Each construction project is generally unique whereas manufacturing is generally repetitive, producing the same thing over and over again, minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.

In construction, the contract requirements, owner’s project requirements (OPR) and respective documents, drawings and specifications change with each construction project. Accordingly, the levels and degrees of quality change with each construction project.

Quality is a measure by which work put in place conforms to the contract requirements, versus a measure of “goodness,” for example. A best practice is to modify one’s quality checklists, from a library of corporate standards, to tailor fit the needs of each project.

On one hand, manufacturing has the opportunity and advantage to produce the same thing or same unit thousands or millions of times over, optimizing and correcting the process on the manufacturing line based on the quality of the output and its conformance to the standards. Substandard units output from the line are not permanent and may be discarded, if and as needed, with varying degrees of cost and time impact.

On the other hand, in the construction industry, after the sample and mock-up stages, construction only has the opportunity to put work in place once, the first time, correctly. Otherwise, rework is required. Construction is unique and bespoke from this perspective, more sensitive to error and more sensitive to craft.

3. Site conditions: Prefabrication aside, each construction project is generally located on a different site, reinforcing more aspects of uniqueness.

Geographic location determines the availability of labor resources, such as trade contractors and subcontractors, who generally need to be within a days’ driving distance of the job site where the work is performed.

Geographic location also determines the availability of local materials, and lead times and shipping times for materials, equipment and components.

Different site locale variables drive day to day construction operational logistics, such as site delivery, staging, storage, assembly and erection processes, such as crane locations and crane swing arcs, for example. Noise pollution from heavy equipment, construction dust and debris, run-off and other potential environmental impacts also drive day to day construction operational logistics.

Also, different site locale variables, such as weather conditions, effect scheduling and sequencing, such as cost-effective time “windows” or periods to excavate earth, to drive piles and to pour concrete, for example.

Zero Defect programs are for construction, in addition to manufacturing, but compared to manufacturing, construction presents several unique challenges in implementing and structuring Zero Defect programs and Enterprise Quality Management programs.

 

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The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's Quality Is Free is “A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool.” As I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them to test your knowledge of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.

Here is the answer to the fifth of ten statements: “A Zero Defects program is a management communications tool.”

ANSWER = TRUE

Crosby asserts that a Zero Defects program “…creates an attitude of defect prevention.” Generally, in the absence of a Zero Defects program or an Enterprise Quality Management program, an attitude of defect correction, as opposed to defect prevention, generally prevails. Work is not always put in place correctly or completely, in accordance with the contract documents and specifications, the first time. Then, the nonconformant and deficient work is identified, area by area and item by item, and retasked back out to the trade contractors and subcontractors. Subsequent rework is required, which inevtiably leads to cost overruns, sequencing bottlenecks and time delays, all jeopardizing already-thin profit margins.

The sign of an effective quality management program is where preventive action is the rule and corrective action is the exception.

Relationships between field personnel out on the job site and management personnel back in the head office or home office develop and evolve, as a mutual understanding of the quality-related issues at the point-of-construction develops over time as the quality program progresses. Problems and quality-related issues in the field gain visibility up to managers, directors and executives, who may be disconnected from the day to day activities on the job site. Problems and quality-related issues in the field are no longer isolated at the job level.

Leveraging a quality program as a “management communications tool” proliferates a culture of quality throughout the company, at all levels from the field up to the head office or home office. A culture of quality and the behaviors which support it are shaped by the best practices, project processes and communication tools utilized by the company, both at the project level and bewteen management and the projects. The “out of sight, out of mind” mentality ceases to exist. Quality becomes a priority for all company personnel.

Ask yourself the following questions about your company: How does your company create leverage a Zero Defects program or an Enterprise Quality Management program as a management communications tool? How does your company create the connectedness between many geographically distributed projects, regional offices and a head office or home office?

An effective quality management communications tool uses a three-pronged approach:

1. A web-based quality management application, with no local software and accordingly easy to distribute across a broad install base, to enable real-time visibility in to project progress and status.
2. Web-based analytic dashboards and reports, showing project and company performance over time, where information may be explored dynamically, ad-hoc and on-demand at any time.
3. Scheduled reports, distributed to key project and company stakeholders in an automated way, via email, showing project and company performance over time.

More to come next week, when I answer and discuss question six. Appreciate all of you who are reading and following along each week as we continue to analyze some of the key principles and potential misnomers of quality management in the construction industry.

 

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The next true-or-false statement from Philip B. Crosby's  Quality Is Free is “Errors are caused by one of three things: lack of knowledge, lack of attention, or lack of facilities.” As I mentioned in my last post, if you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them to test your knowledge of the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.

Here is the answer to the fourth of ten statements: “Errors are caused by one of three things: lack of knowledge, lack of attention, or lack of facilities.”

ANSWER = FALSE

Crosby asserts that errors are caused by the first two aspects:

1. Lack of knowledge;
2. Lack of attention; and not by the third aspect:
3. Lack of facilities.

Lack of facilities is in turn caused by a either a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention, or both conditions; lack of facilities itself results from a lack of knowledge or a lack of attention. In the field, at the point of construction, a lack of facilities translates to a lack of technologies, tools, equipment and other business productivity-related resources available in the trailer or at the job site.

In construction, field facilities may be measured as a function of how and to what degree management outfits field teams to manage, coordinate, track and measure the work, as part of a quality program. A field team using inadequate or insufficient facilities, technologies, tools and equipment day to day at the job site cannot be criticized for a lack of resources, unless that field team was responsible for selecting and securing the resources, in the first place.

Management, meaning general superintendents, project managers, directors of operation and quality, and corporate executives in the construction industry, need to accept responsibility for contribution to errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in the quality of work, which includes selecting and securing technologies, tools, equipment and other business productivity-related resources and accordingly equipping facilities in the field.

• Do you relate errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in quality back to facilities?
• Does your company relate errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in quality back to facilities?
• Who holds the responsibility for equipping facilities in the field at your company?
• Does your management team accept responsibility for equipping facilities in the field?

After all, work is done in the field. Profits are made or lost in the field. The core business processes and revenue generating activities for contractors take place in the field, not back at the home office or head office.

In basic terms, field teams need the right tools to get the job done right in the field.

Trade contractors and subcontractors, such as foremen, craftsmen, journeymen, apprentices and laborers, need the right tools to get the job done right – this is common sense, and a generally accepted best practice. One cannot expect trade contractors and subcontractors to perform tasks and put work in place right, without errors, nonconformances or deficiencies in quality the first time, without the right tools and equipment. The same fundamental principle holds true for construction managers and general contractors, who manage the trades and orchestrate the work.

What are some of the facilities, tools, equipment and other business productivity-related resources that you require on each project as a corporate standard or best practice, to manage your quality program?

• Job trailer offices, with dependable internet connections to communicate and collaborate;
• Job trailer meeting rooms, to present reports, trends and analytics to project teams and partners;
• Smart phones with email and digital cameras, to document work conditions for the record;
• Tablet PCs or touchscreen slate computers, such as a Motion J3400s, Motion J3500s or Motion F5s or Apple iPads in a rugged cases, to do quality checklists, log issues and items of work to complete or correct, review and markup drawings and other documents, etc. directly in the field;
• Wireless or wifi internet connections out in the field on the job site, to administer quality checks and communicate with project teams in real-time, without lag times back in the trailer office.

In summary, management has the power to equip field teams with the facilities, technologies and productivity-related resources to minimize or eliminate errors, nonconformances and deficiencies in the quality of work. Conversely, a lack proper technologies and resources in the hands of the field teams lead to nonconformant quality of work.

More to come next week, when I answer and discuss question five. Appreciate all of you who are reading and following along each week as we continue to analyze some of the key principles and potential misnomers of quality management in the construction industry.

 

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If you have already answered true or false to the ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects, please read ahead and continue. If you haven't already answered, please take the time to go back and read them so you understand the concept of Zero Defects, related to construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.

Here is the answer to the first of ten statements: “Zero Defects is a worker motivation concept.”

ANSWER = FALSE

Crosby asserts that ZD is not a worker motivation concept. ZD is a management standard.

ZD supplants the general adage of “do it right” or “do it right the first time,” which provides a wide leeway for each worker or laborer, for each superintendent, foreman, craftsman, journeyman, apprentice or other field person, to interpret the meaning of “do it right.” Without fail, the meaning of “do it right” will vary across a broad spectrum, in the mind of each worker or laborer.

The three classic pillars of project performance are cost, time and quality (…with health and safety as the fourth pillar). Standards for cost and time are grounded in exactitude and rooted in precision. At its core, standards for cost and time are inherently quantitative, and accordingly easy to establish objectives and to measure goals. Cost is measured in currency like dollars, and time is measured in months, days, hours, etc.

The construction industry needs to apply the same methodology to quality performance, as cost and time performance, leveraging quality standards and metrics which are able to be measured in a quantitative way – and not open for interpretation.

Standards for quality are generally both quantitative and qualitative, hence the name. The crux of the issue at hand is that quality standards lean to the qualitative side, presenting varying degrees of subjectivity. Quality is open for interpretation in the mind of each contractor, worker and laborer, in the mind of each architect, engineer and designer who authored the contract documents, drawings and specifications, and in the mind of the client or owner who is the final beneficiary of the construction work results, of the project itself at the time of substantial completion and handover.

Enter Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction. ZD is a tool for contractors and construction managers to explain the quality performance standards in plain English, which cannot be open for interpretation. ZD communicates the new standard of quality performance to the project team and to the project partners, in a language that workers and laborers readily understand.

Why is it important to communicate the new standard of quality performance, Zero Defects – because management has not made its position on quality clear prior to Zero Defects.

For more information on Zero Defects or “ZD” – an Enterprise Quality Management program for construction, please read my blog entry each week.

 

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• Over 3 million iPads have been sold, making it by far the most popular device of its kind
• Hundreds of people in the construction industry interested in improving the quality and delivery of their construction projects have already downloaded our construction iPad app

In response to this great demand and positive feedback we’re getting from our customers, we’ve started adding even more capabilities to our app called Vela Mobile: iPad.  Here are just a few v1.1 highlights and comments we're hearing from users.

A construction vp from a customer company likes to say that “construction is the process of making lists,” and that the companies doing that the best are the most efficient in the industry.  In response,  we’ve added the ability to help capture, assign and manage any kind of jobsite issue from work-to-complete lists, punchlists, quality non-conformance, safety issues and more.

And when you’re using the app with Vela Field Manager, which  gives whole teams insight into what areas need the most attention, all of your key project information such as the companies on the project and the list of areas (rooms, floors and other spaces) is just a tap away from linking and organizing your lists.  All of which can be done anywhere on your jobsite with no internet connection. You can upload later when you’re back in the range of your wifi (or, if you have the 3G iPad, when you get an AT&T cellular phone signal).

We’ve heard how much people like typing on the iPad keyboard. But we know too that when you’re doing a few hundred wall close-in inspections as part of your construction quality management program, speed is important and sometimes the same issues come up over and over. In response, we’ve built in the idea of reusable “issue templates” that you can tap with a finger to automatically create and assign issues with very detailed issue descriptions in a rapid-fire, tap-tap way.

We’re excited to have released the first iPad application for construction.  Download it and let us know what you think!

 

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Answer true or false to the following ten statements, to test your understanding of the concept of Zero Defects. Answers will follow in the coming weeks, plus a ten part series with specific commentary related to Zero Defects construction programs and Enterprise Quality Management in the construction industry.

 

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