{"id":3997,"date":"2023-02-27T12:35:37","date_gmt":"2023-02-27T10:35:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sipsa.net\/?p=3997"},"modified":"2024-05-06T11:11:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T09:11:38","slug":"qa-models-of-quality-assurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sipsa.net\/en\/qa-models-of-quality-assurance\/","title":{"rendered":"QA | Quality Assurance Methodologies"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quality Management (QM) is a global concept, within which other nested concepts are included: Quality Assurance (QA), Quality Control (QC) and Testing.<\/p>\n

The purpose of this post is to have in the same document the most well-known continuous improvement models and quality assurance (QA) standards<\/strong>. Methodologies that are not only present in software engineering companies specialised in the production of software, but that apply to any business or company, as they require, to a certain extent, software for their operation and development.<\/p>\n

CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT MODELS<\/strong><\/span><\/h1>\n

Kaizen<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

The word Kaizen comes from two Japanese terms: kai<\/strong>, which means “improvement”, and zen<\/strong>, which means “good” or “well-being”, but is more loosely translated in the West as “continuous improvement<\/strong>“. The Kaizen process was popularised in the 1950s after World War II by Japanese manufacturers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Kai-zen\"<\/span><\/p>\n

What sets it apart from other process improvement methods is that it aims to involve the entire organisation, from top management to assembly line workers, in its implementation. Having a Kaizen Culture<\/strong> in your organisation means that every individual, regardless of rank, is empowered to look for improvement opportunities every day, no matter how small.<\/span><\/p>\n

To apply the Kaizen methodology, the following steps will be followed:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Plan<\/strong>: for this first step you should be aware of the current situation of your business, analyse the problems and define an action plan. Look at your bottlenecks, the most common incidents, the points you would like to improve.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Do<\/strong>: the next step is to develop the action plan and put it into action. This action plan should include measures for each of the aspects you have identified during the planning.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Check<\/strong>: In this third step, the most important thing is to analyse whether your action plan is having results and to compare these with the results obtained before establishing the Kaizen methodology. If you have achieved the results you set out to achieve at the beginning, it means that you are on the right track. If not, you will have to start all over again.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Act<\/strong>: if you have achieved the objectives you set at the beginning, then it is time to standardise the methodology, but without forgetting that it is a process in which improvement must be continuous.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    LEAN<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

    At the end of the 19th century<\/strong>, the first Lean thinking emerged in Japan<\/strong> from Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota<\/strong>. But it was not until the early 1990s<\/strong> that this work philosophy reached the West, thanks to a publication by James Womack, Daniel Jones and Roos entitled “The machine that changed the world”. In it, the characteristics of a new production system that combined efficiency<\/strong>, flexibility<\/strong> and quality<\/strong> were explained, where the concept of Lean Manufacturing<\/strong> appears for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n

    This is based on the elimination within the production process of everything that does not add value, allowing to work more efficiently and with a lower consumption of resources<\/strong>. The Lean Methodology has evolved to new specific applications such as Lean Health, Lean Construction and Lean Office. The common point among all of them is the joint action of managers, middle management and operators, establishing quality principles to optimise work, improve results and apply Continuous Improvement in all business areas<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    The five basic principles of this philosophy are:<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Specify the value of the product as perceived by the customer.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
    2. Identify the value chain.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
    3. Let production and value flow.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
    4. Enable the customer to get what he\/she wants.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n
    5. Pursue perfection.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Lean Management<\/strong> encourages teamwork, everyone who works is an important part of the process and their work is critical to the rest of the employees and ultimately to the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

      In Lean thinking, any capacity in operations that is greater than the amount needed to satisfy customer demand will be considered waste that will not produce value, so all improvement initiatives will focus on eliminating this waste and balancing capacity with demand.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Six Sigma<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

      \"Six<\/span><\/p>\n

      The Six Sigma methodology was a concept created by engineer Bill Smith at Motorola in 1988<\/strong>, as a business and quality improvement strategy. But it was later improved and popularised by General Electric<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

      It is an improvement methodology that provides a path to follow to continuously improve the quality of the product or service, seeking cost savings, to increase customer satisfaction<\/strong>, to achieve 99.9999% efficiency<\/strong> (ability to achieve the desired or expected effect) and to eliminate variability and waste<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

      To this end, it focuses on reducing<\/strong> (to almost zero) defects and variations in processes<\/strong>, quality costs<\/strong>, cycle times<\/strong> and increasing productivity<\/strong> and customer satisfaction<\/strong> through the reduction of variations in products and processes, providing organisations with a sustainable competitive advantage over time.<\/span><\/p>\n

      The Six Sigma methodology<\/strong> bases continuous improvement on two main indicators<\/strong>: the speed with which a process is performed (cycle time) and the number of errors that reach the customer (internal\/external). It consists of a robust design as well as establishing tolerances to define a standard and to know which products are or are not of sufficient quality to go to market.<\/span><\/p>\n

      The Six Sigma methodology is usually used to improve processes or products that already exist<\/strong> in the company and is based on the DMAIC<\/strong> method: define, measure, analyse, improve and control.<\/span><\/p>\n

      When Six Sigma is applied to processes or products that do not yet exist<\/strong>, it is based on the DMADV<\/strong> method: define, measure, analyse, design and verify.<\/span><\/p>\n

      TRADITIONAL METHODOLOGIES<\/span><\/h1>\n

      WATERFALL<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

      In software engineering, the waterfall methodology was named after the position of the development phases that seem to cascade “by gravity” towards the next phases, in a staggered manner.<\/span><\/p>\n

      It is the methodological approach that rigorously orders the stages of the software development process in such a way that the start of each stage must await the completion of the previous stage. At the end of each stage, the model is designed to conduct a final review, which is responsible for determining whether the project is ready to move on to the next phase. This model was the first to originate and is the basis for all other life cycle models.<\/span><\/p>\n

      This model began to be designed in 1966 and was completed around 1970.<\/strong> The main problem with this approach is when changes or modifications arise, as one has to go backwards in the life cycle. In addition, the results cannot be seen until very late in the project, so any change due to an error can mean a long delay as well as a high development cost.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \"Verification<\/p>\n

      V- Model<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

      The V-Model<\/a>\u00a0first appeared at Hughes Aircraft<\/strong>, circa 1982<\/strong>, as part of the pre-proposal effort for the FAA Advanced Automation System (AAS) programme to replace air traffic control system hardware and software, providing new automated capabilities to cope with the increase in air traffic control.<\/span><\/p>\n

      The V-model is an SDLC (Software Development Life-Cycle) model in which the execution of processes occurs sequentially in a V-shape.<\/span><\/p>\n

      It is an extension of the waterfall model<\/strong> and is based on the association of a test phase for each corresponding development stage<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Prototyping<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

      A prototype is a preliminary version of an information system for demonstration or evaluation purposes. Requirements prototyping is the creation of a partial implementation of a system, for the explicit purpose of learning about system requirements<\/strong>. A prototype is built as quickly as possible<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

      Spiral<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

      Takes the advantages of the waterfall development model<\/strong> and the prototyping<\/strong> model and adds the concept of risk analysis<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Four activities are defined:<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Planning: where initial requirements or new requirements to be added in this iteration are collected.<\/span><\/li>\n
      2. Risk analysis: based on the requirements, we decide whether or not we are capable of developing the software and the decision is made to continue or not to continue.<\/span><\/li>\n
      3. Engineering: in which a prototype is developed based on the requirements obtained in the planning phase.<\/span><\/li>\n
      4. Customer evaluation: the customer comments on the prototype. If the customer is satisfied with it, the process is finished, if not, new requirements are added in the next iteration.<\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Incremental<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

        Allows the project to be built in incremental stages, where each stage adds functionality<\/strong>. These stages consist of: requirements, design, coding, testing and delivery.<\/span><\/p>\n