Quality Assurance and Performance Management Training Course

Participants can structure a quality management system around controlled processes and responsibilities.

• ISO 9001 process approach connects inputs, activities, outputs, customers, and controls
• Document hierarchy separates policies, procedures, work instructions, forms, and records
• RACI matrices assign accountability for quality planning, control, review, and escalation
• Controlled-document rules cover approval, versioning, distribution, retention, and withdrawal
• Process owners define operating standards, performance measures, risks, and review cadence
• Management-system boundaries distinguish internal processes, outsourced activities, and suppliers

Participants can convert customer and regulatory needs into measurable quality plans.

• Quality function deployment links customer needs to technical and process requirements
• Critical-to-quality trees break broad expectations into measurable performance characteristics
• Service-level agreements specify measures, thresholds, exclusions, reporting, and remedies
• Requirements traceability matrices connect obligations, controls, evidence, and process owners
• Regulatory and contractual requirements incorporated into quality planning assumptions
• Acceptance sampling plans match inspection risk, lot size, and quality levels

Participants can map an operational process and identify its key control points.

• SIPOC diagrams define suppliers, inputs, process boundaries, outputs, and customers
• Swimlane maps expose handoffs, approvals, queues, exceptions, and ownership gaps
• Control points positioned where errors can be prevented, detected, or contained
• Standard work documents specify sequence, tolerances, checks, and escalation triggers
• Failure demand traced from customer contacts back to underlying process causes
• Bottleneck analysis identifies capacity constraints, waiting time, and throughput losses

Participants can design meaningful measures for quality, productivity, delivery and customer outcomes.

• KPI trees connect strategic objectives with team measures and daily controls
• Leading indicators predict failures before customer impact or target misses
• Lagging indicators quantify defects, complaints, rework, refunds, and nonconformance costs
• Measure definitions specify numerator, denominator, source, frequency, owner, and target
• Balanced scorecards combine quality, delivery, cost, people, and customer measures
• Goodhart's Law tested when targets create unwanted behaviour or distorted reporting

Participants can assess whether performance data are reliable enough for management decisions.

• Operational definitions remove ambiguity from defect categories, timings, and classifications
• Data collection plans specify sources, sampling rules, validation, and retention
• Measurement system analysis assesses repeatability, reproducibility, bias, and resolution
• Attribute agreement analysis tests consistency between inspectors, reviewers, or assessors
• Data-quality checks identify missing values, duplicates, outliers, and coding errors
• Sampling bias assessed before drawing conclusions from complaints or inspection results

Participants can summarise quality data and present operational performance clearly.

• Pareto charts prioritise defect categories by frequency, cost, or customer impact
• Histograms reveal distribution shape, spread, clusters, and specification fit
• Run charts show trends, shifts, cycles, and unusual patterns over time
• Stratification separates performance by product, channel, site, shift, or customer
• Dashboard layouts distinguish executive signals from operational diagnostic measures
• Narrative commentary explains variance, root causes, actions, risks, and decisions

Participants can use control charts to distinguish common-cause and special-cause variation.

• Common-cause variation requires system improvement rather than individual blame
• Special-cause signals trigger investigation, containment, and documented response
• X-bar and R charts monitor variable data from rational subgroups
• p charts track proportion defective when sample sizes vary
• c and u charts monitor counts of defects and defect rates
• Control limits differ from customer specifications, targets, and management tolerances

Participants can evaluate whether a stable process can meet defined specification limits.

• Cp and Cpk indices compare process spread and centring against specifications
• Pp and Ppk measures assess overall performance using long-term variation
• Normality checks determine whether standard capability assumptions are appropriate
• Capability studies require stable processes, valid measurements, and rational sampling
• Sigma level interpreted alongside defects, opportunities, customer risk, and cost
• Capability results translated into priorities for tolerance, process, or design changes

Participants can conduct evidence-based investigations into recurring quality and performance failures.

• Problem statements define the gap, scope, evidence, impact, and timeframe
• 5 Whys analysis tests causal chains without stopping at symptoms
• Fishbone diagrams organise potential causes across people, methods, machines, materials, measurement
• Cause-and-effect matrices rank inputs according to outcome impact and control difficulty
• Is-is-not analysis sharpens problem boundaries before identifying probable causes
• Evidence verification confirms root causes through data, observation, testing, or records

Participants can manage corrective actions from containment through effectiveness verification.

• Containment actions protect customers while permanent corrective actions are developed
• CAPA records distinguish correction, corrective action, preventive action, and improvement
• Action plans assign owners, milestones, resources, evidence, and escalation points
• Effectiveness checks test whether actions eliminated causes and prevented recurrence
• Overdue actions escalated through defined governance, risk, and management-review routes
• Lessons learned converted into standard work, training, controls, or design changes

Participants can identify, assess and treat quality risks before failures occur.

• FMEA scores failure modes using severity, occurrence, detection, and action priority
• Process FMEA links each failure mode with causes, controls, and owners
• Risk registers record assumptions, triggers, treatments, residual ratings, and review dates
• Bow-tie analysis connects threats, preventive barriers, consequences, and recovery controls
• Control plans specify monitoring methods, reaction plans, frequencies, and responsibilities
• Risk appetite statements clarify acceptable exposure for quality, service, and compliance

Participants can plan and conduct internal audits focused on process performance and evidence.

• Risk-based audit programmes prioritise high-impact processes, changes, and recurring findings
• Audit criteria combine ISO requirements, internal procedures, contracts, and regulations
• Sampling methods select representative records, transactions, observations, and interviews
• Open questions obtain evidence about process execution, controls, and accountability
• Audit trails trace a requirement through records, decisions, outputs, and customer outcomes
• Findings classified as conformities, nonconformities, observations, or improvement opportunities

Participants can write clear audit findings and verify closure without accepting weak evidence.

• Nonconformity statements identify requirement, evidence, gap, location, and objective records
• Audit reports distinguish isolated errors from systemic control failures
• Root-cause expectations set before accepting proposed corrective action responses
• Closure evidence includes revised controls, completed actions, training, and performance results
• Follow-up audits verify implementation, effectiveness, and unintended consequences
• Trend analysis identifies recurring findings by process, cause, site, or department

Participants can quantify the financial impact of poor quality and prioritise improvement work.

• Cost-of-quality models separate prevention, appraisal, internal failure, and external failure costs
• Rework costs calculated from labour, materials, delay, inspection, and opportunity losses
• First-pass yield measures process effectiveness before correction or reprocessing
• Overall equipment effectiveness combines availability, performance rate, and quality rate
• Value-stream analysis identifies waste, waiting, overprocessing, defects, and unused capacity
• Improvement portfolios rank initiatives by impact, effort, risk, and strategic alignment

Participants can establish team routines that detect performance issues and drive timely action.

• Tiered meetings escalate performance barriers from frontline teams to senior leaders
• Daily management boards display safety, quality, delivery, cost, and people measures
• Visual controls make standards, status, abnormalities, and required actions immediately visible
• Escalation rules define thresholds, response times, authority, and communication channels
• Andon principles signal abnormal conditions requiring prompt operational attention
• Huddles review yesterday's results, today's risks, actions, and support needs

Participants can run management reviews that make evidence-based quality and resource decisions.

• Management-review agendas cover objectives, audits, complaints, risks, resources, and improvements
• Performance packs connect KPI trends with root causes, actions, and decisions
• Thresholds trigger management intervention before performance reaches unacceptable levels
• Governance forums distinguish operational decisions from strategic quality-system decisions
• Decision logs record commitments, accountabilities, deadlines, and required evidence
• Quality objectives revised when customer requirements, risks, capacity, or strategy change

Participants can introduce process changes while protecting quality, control and performance stability.

• Change-control requests assess purpose, scope, risks, approvals, and implementation impacts
• Pilot plans define success measures, sample periods, safeguards, and decision criteria
• Standard operating procedures updated after approved process or control changes
• Training matrices identify affected roles, competence requirements, and completion evidence
• Post-implementation reviews test benefits, risks, adoption, and control effectiveness
• Control plans refreshed when process inputs, technology, suppliers, or requirements change

Participants can build, review and present a complete quality performance management pack for a selected process.

• Selected process scoped through customers, requirements, boundaries, outputs, and ownership
• Performance scorecard integrates quality, delivery, productivity, risk, and customer measures
• Process map identifies control points, handoffs, failure modes, and escalation paths
• Evidence-based analysis prioritises variation, defects, root causes, and improvement opportunities
• CAPA and control plan specify actions, owners, verification, and review dates
• Management-review presentation justifies priorities, resources, controls, and expected benefits