USING STRUCTURED PROCESS IMPROVEMENT TECHNIQUES ON THE SYSTEMS ENGINEERING PROCESS

Abstract

AbstractContinuous process improvement is the hallmark of Total Quality Management. Structured techniques for process improvement are used within AT&T and they are documented in our Process Quality Management and Improvement (PQMI) Guidelines. AT&T Federal Systems (FSAT) has established a Quality Architecture that serves to organize the process management improvements using PQMI techniques. The Quality Architecture is structured around the Malcolm Baldrige categories.The Process Management Team (PMT) for Systems Engineering has documented a standard process for use throughout Federal Systems. The process uses standard metrics for measuring the effectiveness of process improvements. These metrics also provide data for estimating costs during project planning. This PMT has formed lower‐level PMTs for the Systems Engineering subprocesses of Systems Engineering Management, Risk Management, Requirements Definition, System Analysis and Optimization, Documentation, and System Integration. Each of these lower level PMTs is documenting standard processes, developing tools and templates, and analyzing process metrics to identify improvement opportunities. A Product Realization Process (PRP) defines the interaction and timing of all the processes needed for executing a program.This paper describes our Quality Architecture, PQMI techniques, process improvement results, and plans for more process improvement.