Moving quality ahead

Photo By Patrick Tremblay | More than two dozen senior quality assurance leaders prepare to meet for the first time Sept. 13 in Arlington, Va. The Department of Defense/Industry Quality Assurance Council includes representatives from DOD organizations and major contractors, and will focus on ensuring quality goods and services are produced for the department.  

ARLINGTON, VA, UNITED STATES

11.07.2012

Story by Patrick Tremblay 

Defense Contract Management Agency

ARLINGTON, Va. - Recently, senior quality assurance leaders from the Department of Defense and industry met together, a result of efforts by the Defense Contract Management Agency’s Quality Assurance Directorate.

“The question for me when we set up the Quality Assurance Directorate was: How do we establish a community of practice and expand it out?” said Michael E. Shields, Jr., executive director of DCMA Quality Assurance.

Shields and his team have worked over the past few years to strengthen DCMA’s quality focus. About one third of DCMA’s workforce is dedicated to ensuring goods and services meet the level of quality outlined in contracts.

The full-day quality council meeting in Northern Virginia was the next step for Shields, bringing customers, suppliers and trade groups into the expanding community of practice. Present were senior manufacturing quality representatives from the nation’s largest defense contractors and trade groups. In addition to DCMA, the public sector was represented by quality personnel from the Missile Defense Agency, Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Air Systems Command, the departments of the Army and Air Force and the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense.

A Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt facilitator led the group through activities designed to clarify the council’s charter and refine strategic objectives. At the end of the day, the group had identified a number of projects for immediate and future efforts.

Shields said he was thrilled to see the first meeting being held. “I think this council has the potential to do some really great things,” he said. "We have a golden opportunity here to move the nation’s quality assurance program ahead by leaps and bounds. This is a vehicle for us to make a big difference.”

• Date Taken: 11.07.2012
• Date Posted: 11.27.2012 13:54
• Story ID: 98381
• Location: ARLINGTON, VA, US