QA Program

Quality Assurance

SoBran’s Quality Management System (QMS) supports the ISO 9001:2000 standard and is based on ISO’s core quality management principles, as summarized below. ISO 9001 certification has become the international reference for quality requirements and is the preferred solution for over half a million organizations in 159 countries.

Quality Management Principles

1. A Customer-Focused Organization. We depend on our Customers and therefore should understand current and future Customer needs. We will meet Customer requirements and strive to exceed Customer expectations.
2. Leadership.  Our leaders establish unity of purpose and direction of the organization.  They should create and maintain an internal environment in which people can become fully involved in achieving the organization’s objectives.
3. Involvement of People. People at all levels are the essence of an organization and their full involvement enables their abilities to be used for the organization’s benefit.
4. Process Approach. Desired results are achieved more efficiently when related resources and activities are managed as a process.
5. System Approach to Management. We will identify, understand and manage a system of interrelated processes for a given objective of improving our effectiveness and efficiency.
6. Continual Improvement. Continual improvement will be a permanent objective of our organization.
7. A Factual Approach to Decision Making. Effective decisions will be based on the analysis of data and information.
8. Mutually Beneficial Supplier Relationships. Our organization and our suppliers are interdependent, and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value.

Quality Assurance Documentation

SoBran provides quality assurance by developing and implementing a tailored quality control program for each of our contracts, that is aimed at continuous performance improvement over the long term.  In developing our QA program, we focus on our customer’s needs, desires, and preferences, while addressing the quality requirements of the specific contract. 

Our ISO 9001:2000 compliant approach to quality assurance will promulgate the SoBran Team quality controls, standards, procedures, and techniques. The program comprises four specific levels of quality documentation.

• Quality Control Plan (QCP) constitutes the first level of the quality system documentation hierarchy.  The QCP is a contract level document that provides the basis for implementing and maintaining the quality system, defining the quality approach in broad terms.
• Quality Assurance Procedures (QAPs) comprise the second level of the quality documentation hierarchy.  QAPs are technical in nature and provide detailed descriptions of the quality control activities to be performed, methods of accomplishing required activities, and specific individuals responsible.
• Work Instructions constitute the third level of the quality documentation hierarchy, and are developed for all unique and identifiable tasks called out in the Project Work Statement (PWS).  The instructions will incorporate inspection requirements based on performance thresholds in the PWS.  Work instructions are specific in nature and follow a common format.
• Quality forms and records are the fourth level of quality documentation and are used to document results of quality audits.

Quality Awareness and Continuous Quality Improvement

Employee quality awareness is an inherent benefit when quality responsibilities and accountability are driven down to the lowest levels of an organization.  When managers and employees are asked to generate the work instructions that define how they consistently perform their tasks, they become “owners” of the process.  Our QCPs emphasize defining performance metrics, collecting and analyzing metrics data, posting the results, and generating feedback – helping make our employees fully invested in quality assurance and continuous quality improvement.