TOTAL QUALITY ENGINEERING PROCEDURES

We at Parker, Messana & Associates feel that quality assurance and control are essential elements to any project we are engaged to perform. Maintaining "total quality" is an ongoing objective at PM&A, and each project is continuously monitored with regard to the following criteria:

Meet Client Objectives

The starting point of any project begins with a clearly defined scope and schedule for the engineering phase of the project. Upon award of an engineering contract, PM&A meets with the client to review the project scope in order to fully define the client’s project objectives. On the basis of the client’s project milestone requirements, PM&A will develop a detailed engineering schedule in order to show anticipated engineering and design requirements for each aspect of the project, and provide a means of measuring actual progress for the project. In addition, PM&A utilizes the client’s system of standards, specifications, procedures, forms, etc., throughout the project in the preparation of drawings and documents. This enables effective client review of PM&A generated documents and drawings, due to their familiarity with the systems currently in use at the mill site. Throughout the duration of the project, PM&A will maintain clear and open channels of communication with the client. As a matter of standard project procedure, PM&A employs the use of confirmation records and minutes of meetings in order to document communications with all parties on a project. The purpose of this documentation is 1) to avoid misunderstandings, 2) to inform others who may not have been present, but are impacted by the information and, 3) to provide a permanently documented confirmation for future reference. Distribution of confirmation records and minutes will be in accordance with the procedures established at the onset of the project. In addition, PM&A will request periodic project review meetings in order to review scope, document submittals, vendor proposals, schedule and other issues with the client. Each of these tasks is performed on a continuous basis throughout the duration of the project by PM&A personnel, in order to insure that the client’s objectives for the project are achieved.

"Zero Defect" Engineering and Design

All of PM&A’s technical staff strives for "zero defect" engineering and design on projects. This process starts with experienced personnel who are qualified to perform the work at hand. In addition, communications between these personnel is essential to perform the project in an effective and efficient manner. PM&A insures that all personnel on the project team are fully informed through the use of regular project meetings and daily communications between each team member. These communications will include design criteria, client generated information, and vendor data. All project team members will have access to the project records and documents through our central document filing system in which all project documents are filed according to an established protocol. In addition to the individual attention and accountability each team member has for the design under their responsibility, PM&A has detailed checking procedures in place for the review of drawings, specifications, calculations, and other documents generated for the project. In addition, PM&A utilizes in-house peer review teams to ensure the technical quality and content of the design being provided for each project. Employing the extensive background of experience of the PM&A project team, each design is also reviewed with regard to constructibility and operations.

Clearly Defined Procedures

At the onset of a project, PM&A prepares a Project Procedures Manual which describes the technical and clerical requirements of the project, including transfer of engineering information, receipt and control of vendor documents, document transmittal and distribution, document approval responsibilities, project communications, client systems, project organization, project schedules, and other pertinent requirements. The Project Procedures Manual ensures that all parties on the project team follow the same procedures throughout the project in the preparation and communication of information. It also ensures that consistency is maintained in all project procedures and makes efficient use of project team member time by clearly defining project requirements.

Effective Project Management

PM&A’s project managers work to ensure that the project team is well coordinated and fully informed of all project requirements. In addition, PM&A project managers continuously monitor scope, project cost and manhour status, and project engineering schedule. Changes to the project scope are identified and documented to the client through procedures already in place. Project manhour and cost status are regularly reviewed by the project managers on a bi-monthly basis in order to track engineering and design progress against scheduled projections. The project engineering schedule is continuously monitored for engineering progress and project milestones, for each aspect of the work, in order to ensure that scheduled objectives are met. In addition, PM&A will submit regular project status reports to the client to keep them fully informed of project status and cost.