How Software Quality Engineering and Design Quality Are Similar

REFLECTION: FOR STUDENTS: If your education looks as if it may lead to a point where you have interactions that involve a QMS, be sure to pursue at least a basic understanding of software, as that understanding will be gold in all future industry employment.

FOR ACADEMICS: AI and ML are coming, but it will be a while before any doctors or engineers are actively replaced, but it would be wise to teach your students how to think for yourself, not just rely upon the computer. Teach students to be the person who writes the program or qualifies the program, not the person who is told by the computer what to do.

FOR PROFESSIONALS/PRACTITIONERS: Learn all you can about the software world if you have not yet. If you are purely a Software Quality Engineer, get as much exposure to other quality systems to help open your mind up to different problem-solving pathways. Always be a lifelong learner.

Definition of Quality

There is no single definition of quality that has ever or likely ever will be agreed upon even in a single company, much less an entire industry or across industries, but the ISO/IEC/IEEE Systems and Software Engineering-Vocabulary (ISO/IEC/IEEE, 2010)

provides an excellent layout of every aspect of defining quality.

• The degree to which a system, component, or process meets specified requirements
• The ability of a product, service, system, component, or process to meet customer or user needs
• The totality of characteristics of an entity that bears on its ability to satisfy stated and implied needs
• Conformity to user expectations, conformity to user requirements, customer satisfaction, reliability, and level of defects present
• The degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements

           Each organization must decide what quality is, however, only a world-class organization will always be using the feedback from all stakeholders to evolve the organization’s definition of quality so that stakeholders are satisfied at every level.

Changes Are Coming

I have written a couple of posts about how Quality 4.0 and Industry 4.0 are here. However, based upon the fact that the Quality industry is in many areas still building the foundations of a Quality culture that will support Quality 4.0, there are likely to be many quality professionals who fall into one of three major groups.
Some may be in a state of denial or unawareness of the exponential growth level of the emerging technology and believe things will stay the same as they have for all these years. The next group is made up of those who are fully aware of the changes that are coming. The members of this group and are getting ready for the inevitable change. The last, and most likely smallest group (though I have no formal data, shame on me), would be those who know what is coming but actively do not want the change to occur.
The reason I believe that would be the smallest group would be the fact that the vast majority of quality professionals are problem solvers, change agents, and not comfortable with things just staying as they are. The old “If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it” axiom is the antithesis of the Quality mindset.

Software Quality Engineering

In the past few years, I have witnessed the medical device industry evolve rapidly. A few years ago, I saw DHFs (Design History File), DMRs (Device Master Record), and DHRs (Device History Record), all kept on paper in files in a locked room and carefully controlled. Quickly the entire paradigm shifted to Cloud storage of these documents with ultra-tight security, in addition to management of routing of document approvals moving from physical signatures to electronic signatures. I also witnessed software become officially regulated as medical devices (SaMD).

Software Quality Engineering is- The study and systematic application of scientific technology, economic, social, and practical knowledge, and empirically proven methods, to the analysis and continuous improvement of all stages of the software life cycle to maximize the quality of software processes and practices, and the products they produce. Generally, increasing the quality of software means reducing the number of defects in the software and in the processes used to develop/maintain that software (WestFall, 2016). Software development usually uses an Agile project management approach. Agile project management seems to draw heavily from the Lean philosophy, which focuses on creating better customer value while minimizing waste. Both philosophies emphasize fast deliverables. The emphasis of Lean is on reducing waste and unnecessary steps; however, Agile emphasizes breaking large tasks into small ones and delivering in short sprints. Both Lean and Agile use some sort of an action loop. In Lean, this is the build-measure-learn cycle, while Agile’s scrum methodology uses an iterative sprint approach (L. Allison Jones-Farmer, 2016).

At the end of each iteration, the goal would be to have a working example demonstratable for stakeholder review and feedback so that any issues with correctness or quality can be addressed in the next iteration (WestFall, 2016).

Traditional Design Quality

Design Quality from the manufacturing perspective aligns closer to Crosby’s viewpoint of the need for a well-defined specification against which to measure quality. One of the things about the fast-changing Quality world is that software is less about the reproducibility to spec and more about innovation. As the manufacturing world has found itself thrown into a massive acceleration in the last few decades, traditional design perspectives have been re-evaluated. Engineering tools like TRIZ have been employed to help spur innovation in design and problem-solving. Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) shifted product design away from just doing it right the first time toward robustly employing QFD to obtain the voice of the customer. The best DFSS process for a new design (in my opinion) would be the IDOV method- Identity (obtain VOC & CTQs), Design, Optimize, Validate. At the Validate stage, a prototype is tested and validated, with risks thoroughly analyzed (and as required, sent back to an earlier stage if validation is not accepted) (Kubiak, 2017). I have seen more and more manufacturing operations learning to use agile methods for design, frequently combining Agile with Lean, Six Sigma, or Lean Six Sigma depending upon the culture and knowledge base. It is clear that as software, apps, and AI become integral parts of product and production, the pace at which innovation must occur to meet customer requirements will continue to grow, perhaps eventually leading to a permanent fusion of Agile, Lean, and Six Sigma.

Conclusion

There are many other methodologies out there, like the waterfall mythology, which has lost a bit of popularity over the past few years to Agile methods, as well as CMMI, which I have heard conflicting reports on how compatible CMMI is with Agile. I would appreciate input from those in the software industry who can tell me firsthand how well CMMI and Agile work together. Software DevOps is effectively designing a product for stakeholders from ideation to operational release and monitoring/maintenance. Designing a physical item to sell on the market based upon the VOC using a QFD may be slower and use a more thorough investigation of the requirements and desired outputs (since you are addressing something tangible rather than an idea for a program). An idea that can provide value (software) is much harder to define in a neat specification box. Still, just like a DOE, you keep adjusting your settings and continue trying until you determine what factors are critical. Then you optimize the settings for your critical factors to obtain the best outcome based upon cost, functionality, and VOC. If you are worried about the coming changes, do not be worried, embrace the change, and be part of the change. Yes, in 20 years, we will all be behind a computer console writing code (if AI has not replaced al the Quality Engineers), but as long as you are looking forward, you will be moving in the right direction.

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Bibliography

ISO/IEC/IEEE. (2010). ISO/IEC/IEEE 24765 Systems and Software Engineering. Geneva, Switzerland: ISO New York, NY.

Kubiak, T. a. (2017). The Certified Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook Third Edition. Milwaukee: ASQ Quality Press.

L. Allison Jones-Farmer, P. T. (2016, 10). asqstatdiv.org. Retrieved from ASQ: http://asq.org/statistics/2016/10/agile-teams-a-look-at-agile-project-management-methods.pdf

WestFall, L. (2016). The Certified Software Quality Engineer Handbook 2nd Edition. Milwaukee, WI: ASQ Quality Press.