Old K says every week – Talking about things in the petrochemical design industry. Post 8: Design Management – Design Quality Management

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Old K says every week – Talking about things in the petrochemical design industry, Post 8: Design Management. In design quality management, project management involves three types of control: quality control, schedule control, and cost control. There is also safety control, which has also been highlighted as being very important at present. The same is true for design management, which also relies on control in these four aspects. Creating a high-quality design piece truly requires a great deal of effort. Large and medium-sized design institutes all have their own quality management system documents, and they have all passed the ISO9000 certification process and obtained such certification. Many small yards also have a basic quality management system. Introduced to China from the West in the 1990s, ISO9000 has played a role in improving quality. However, the implementation of this standard was later distorted to some extent: certification companies sought to make money, while engineering firms aimed to obtain projects more easily – each acting in accordance with its own interests. Many companies do not truly invest effort in the actual implementation of quality management; instead, they focus on superficial measures in order to obtain certifications. Quality management should originally be a voluntary action on the part of enterprises – it should be something that companies choose to carry out on their own. Yet these days, in many cases, it is others who require companies to implement quality management, turning a proactive approach into a passive one. The same is true for environmental protection and safety; it has turned into a cat-and-mouse game between enterprises, with significant costs incurred on various preventive measures yet little tangible result. Quality control in the design process includes the following aspects: 1. Design planning – determining the various activities that need to be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the contract, clarifying the scope of work, planning the schedule, defining internal and external interface relationships, allocating responsibilities, and establishing rules for project design as well as control standards. 2. Design input control – Review the requirements specified in the contract and its attachments, as well as any changes requested by the customer during the design process ； - Confirm and fully understand the basic information provided to the customer ； - Clarify or confirm the technical standards and specifications adopted ； - Confirmation of the accepted conditions for various devices (external) and those for various specialties (internal) ； - Verify other design input documents: 3. Organizational and technical interfaces of the design; 4. Control of design outputs. When designing technical documents are produced and archived, the responsible professional shall conduct reviews in accordance with regulations to ensure that: – The design outputs meet the requirements of the design inputs ； - The composition, content, depth, format, numbering, etc. of the output design documents meet the requirements of the design planning ； All levels of signatures on the design documents are complete ； - The design documents have undergone the necessary review processes, and any inconsistencies and contradictions have been resolved ； - If there are any unresolved issues in the design, design memorandums should be prepared, etc. 5. Design review: Based on the characteristics of the project and the \"Design Review Regulations,\" the project manager is responsible for organizing the development of a design review plan and carrying out the review; review records must be kept, and progress regarding the implementation of the review results must be monitored. 6. Design verification: Design verification is the process of ensuring that the designed product meets quality requirements through review and approval of that product. The basis for design verification includes design input documents, review conclusions, contract changes, and modifications from upstream professional designs. 7. Design confirmation refers to the review meeting held at this stage, with the participation of the customer, patent holders, etc., after the delivery of the documents from the overall design phase – this meeting constitutes the design confirmation activity for that stage ； 8. Design changes During the design process, the following changes should be controlled: – Changes resulting from the design review process; – Changes arising from verification, audit, approval, and joint signing ； - Changes caused by variations in design conditions ； - Changes caused by the customer. In addition to the above quality control processes, for a design project, the reliability and advancement of the technical sources, as well as the overall technical proficiency of the designers, are also very critical factors. Lao K says every week – talking about things in the petrochemical design industry. For previous posts, please see the links below: Post 1: The development history of China’s survey and design industry https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3031149-1-1.html Post 2: **Management of the survey and design industry** https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3036417-1-1.html Post 3: The development of drawing technologies in design institutes https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3039960-1-1.html Post 4: The evolution of professional divisions in petrochemical design institutes https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3045261-1-1.html Post 5: The organizational structure of petrochemical engineering companies https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3050591-1-1.html Post 6: Contract management in design management https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3054762-1-1.html Post 7: Management of basic design data in design management https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3058184-1-1.html