MTCSC Quality Assurance Plan for the SEAPORT-e

MTC's quality assurance process is integrated into each project. Each and every member of a task team has QA responsibilities. Program managers are responsible for structuring the technical group, managing schedules, and providing general program oversight such that the framework for achieving quality products and services is established and sound. Our engineers are responsible for employing skill levels and engineering practices which are inherently conducive to the development of quality products. For contract deliverables, we employ a formal set of policies, procedures and checklists for inspecting deliverables to ensure compliance with best practices and requirements specified in the task order.

During the last six years, MTCSC has delivered thousands of products to the government, and has never failed to fulfill the requirements of a task order or contract. Our track record vividly demonstrates that we deliver quality products and services to our government customers.

MTCSC Approach to Guarantee Responsiveness and Cooperation with Customers

We believe the key to responsiveness and cooperation is communication. Because most engineering programs are dynamic in nature, changes in goals, approaches, resources, or governing conditions are the rule rather than the exception. To minimize negative impact on work-in-progress, we endeavor to meet at least weekly with our customers via working group meetings, IPRs, or other appropriate forums to ensure constant and complete communications. By performing our work in tandem with the customer, each is assured that the right work is getting done the right way the first time, and that changes are being identified and managed as they occur. Our best guarantee of customer responsiveness and cooperation is a quality feed-back loop which enables the communication and cooperation process.

Providing technical support services is MTC's core capability. Customer satisfaction is our currency and our life-blood. MTC's entire organization, from the working level to the President is always wide open to the customer.

MTCSC Approach to Problem Resolution

MTCSC's track record of no cost overruns and no schedule or deliverable timeline modifications (with the exception of those occurring at the government's direction) is indicative of our careful, conscientious management controls, and is enviable within the industry. Two key factors ensure that our response to solving problems is both quick and flexible: (1) Our Program Managers are accessible to all customers, subcontractors, and employees, and they are vested with full decision-making authority; and (2) Problem identification and resolution is a priority of every task. A primary topic of weekly management and staff meetings is to keep both management and the technical team abreast of potential problems. If additional management input and/or technical expertise is required, additional company resources are made readily available. Problems are resolved quickly when there is adequate insight into project status and the proper authority and additional resources are readily available.

Corrective action is defined, initiated, and implemented based upon data collected during the task monitoring effort. Corrective action consists of any of the following steps, as deemed necessary:

• Define tasks and clarify responsibilities-unclear task definitions can contribute to poor personnel performance, missed milestones, and redundancy. When costs exceed planned profiles, methods such as clarification of responsibilities are employed to ensure timely task completion within budget requirements.



• Train Personnel-personnel may need additional training to complete their work effectively, learn new techniques and technology, and broaden skills.



• Reassign personnel or reallocate resources-reassignment of personnel may be necessary if a task, and the personnel assigned to complete it, are poorly matched. Reallocation of resources may be necessary to ensure timely task completion.



• Ensure schedules are maintained, reviewed, and understood-as a tool, schedules are critical to ensure timely completion of tasks; that impacts of incorporated changes are fully considered, understood, and minimized; and that progress is reported.

Utilizing project monitoring tools and methods in conjunction with these corrective actions, MTC's Program Managers and Task Leaders can identify and correct problems and deficiencies relative to meeting contract performance requirements. This process is iterative and on-going. We continuously monitor task performance: following implementation of a corrective action, if a trend of improvement is rapidly demonstrated, the process is continued with task monitoring. If the collected data or customer feedback does not demonstrate improvement, the corrective action process is repeated with identification of the recurring or new problem.

It cannot be emphasized enough that MTCSC is dedicated to rapid problem resolution if and when it occurs during the course of contract performance. Our goal is to provide superior support services. In any instance when our efforts go awry, we accept the responsibility for the problem and take any and all necessary actions to solve it. Quality products and customer satisfaction are our number one goal.