PTC - SeaPort-E Contract Quality Management

PTC maintains a company-wide commitment in providing superior services for all of our clients. As part of this commitment, PTC maintains a comprehensive Quality Program that includes:

A Quality Management System,
Contract and Task Order Quality Plans,
Internal and external quality assessments, and
Corrective and Preventative Action Programs

PTC Quality Management System

PTC implemented a Quality Management System (QMS) that is monitored to ensure its effectiveness and is continuously improved through process development. The QMS is maintained in accordance with the requirements of statutory or regulatory requirements, as required. Top management is committed to the development, implementation and the continual improvement of our Quality Management System. Evidence of this commitment is provided based on our:

established and documented Quality Policy,
defined Quality Objectives,
communicated customer requirements,
periodic Management Reviews, and
continuous availability of qualified resources.

Contract and Task Order Quality Plans

Throughout contract execution, PTC utilizes its established QMS to assign, control and integrate the performance of all Team member work. This plan has five major components:

procedures for planning and managing tasks that clearly define the roles of the Program Management Office (PMO) and Team member employees;
procedures for quick access to personnel to specify support requirements;
procedures for assuring Team member performance that include specific management tools;
procedures for managing Team member resources that include comprehensive reporting and performance analysis; and
procedures for allocating Team member personnel to ensure that “best value” personnel are appropriately assigned to tasks.

PTC’s workflow controls are firmly established in our QMS and include tools and systems designed to facilitate the production and timely delivery of quality services and deliverables. These controls are designed to keep the Program Managers and Project Leads abreast of changing requirements and schedules, and at the same time exercise effective cost control. A Task Management Plan is prepared for each task, identifying baselines for: schedule and milestones, manpower utilization, budget, deliverables, product quality criteria, inspection/testing requirements, materials management, training requirements, calibrated equipment needs, document and design control, quality records generation and maintenance, and other requirements for which performance can be measured. In addition, PTC’s QMS features independent customer satisfaction reviews by corporate management. Any instance of customer dissatisfaction on the contract will result in immediate executive management intervention until fully resolved.

PTC maintains a comprehensive subcontractor performance evaluation system that is used by the PMO to identify the types of challenges companies have faced previously and provide increased oversight in these areas on future tasks. As a required element of our task order proposal process, the PMO evaluates, and documents in the proposal, the specific levels and types of oversight to be applied to the task, ensuring that the client has the opportunity to review the approach prior to execution.

Internal and External Quality Assessment

Internally, PTC maintains a planned and implemented system to monitor, measure, analyze and improve business and quality related processes in order to continually provide customers with high quality products and services. This system provides information needed to:

ensure individual product and service requirements are met,
ensure that internal QMS requirements are being fulfilled, and
that the QMS is being utilized in the most effective manner possible.

Top management ensures customer requirements are determined and met with the main focus of improving customer satisfaction. Customer requirements and expectations are to be determined, defined, and documented at the beginning of any project. Compliance is assessed through monthly operational manager's performance reviews. At the conclusion of any project these requirements and expectations are to be validated, documented and reported to the appropriate authority in order to enhance customer satisfaction on future projects.

PTC also plans and implements internal quality audits at planned intervals to verify and assess the operation and effectiveness of our quality management system and to ensure compliance with ISO 9001:2000.

PTC also supports external quality assessments by its customers. Customer satisfaction data can come in many formats such as reports submitted by the customer or through customer surveys conducted by PTC personnel. As appropriate, visiting PTC representatives may conduct periodic customer satisfaction surveys with customer representatives to ascertain customer perceptions of quality, including:

Responsiveness to customer's requirements, needs, and expectations
Customer's access to appropriate levels of PTC management
Perception of PTC image as indicated by personnel behavior and professionalism
Problems encountered in people, products, schedules, hardware/software, media/communications, etc.
Quality service evaluation in terms of accuracy, completeness, and timeliness
Identification of incidents that may warrant commendations for PTC employees
Customers' future plans and expectations
Customers' own goals and objectives
Customers' suggestions for change or improvements

Any identified customer concerns are handled in accordance with PTC policies to:

Respond to customer within 48 hours, to acknowledge receipt of the customer concern, give any preliminary information available at the time, and assure the customer that the concern is being worked.
Determine the root cause of customer concern.
Implement appropriate action(s) to remedy the customer issue and document action(s) taken, format optional.
Communicate action taken to customer, and appropriate internal personnel.
Monitor effectiveness of action(s) taken to ensure issue(s) have been properly resolved, and document results.
Follow-up with customer to ensure action taken meets with their approval and satisfaction, and document customer response as objective evidence of issue closure.
Maintain and disseminate lessons learned to avoid problem recurrence.

Corrective and Preventative Action

PTC utilizes defined procedures for corrective action to eliminate the causes of actual non-conformances. Corrective action includes:

effective handling and review of customer concerns and reports of non-conformities.
analysis of processes, work operations, quality records, customer concerns and returned product to detect and eliminate root causes of non-conformities.
investigating the causes of nonconformities and implementing the action needed to prevent recurrence.
documentation of the results of implementation and recording of changes in procedures resulting form actions taken.
verification that corrective actions taken are effective.

PTC also utilizes established procedures for preventive action to help eliminate the causes of potential non-conformances. Preventive action includes:

identifying and utilizing appropriate sources of information for performance evaluation, such as process and operational failures, audit results, quality records, service reports, concessions, and customer concerns, which are used to detect, analyze and eliminate actual and potential causes of nonconformance.
planning the steps needed to improve processes that require preventive action.
executing the planned steps and applying controls to verify that the results are effective.
quality records of preventive actions are maintained.
confirmation that relevant information on preventive actions taken is submitted for management review and decision.