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MultiPurpose

Kinetic Multimedia Systems - Seaport Enhanced Quality

Kinetic Multimedia Systems, Inc is pleased to be a member of the SeaPort Enhanced Team, and to have the opportunity to provide engineering, technical, and programmatic support services.

Kinetic Multimedia Systems is a woman-owned small business that was founded in 1994 with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  At KMS, quality is paramount and we are committed to the continuing improvement of our business processes and to prioritize quality and performance excellence in everything we do, and our results demonstrate that commitment. Our key differentiators are the deep and broad experience of our people, our strong commitment to improvement and quality and our dedication to serving our customers’ needs.

KMS' Quality Assurance Management Plan

Integral to our management approach is comprehensive quality management. We expect quality performance from our employees and teammates and have established quality control (QC) (making sure the results of the work done is as per expectation) and quality assurance (QA) (making sure the processes are being followed and maintained correctly to ensure continuing quality) methodologies to facilitate and ensure this performance. Our QA/QC methods are thorough, organized, and iterative and are characterized by continual and open communication, internally as well as with our client.

Upon the issuance of a task order under this BPA, and once the Business and Technical Requirements Baseline, the WBS, the Schedule and Cost Baselines are created, we will establish a QC Plan in collaboration with the customer's Program Manager that will include a set of Acceptable Quality Levels (AQLs) for specific parameters that will depend on the nature of the task assigned. The QC Plan will include a schedule for testing the AQLs. This QC Plan and the AQLs contained within will then become the basis for managing the quality process.

KMS' QC processes are aligned with SEI CMMI standards, and focused on ensuring that the work products are delivered as per defined requirements, schedule, cost, standards and documented configurations. A key element of our QC process is software testing which is discussed in more detail in the Technical Approach section. We provide a short summary here as well:
A formal test plan will be created for major releases. Software testing for all application updates or new releases follows a rigorous methodology, with the following steps:

• Test cases and scenarios are built to mirror new functional requirements, and are used to validate compliance and perform regression, simulation, and load-balance testing as applicable
• Automated tools and procedures are used to maintain source control integrity
• Pilot implementation, when applicable, is used to verify functionality in a subset of a system’s user base prior to a whole system upgrade
• Data migration and technical re-engineering from legacy to new technology platforms includes additional quality validation

All software will be put through unit, system, integration, and acceptance testing as appropriate. We will confirm that software meets both design specifications and user expectations and that it adheres to any customer programming standards. Metrics such as the number of successful test cases, the number and type of defects found, system performance in accordance with requirements, are all examples of AQLs that may be included in the QC Plan and will be included in the quality section of our status reports. Our PM will sign the final deliverable transmission form to document that we stand behind the quality of our deliverable. This final Quality Control Certification by the PM will be a measurable artifact that the customer can use in production readiness SDLC gate reviews. Our PM will immediately notify senior KMS management and the customer's COTR of major issues that could adversely impact compliance with contract/task order performance, or that could significantly impact deliverables (e.g., schedule, scope, quality), along with a corrective action plan. If necessary, the PM may solicit the help of our QA Specialist (who is introduced subsequently) to develop and implement the corrective action plan.

KMS' QA process will operate as an independent function from the project team. It will be driven by a QA Specialist who reports to Harmonia’s Vice President and General Manager for Software Engineering and Best Practices, and who in turn reports to the Chief Operating Officer. The QA Specialist will perform independent reviews of the project team’s performance and its adherence to defined processes. This includes results associated with task and overall program deliverables, as well as cost and schedule performance. The QA Specialist also has the responsibility for identifying ways to eliminate causes of unsatisfactory results.

The QA Specialist will conduct periodic independent audits to determine whether standard processes are being followed, the task objectives are being met and the overall performance of the team in terms of schedules and costs is not compromised. The QA Specialist will review a random sample of artifacts that have been produced since the previous audit. The QA Specialist will then create a formal report for the KMS executive team, which will include identification of current and potential problem areas, recommendations on corrective actions and areas of compliance with standards. If any issues are identified, the PM will be responsible for implementing the corrective actions. The QA Specialist will work with the PM in this corrective process, helping to performing a root cause analysis if necessary via the use of tools such as Pareto diagrams, flowcharting, trend analysis, and fishbone (cause and effect/Ishikawa) diagrams to better understand the data and/or processes; and helping to prioritize corrective action strategies. The QA Specialist will re-inspect problem areas to ensure that the corrective actions have been successfully implemented, and have in fact resolved the problems. The corrective action process is summarized in Table 6.

Table 6: Corrective Action Plan
StepsTechniques
Perform root cause analysis to determine the cause of the issues This analysis is performed through brainstorming and using tools such as Ishikawa diagrams. The corporate Quality Assurance Specialist will be involved to help facilitate brainstorming sessions.
Determine alternative courses of corrective action to resolve the issue at hand This may include actions such as providing training, making process changes, altering communication channels, or employing new tools to automate processes and eliminate the potential for human error. The PM will make recommendations and obtain customer approval prior to executing any actions that could have any significant impact on operations or users.
Implement corrective action and re-check After the corrective action is implemented, the PM will ensure that we adhere to customer change management processes if applicable, update documentation, and communicate changes and outcomes to the necessary parties/stake holders.


The bulleted list below provides the various responsibilities each member of the team must shoulder to ensure effective QA/QC management.
QA Specialist:
o Establish QC standards, plan, procedures
o Perform monthly audits of performance data
o Perform periodic random audits of performance data and conformance to processes
o Identify current and potential problem areas
o Facilitate corrective action and process improvement analysis with project team
o Provide reports on project performance to Program Manager
o Ultimately responsible for enforcement of all QA standards
Program/Project Manager:
o Monitor project performance as a component of overall contract-level delivery and identify potential and current problem areas
o Identify process improvements
o Implement corrective actions to address problem areas
o Escalate major problems to the KMS Senior Manager and to the customer's COTR
o Submit semi-annual progress review reports by aggregating project-level data
o Take responsibility for delivery at the contract level
Subtask Leads:
o Monitor task performance and identify potential and current problem areas
o Identify process improvements within the task and across tasks
o Implement corrective actions to address problems at subtask level
o Escalate major problems to PM (or Senior Manager, in PM’s absence)
o Submit weekly and monthly reports on performance to PM
Team Members:
o Monitor performance of subtask activities; identify potential and current problem areas
o Help identify process improvements opportunities
o Help implement corrective actions to address problems at the task level
o Escalate major problems to the Subtask Lead (or PM in Subtask Lead’s absence)