Quality Assurance Plan

USmax Corporation (USmax) utilizes an established quality program called Qmax to ensure maximum quality at all times. Qmax encompasses four major goals: quality planning, assurance, monitoring and control, and improvement. These goals mirror the PLAN-DO-CHECK-ACT (PDCA) cycle, the operating principle governing our ISO 9001:2015-based quality management system (QMS). The QMS consists of the resources, standards, processes, and tools utilized in the definition, verification of output, discussion of error prevention, and refinement of activities and deliverables. USmax's QA Manager has a direct, independent path to the President & CEO of USmax.

USmax’s Quality Assurance Surveillance Plan (QASP) defines the techniques, procedures, and methodologies to ensure services and deliverables are error-free and in accordance with the performance objectives and within the acceptable quality levels (AQLs). The QASP describes how problems are identified, tracked, escalated as needed, and resolved; how resolutions are fed back to the appropriate entities; and how feedback is used to improve overall contract performance. The QASP translates the PDCA elements into specific objectives:

• Quality Planning (PLAN) – Identify quality standards and requirements for the contract and develop related assurance, control, and improvement plans; specify reporting and record keeping related to target quality levels; validate current quality initiatives and incorporate quality findings.
• Quality Assurance (DO) – Ensure all activities unfold according to standards and policies and that these are implemented correctly i.e. the right things are being done the right way and establish feedback loop between service outcomes and error prevention activities.
• Quality Control (CHECK) – Ensure services and deliverables are submitted and meet AQLs; enact processes for measuring deliverables; and, yield an audit trail for evaluation and reporting.
• Quality Improvement (ACT) – Foster continuous evaluation of alternative approaches and methods that can enhance service delivery

USmax works diligently, adhering to a consistent documentation and follow-up procedure, to resolve all identified issues. Further, our PM serves as the final authority for quality sign-off for all contract deliverables, with the objective of ensuring all reporting and contractual quality requirements are met. Our PM also collaborates with team partners to integrate quality practices for unified delivery. As part of the QASP, USmax undertakes quality control to monitor and measure the results of service delivery. We inspect tasks and deliverables against the AQLs established as part of the solicitation Performance Standards. To do so, we use a combination of constant (100 percent), periodic, and random inspection frequencies, tailoring monitoring schedules appropriately.

The quality monitoring and control provide our management with access to operational performance data and reports. Based on this information, our management is able to undertake assessments and perform analyses that verify that service outputs and deliverables meet AQLs. The primary metrics we use to track quality of service (QoS) are timeliness of notification/artifact delivery, count of rework instances, and count of defects.