Managing Quality and Quality Improvement
David C. Elmendorf · AT&T Technical Journal · 1992
In 1986, the managers for AT&T's packet-switching services determined that development costs, development schedules, and number of defects needed to be improved to increase the competitiveness of these services. In response to the demands of the service managers for improvements, the Packet Switching Development Department began to work aggressively on all aspects of product quality. Over the ensuing five years, the packet-switching development team (i.e., service planning, systems engineering, and development) applied the principles of project quality management and improvement (PQMI) to all aspects of the development program. The results have been impressive. Product defects discovered after delivery of the product have decreased 80 percent. The cost structure has decreased more than 40 percent, and cycle time for the development of AT&T Accunet® packet services has decreased more than 50 percent. This paper presents highlights of the application of the PQMI principles to a real-life quality crisis. It emphasizes the role of management and customer focus in developing the quality-improvement program.