Nonconformance Elimination as a business - Service - Software

[Jim Biz]

Hi everyone

Another fine mess I;ve gotten myself into

My working partner & I are consulting with a business firm whose sole purpose on the planet is reviewing new/revised contracts for nonconformance - making specification/drawing changes and preparing contracts for release.
(Ie- eliminating nonconformances as they work through each step of the process/project in question)

We are now attempting to write a procedure for nonconformance identification, isolation disposition recording etc.

Now all this is very clear to me from a "Hard Item" manufacturing viewpoint -- but given the "service only product" of the business in question my problem is this -- there seems to be no good way to identify a nonconformance and hold it for authoriized disposition without disrupting the entire way they do business.... (Each individual identifies and dispositions nonconforming items at each stage of the project -- thats what they are paid to do)

My question boils down to this "IF" a software company was set-up to "Debug" programs (not design or develop the program -- just fix & repair)
How would "the nonconformance issues be identified/isolated/recorded & dispositioned with authorization??

[Marc]

Originally Posted by Jim Biz

My question boils down to this "IF" a software company was set-up to "Debug" programs (not design or develop the program -- just fix & repair) - How would "the nonconformance issues be identified/isolated/recorded & dispositioned with authorization?

I'm not a software person per se, but I do 'watch' some aspects of software development. Actually, this software is constantly going through evaluation and includes feedback by users like me. I can't speak from the point of view of the actual corrective action aspect, but I can from the aspect of tracking changes and authorization. In fact, you can see the same thing at places like SourceForge. In my case, with vB, each file has a CVS tag.

A CVS revision tag refers to either a particular line of development, or a specific point in time. The first type are called "branch tags'', and the second type are called "release tags''.

This is a 'release tag' from last weekend from a file from the files I downloaded before I did the software upgrade:

/*======================================================================*\
|| ####################################################################
|| # Downloaded: 06:36, Sat Mar 12th 2005
|| # CVS: $RCSfile: index.php,v $ - $Revision: 1.132.2.2 $
|| ####################################################################
\*======================================================================*/

There is a 'bugs report' system where you can submit bug reports and they are available to 'the public' to view. See The Bug Tracker.

I use DreamWeaver for some html work and it has a built in tracking system for changes by different people, but I haven't noticed how the 'authorize' scheme is handled.

Don't know if this will help - Just a few thoughts.

[Jim Biz]

Thanks Marc -- - That method (or a variant of it) may be "part of the answer"

[Wes Bucey]

FWIW:
Folks who are in the process of reviewing and changing general documents of any kind (text, drawing, database) sometimes use a "redline" system of overlays on the original document. Each redline (alteration) is circulated to the approval team until all sign off on the redline which is then accepted as an approved change and added to the "working document" which continues to circulate, adding new redlines as it goes, until the team is ready to close the change/redline process and issue the document with all alterations (corrections)as a new version.

There are several brands of "collaboration software" which

1. maintain the original copy
2. keep an audit trail (history) of all redlines (who, date, exact redline)
3. automatically notify members of the team when a redline by any one member needs to be reviewed and approved by remaining members of team
4. send the final approved version to pertinent parties for incorporation into the business system of the organization (Document and/or Configuration Manager who distributes it as further required and who may trigger Associated Documents for review and possible update/redline activity.

Here's a list of features (typical) for one brand (brand name deleted since they are all similar)

Relationship Building
Searchable member directory
Member networking profiles
Who’s online with instant messaging
Private group workspaces and discussion areas
Private threads within online discussions

Collaborative Learning
Online meetings
Online discussions with group process tools
Integration of narrated PowerPoint presentations
Templates for collaborative learning activities
Integration of web conferencing tools such as LiveMeeting or Webex

Collaborative Knowledge-Sharing
Expert database
Idea/Innovation bank
Unlimited configurable databases for capturing & sharing structured data
Integration of digital stories (audio, video or narrated PowerPoint)
Document and link sharing
Full site-search including active and archived materials

Project Collaboration
Project management tools
Task management tools
Document version tracking
Document check-in and check-out
Individual, group and community calendars