NASA ARC Internal Memo: Response Quality Audit, Assessment, and Review (QAAR) Failure

From: Biswas, Rupak
Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2016
Subject: Why Quality is Important

Code T Staff,

You are probably all aware that our Center failed the Quality Audit, Assessment, and Review (QAAR) last June. Conducted by the NASA Safety Center (NSC), QAAR identified widespread Ames non-compliance with Agency quality requirements, including repetitive, systemic, and critical deficiencies that put into question the integrity of mission-critical hardware. As a result, the HQ Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA) no longer endorses Ames’ Quality Management System as suitable for conducting critical and complex work for NASA. This is REALLY BAD.

Why and how did this happen? Over the past several years, the Center steadily eroded personnel and funds that were devoted to ensuring quality. The problem was exacerbated by decentralizing Quality functions to the performing organizations, without guidance and knowledge of what needed to be done. The Center’s internal audit programs decayed, and the environment gradually became lax over time.

In response, the Center is reinvigorating the Quality Management System and emphasizing the need for everyone to be actively involved. We must have good and effective Quality processes for all the work we do at Ames and then rigorously follow them. In other words, we need to instill a culture of sustainable Quality across the Center – such a culture must be both wide and deep. Each person must be fully vested – there are anecdotal reports that some may not take this matter seriously, believe that Quality processes do not apply to their work, or may seek loopholes to avoid Quality control. We must understand that such attitude is absolutely unacceptable and therefore need your unwavering support and dedication to make headway towards building a robust Quality Management System. Our Directorate is well represented on the Center QAAR IPT, and many others have played and continue to play an important role to make this critical effort successful – I would like to personally thank all of them on behalf of the Center.

This coming week, we will be hosting some representatives from OSMA and NSC who will be evaluating our progress towards addressing the critical non-conformances that were found by the QAAR. A robust Quality Management System depends on strong management commitment and the HQ team will be looking for us to demonstrate that commitment. I will be joining a meeting with them on Tuesday (March 22) where I will give my opinion about why Quality is important to Code T. Given the scope and size of our Directorate, we have a significant impact on the Center. Our technical work touches numerous programs and projects throughout NASA. it is therefore important that everyone in Code T understand WHY QUALITY MATTERS. Quality must be an integral part of doing business in our organization. Non-compliance is not an option – if we continue to do so, we will soon be completely shut out of all significant mission-related NASA work. We will not be able to take advantage of our Center’s core competencies and critical facilities if our Quality processes are questioned.

Please make a commitment to take the QAAR findings seriously, and help develop and implement a new Quality Management System. Thank you for your focus on following our Quality processes, improving them as needed, and keeping us efficient and effective in all our work.

Rupak

Rupak Biswas, PhD
Director, Exploration Technology Directorate
Manager, High End Computing Capability (HECC) Project