defects, and their impact on the current operation. It
permits decisions to be based on facts rather than
intuition or memory. It provides comparative data that
will be useful long after the details of the particular
times or events have been forgotten. QA requires both
authority and assumption of responsibility for action.
A properly functioning QA points out problem
areas to maintenance managers so they can act to
accomplish the following:
Improve the quality, uniformity, and reliability
of the total maintenance effort.
Improve the work environment, tools, and
equipment used in the performance of
maintenance.
Eliminate unnecessary man-hour and dollar
expenditures.
Improve the training, work habits, and
procedures of maintenance personnel.
Increase the quality and value of reports and
correspondence originated by the maintenance
activity.
Distribute technical information more
effectively.
Establish realistic material and equipment
requirements in support of the maintenance
effort.
Support the Naval Aviation Maintenance
Discrepancy Reporting Program.
Support the Foreign Object Damage (FOD)
Prevention and Reporting Program.
QA serves both management and production
equally. Management is served when QA monitors the
complete maintenance effort of the department and
furnishes the factual feedback of discrepancies and
deficiencies. In addition, it acts to improve the quality,
reliability, and safety of maintenance. Production is
served by having the benefit of collateral duty
inspectors who are formally trained in inspection
procedures; it is also served by receiving technical
assistance in resolving production problems. The
introduction of QA to the maintenance function does
not relieve production personnel of the basic
responsibility for quality work; instead, that
responsibility is increased by adding accountability.
This accountability is the essence of QA.
RESPONSIBILITIES FOR QUALITY
OF MAINTENANCE
The commanding officer is responsible for the
inspection and quality of material within a command
and the full cooperation of all hands to meet this
responsibility. The responsibility for establishing a
successful program to attain high standards of quality
workmanship cannot be discharged by merely creating
a QA division within a maintenance organization. To
operate effectively, this division requires the full
support of everyone in the organization. It is not the
instruments, instructions, and other facilities for
inspection that determine the success or failure in
achieving high standards of quality; it is the frame of
mind of all personnel.
Quality maintenance is the objective. The
supervisor must know that high quality work is vital
to the effective operation of any maintenance
organization. To achieve this high quality work, each
person must know not only a set of specification limits,
but also the purpose for those limits.
The person with the most direct concern for
quality workmanship is the production supervisor.
This concern stems from the supervisor’s
responsibility for the proper professional performance
of assigned personnel. A production supervisor is
responsible for the assignment of a collateral duty
inspector (CDI) at the time work is assigned. This
procedure allows the inspector to conduct the
progressive inspection required so the inspector is not
then confronted with a job already completed,
functionally tested, and buttoned up. The completion
of production work is not a function of the QA
division. Production personnel in the added role of
inspector cannot certify inspection of their own work.
Direct liaison between the QA division and
production divisions is a necessity and must be
energetically pursued. Although the QA officer is
responsible to the aircraft maintenance officer (AMO)
for the overall quality of maintenance within the
department, division officers and work center
supervisors are responsible for ensuring that required
inspections are conducted and that high quality
workmanship is attained.
Q9.
What is the purpose of the quality assurance
division?
Q10. The prevention of the occurence of defects relies
on what principle?
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