Quality—excellence delivered—is achieved through CDM's culture of high expectations and our rigorous program of quality management through leadership, processes, and training:
Leadership - Responsible for leading quality management at CDM, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer William S. Howard reports directly to the CEO and serves on the Board of Directors. With the support of a network of quality managers in all business units, the CTO inspires, manages, and audits quality and client satisfaction firmwide.
Processes - CDM adheres to a rigorous and comprehensive quality management program, with detailed manuals providing procedures and guidelines to be followed in the execution of all CDM projects. In addition to the standard quality manuals and project technical reviews, we've made continuous quality monitoring an important part of our culture. We gather client feedback through client audits and a client satisfaction questionnaire, and we conduct monthly quality reviews of all projects. These regular measurements keep us on top of quality issues. We also share lessons learned as a process for continuous improvement.
Elements of quality management for each project include:
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Project management plan
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Project quality management session
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Independent technical review committee
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Assigned lead practitioner
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Quality assurance checks
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Continuous quality monitoring
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Standard project close-out procedures
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Client satisfaction surveys and audits
Training and Certification - Through CDM University (accredited by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training), CDM provides focused training programs for our client officers and project managers. And we have rigorous certification programs for both these roles to be sure these client service leaders meet high standards and deliver quality in every task.
The work of our technical staff is just as important to quality. CDM has CDM University courses and an enhanced technical career path for engineers, scientists, and other technical specialists who keep CDM at the forefront of new technologies—and who contribute so much to the quality of our technical work. Along with our network of technical disciplines, the path provides the framework for developing and advancing our technical staff, while leveraging and sharing the firm's knowledge.