What is VE/VM....TVM ?
Traditionally, projects have been developed by generating a program of needs, using in-house staff, or hiring consultants to develop necessary documents, and subsequently award projects. However, there is no programmed input to implement any kind of quality control / value assurance program in much of the process. In most areas of the industrial field, e.g. computers, steel automobiles, aircraft, etc., formal quality control / value assurance programs are a basic part of their management process. For public and private organization in the Gulf area, very few similar formal programs have been implemented.
Value engineering (VE) is a methodology that is know, accepted and has an impressive history of improving value through customizing Quality and optimizing Life Cycle Cost (LCC). VE is an organized process that has been effectively used by a wide range of companies and establishments to achieve their continuous goals. The success of the VE process is due to its ability to identify opportunities to remove unnecessary costs while assuring quality, reliability, performance, and other critical factors that meet or exceed customers' expectation. The improvements are the result of recommendations made by multi-disciplined teams from all concerned parties.
Total Quality Management (TQM) “has been recognized and implemented by industries and governments all over the world as the management system which lead us to prosperity. TQM is a group of thoughts and principles that consists of series of methods, techniques and tools. TQM can be defined as “A cooperative form of doing business that relies on the capabilities of both labor and management, using teamwork, to continually improve quality, economy and productivity to complete satisfaction of the customer”.
Value Engineering and Quality
Unnecessary costs do exist in both private and public organizations due to so many factors such as lack of information, lack of ideas, temporary circumstance, honest but wrong beliefs, habits and attitudes, changes in owner requirements, lack of communication and coordination, and out dated or unsuitable standards, codes and specifications.
These factors are act as roadblocks to getting good value. The best way to overcome these roadblocks is by using the VE/TQM team approach. Individual efforts can be costly and inefficient. Management has learned that by involving more of their organization in the decision making process, significant improvements can be realized. The quality revolution has demonstrated that waste and inefficiency are unacceptable anywhere in the organization. Therefore, managing value and change is necessary to meet this difficult challenge.
Many characteristics of unacceptable qualities can be traced back to the approach taken during the design and management process. Application of Value Engineering with the TQM approach will more closely achieve the desired concept as a totally integrated effort toward improving performance of every process at every level.
Value engineering can improve decision-making that leads to optimal expenditure of owner funds while meeting required function and quality level. VE is a methodology that is comprised of many useful techniques that create change on purpose rather than letting change happen accidentally.
Total Value Management (TVM)
VE methodology is used to identify and initiate improvement that establishes an attitude and awareness of TQM. TVM is the synergy of both VE and TQM. TVM achieves better management of groups of disciplines than if the discipline were managed as discreet, independent entities.
