Ex.3. Find where in the text it is said about the points given below.

1. the essence of QA;

2. principles included in QA;

3. software quality assurance;

4. general requirements for the competence.

 

Ex.4. Find the terms in the text which designate the following:

1. a way of preventing mistakes or defects in manufactured products and avoiding problems when delivering solutions or services to customers;

2. control focused on process outputs;

3. a means of monitoring the software engineering processes and methods used to ensure quality;

4. an international standard that specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and or calibrations.

 

Ex.5. Say if the following statements are true or false:

1. QA is the systematic measurement, comparison with a standard, monitoring of processes and an associated feedback loop that confers error prevention.

2. Quality control is the other name of quality assurance.

3. ISO 17014 is an international standard that specifies the general requirements for the competence to carry out tests and or calibrations.

4. Quality assurance includes two main principles.

5. There are 10 management requirements and 15 technical requirements.

 

Ex. 6. Answer the following questions:

1. What is quality assurance?

2. What is QA applied to?

3. What does QA refer to?

4. What is ISO 17025?

 

Ex. 7. Describe the diagram. Define the steps and components of the QA.

Ex. 8. Explain the two principles of QA.

Ex. 9. Prove that quality assurance is different from quality qontrol.

Ex. 10.Make up a plan covering the main ideas. Discuss the text according to the plan.

Ex. 11. Discussion points:

1. Give examples of applying QA in different spheres.

2. Discuss the situation with QA in Ukraine.

 

UNIT 4

Certification and accreditation

 

Exercise 1. Read and memorize the following words, words combinations and word-groups:

third party – третя особа

supply chain – канал постачання

certifier - організація, що видає сертифікат

parastatal -напівдержавний

guideline – норми, контрольна лінія

execute – виконувати

at a cost – за певні кошти

end consumer – кінцевий споживач

generic – загальний

transparent – прозорий

label – фабрична марка

backed up -підтриманий

consistent -який відповідає, який узгоджується

 

 

Certification is a procedure by which a third party gives written assurance that a product, process or service is in conformity with certain standards. Certification can be seen as a form of communication along the supply chain. The certificate demonstrates to the buyer that the supplier complies with certain standards, which might be more convincing than if the supplier itself provided the assurance.

The organization performing the certification is called a certification body or certifier. The certification body might do the actual inspection, or contract the inspection out to an inspector or inspection body. The certification decision, i.e. the granting of the written assurance or "certificate", is based on the inspection report, possibly complemented by other information sources.

Certification is always done by a third party. The verification is done and the assurance is provided by a party without direct interest in the economic relationship between the supplier and buyer. An internal control is a first-party verification. When a buyer verifies if the supplier adheres to a standard, it is a second-party verification.

ACCREDITATION

The system of rules, procedures and management for carrying out certification, including the standards against which it is being certified, is called the certification program. One certification body may execute several different certification programs. To ensure that the certification bodies have the capacity to carry out certification programs, they are evaluated and accredited by an authoritative body. Certification bodies may have to be accredited by a governmental or parastatal institute, which evaluates compliance with guidelines set by ISO, the European Union or some other entity for the operation of certification and inspection bodies. In addition, standard-setting bodies might accredit certification bodies for the scope of their particular standard. When the standard-setting body has developed normative standards, they will evaluate whether the specific standard used by the certification body is in line with the generic standard and whether they are satisfied with the method of verification.

Certification and accreditation comes at a cost. The implementation of standards usually requires investments, but sometimes results in a reduction in production costs in the longer term.

LABELS

A certification label is a label or symbol indicating that compliance with standards has been verified. Use of the label is usually controlled by the standard-setting body. Where certification bodies certify against their own specific standards, the label can be owned by the certification body. While the certificate is a form of communication between seller and buyer, the label is a form of communication with the end consumer. For this communication to be effective, the label must be meaningful. For the Consumers' Union in the United States of America, a meaningful label is not only backed up by a good certification system without conflicts of interest, but the system must also be transparent, information on the content and the organization behind the label must be accessible and there should be opportunities for public comment. The Consumers' Union also advocates that the meaning of the label must be consistent across the range of products that carry that label.

Exercises

Ex.2. Find in the text and put down English equivalents to the following word combinations:

Більш переконливо; письмова гарантія; інспекційний орган; акт огляду; економічні відносини; перевірка від першої особи; дотримуватися стандарту; безпосередній інтерес; органи, що встановлюють стандарти; авторитетний орган; впровадження стандартів; Спілка споживачів; значущий; громадське обговорення; лінійка товарів.