To provide quality that satisfies our customers, NSD aims to improve quality and productivity by way of a continuous implementation of the PDCA cycle through three initiatives: quality management based on quality guidelines, process improvements through the rollout of a standard process, and human resource development through various training programs.
We have established the Quality Support Department as a specialized unit in charge of quality management, and the Technology & Process Support Department as a specialized unit in charge of process improvements and technical skills training.

Based on quality guidelines, NSD evaluates and improves quality in every phase and process, from project estimates to delivery. For projects over a certain size, members of the Quality Support Department are given exclusive responsibility, and together with the departments in charge of development, work on quality assurance activities.

Project flow for quality evaluation and improvement

As part of our efforts for process improvement, we have established an NSD standard process which is being rolled out across the Company.
By using the NSD standard process, we are working to standardize the work procedures and templates used at the development site.

Configuration

The NSD standard process consists of organizational manuals and templates to use in projects. The manual that forms the basis of the NSD standard process is the Project Implementation Manual.

Configuration of the NSD standard process

In addition to basic training programs for employees based on their experience in the Company, to develop its human resources NSD has prepared training programs centered on the development of project managers and training aimed at improving technical skills. Through these efforts, we are striving to further improve quality and productivity to meet customer expectations.
In particular, we are actively developing our human resources with an emphasis on project management. We are encouraging our employees to obtain Project Management Professional (PMP)®* certification with more than 10% of our employees having already gained this qualification.
Furthermore, we are approved by the Project Management Institute (PMI)®* in the United States as an Authorized Training Partner (ATP).

Training model

At NSD, we define the successful elements of a project in terms of achieving the five elements QCD+CE, and we proceed with a project with these elements in mind.
We define the three basic elements of project success as: Quality, ensuring the quality demanded by the customer; Cost, achieving the target productivity; and Delivery, meeting not only the delivery date to the customer but also the completion of each process. We have also defined two additional elements of project success as an organization: Customer satisfaction, the aim to satisfy our customers; and Employee satisfaction, improving the technical skills and giving growth to members of a project. At NSD, our aim is to ensure we achieve all these five elements in every project.
To achieve this, we set goals from the perspective of QCD+CE in the project planning phase, and check progress against the goals through milestone reviews during the course of the project. Furthermore, at the end of the project, we review it and evaluate whether we achieved our goals in an effort to improve project quality.

The five elements of project success

NSD is rated by CMMI, one of the world's leading standards for measuring software development capability. For more details, please visit our page on External Accreditation.