Stories

Delivering quality work at every stage of a project is a vital component of the job KBR employees do each and every day for our internal and external customers. Project delivery is always challenging and requirements and objectives for quality performance excellence must be maintained and never compromised no matter the project site or office location in the world.

Over the past several years, KBR’s Energy Solutions business unit has led the charge in promoting Defect Free Delivery, the company’s quality culture initiative aimed at creating an environment where employees live quality values in all of their actions, beyond what is directly outlined for them. In a true culture of quality, employees not only follow quality guidelines but also see others take quality-focused actions, hear others talk about quality and feel quality all around them – all supported by quality culture champions who rally others to do the same.

Today, the initiative is in action on a global level throughout the Energy Solutions business and has produced significant improvements in Quality Performance Ratings (QPR) over the last three years. Overall QPR has improved from 88.69 in 2017 to 35.68 in 2018 to 7.34 in 2019. That is a vast increase in performance as a direct result of the commitment made by every KBR employee to deliver the projects and the schedules that our clients need with the quality that the KBR vision demands.

“At the heart of Defect Free Delivery is an emphasis on a continuous, personal relationship with quality," said Alan Ferguson, Director, Global Construction Quality. “It combines personal attitudes as well as behaviors necessary to drive defects out of work practices, products and services.”

This upward trend in quality performance can be attributed to KBR’s Key Quality Cultural Drivers: Leadership Emphasis, Employee Ownership, Peer Involvement and Message Integrity. These four ideals are the foundation of KBR’s quality culture and come with a proven track record of success throughout the Energy Solutions business.

“Since the inception of Defect Free Delivery, we have experienced great improvements in the overall quality environment due to acknowledgement and support of the Leadership and the empowerment of our workforce,” Ferguson continued. “The relationship with Quality has begun to root itself in the fabric of our daily activities, exemplified in our attitudes and behaviors and is being reflected in the quality and delivery of our products, both internally and externally.”

“At KBR, we pride ourselves on our commitment to delivering quality work that is efficient, on-time, within budget and with Zero Harm as our top priority,” said Stuart Bradie, KBR President and CEO. “Simply put, the principles supporting Defect Free Delivery – A KBR Quality Culture, are good business that we should all strive to embody.”

KBR’s commitment to Defect Free Delivery is and always remains unwavering no matter the challenge or circumstances surrounding project execution.