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Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP)

WVMEP ISO Assistance Spurs New Investment at Phillips Machine

With the help of: West Virginia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (WVMEP)

About

Phillips Machine Service has grown to be one of the largest full-service companies of its type in the world. Since Phillips began operation in 1976, the company has set the pace for equipment service and support. Today Phillips is an OEM and is involved in almost all phases of mining equipment, including rebuilding continuous miners, roof bolters, scoops, and feeder breakers; remanufacture of shuttle cars; repair and remanufacturing of cutter drums; as well as the sale of used equipment.

The Challenge

Phillips of Beckley, West Virginia, was seeking support to provide objective and independent evaluations of their quality management system. Their customers require ISO 9001 certification so the business is dependent upon having a strong, sustainable program that not only ensures  that customers are receiving the best products possible but also gives Phillips an outside perspective on the performance of the system. Phillips hired WVMEP, part of the MEP National Network™, to conduct internal audits on behalf of their own management team, assist with development of corrective actions to resolve findings resulting from the audits, support the effective closure of the corrective actions, enhance the documentation process and provide guidance in preparation of the third party registration and surveillance audits.
Quality is the key factor to the success of Phillips.  WVU Industrial Extension (WVMEP)'s assistance in this area was invaluable.  Their professionalism, knowledge, and support guided our team to the results we wanted.  I and others at Phillips would highly recommend the WVU Industrial Extension (WVMEP) to anyone and look forward to a long working relationship with them.
— John Jones, Quality Manager

MEP's Role

WVMEP conducted internal audits that identified system weaknesses that were mitigated through corrective action ensuring customer orders were fulfilled with solid controls and accuracy. Corrective actions were used to assess other areas of the operations to ensure that potential system gaps were avoided leading to improved sales and operational costs savings. Through the conduct of audits, education was provided to the individuals being audited as well as the teams involved with conducting root cause analysis on the audit findings. 

These hands-on training efforts were seamlessly integrated into the process itself which saved training investments that would have required classroom attendance and downtime in production with having employees off the shop floor. The results of audits and corrective actions were discussed during formal management reviews where leadership assessed the effectiveness of the quality management system to identify opportunities for investments in new products and improved processes. The data gathered through the audit process directly drove management decisions including the need for improved equipment and software.

Created February 2, 2021, Updated July 12, 2021