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Capturing New Markets
With the help of: Enterprise Minnesota
About
Galaxy Precision, Inc. is a family-owned precision machine shop with capabilities of CNC milling, CNC turning, and Swiss machining manufacturer located in Albany, Minnesota. Founded in 1990 by Ralph Finken, the company has grown from a one-man machining company operating out of a small cement building to a 26,500-square-foot, 35-employee operation with 30 CNC machines. The company is capable of complete part manufacturing including cutting, plating, heat treating, and grinding in addition to milling and machining.
The Challenge
Galaxy Precision has built a strong reputation with its customers and maintains a history of quality products and attention to detail. Business was going well, and they were growing, but as they sought new customers, the leadership team found that being ISO 9001:2015 certified gave Galaxy Precision more opportunities at new projects and customers. They knew they needed to grow their business making specialized parts, and to be competitive they had to become ISO certified.
As they sought the best path for gaining the valuable certification, it became clear that doing it themselves would be too big of a task. They were busy and needed outside support to help them document every procedure, refine their processes, and navigate the ISO certification process.Since certification, we’ve been experiencing higher demand and have been able to take on new customers that we couldn’t get before. [Our consultant] was good to deal with and very patient through the process because we not only had to run the business, but also get certified at the same time.
MEP's Role
Enterprise Minnesota consultants, part of the MEP National Network™, met with the Galaxy Precision leadership team to discuss what an ISO 9001:2015 certification process entails and to learn more about the company. They started the work with a quality management system (QMS) assessment to gain a more complete understanding of Galaxy’s current state and identify any gaps in their processes. Using the assessment as a launching point, Galaxy Precision began the formal process of becoming ISO certified with the support of Enterprise Minnesota ISO experts.
Throughout the project, Galaxy needed to stay operational and managed to keep all their production lines up and running while completing the documentation and other requirements of the standard. After the Enterprise Minnesota project wrapped up, Galaxy was successful in passing their ISO 9001:2015 certification audit. By achieving this international standard, the company demonstrates excellent process efficiency and continuous improvement along with the ability to consistently meet customer requirements.