Quality Training Helps Integrate Quality Management System into Entire Organization to Drive Continuous Improvement

Carey Manufacturing has been supplying catches, latches and handles for military, aerospace, computer, electronics, telecom, automotive and consumer applications since 1981. The business is fully dedicated to manufacturing American made products, having re-shored manufacturing from China to their Cromwell, Connecticut, facility. The company produces high-quality products at competitive prices with reasonable lead times and dependable service. Contract manufacturing for CNC-machined parts and assemblies is available for modified and custom parts. All products are offered in metric and American standard dimensions.

Carey Manufacturing recognized the need and importance of having a dedicated quality resource at the company. Alison Carey-Lunch, recently appointed director of quality and external relations, was designated to lead the resurgence of the quality management system at Carey. She sought a learning experience that would provide her with quality principles and processes to give her the foundation and knowledge she would need to excel at her job while confirming what she already knew about quality concepts.

CONNSTEP, part of the MEP National Network™, recommended to Carey Manufacturing its quality essential program (QEP), a five-week highly interactive training course which covers: workplace skills; print reading for manufacturing; quality management system and basic audit skills; problem solving; and quality tools and techniques. Carey-Lynch leveraged her QEP coursework to determine how to set-up a QMS, breaking down clauses in their quality manual most relevant to their business, and implementing her news skills of blueprint reading and corrective action. She also found it useful that the instructors were familiar with the auditing process, knew the certification body process, and understood the certification process.

With a solid foundation of quality knowledge resulting from the QEP training, Carey-Lynch immediately put her new skills to work. She updated their management review process which made a big difference with the auditors, and updated their continuous improvement (CI) log, changing how things are input. The plan-do-check-act form was tied into their CI log. She did an overhaul of the management format from PowerPoint to Excel which helped with organization of procedures at Carey Manufacturing, categorizing how procedures work and making it easier to reference.