QAD : PennEngineering Turns to QAD EQMS to Standardize Quality

It's a typical story we see all the time, in almost every industry - as an enterprise grows, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions, it becomes obvious that each entity needs the same enterprise solutions to efficiently coordinate, communicate andmaintain quality. Trying a patchwork approach toquality management systems (QMS)is an exercise in futility. Forward-looking managers know that standardizing solutions across all divisions, plants and locations is a wise investment.

TakePennEngineering, for example - a global leader in the fastening industry.

Throughout its 75-year history, PennEngineering has been recognized as the go-to fastening resource for virtually every industry, from computers and electronics, data/telecom, medical, and automotive, to marine, aerospace/avionics and general manufacturing categories. Its self-clinching fasteners are the gold standard of the thin sheet fastening industry.

As the US-based company added strategic manufacturing and technical locations around the world, management knew it needed a standardized quality management solution to facilitate communication, add visibility and automate error-prone paper-based processes.

Like other global manufacturers, PennEngineering often has one plant acting as a supplier to another plant. Before implementingQAD's EQMS solution, the company lacked the visibility into how a supplying plant was dealing with quality issues and non-conformances, with no standard for corrective action. Sometimes internal suppliers needed more impetus to identify and fix problems. Audits uncovered situations that could turn into major problems.

"As these plants across the globe come in with different or even paper-based quality platforms, we need a standardized quality environment for all plants to be able to share information," commented Quality Control Program Manager Mike Payionk.

Implementing an Enterprise Quality Management System (EQMS)

Management wisely looked for an Enterprise Quality Management System (EQMS) to centralize and standardize all quality activities while delivering visibility and transparency.

The company launched QAD EQMS at 11 manufacturing plants across the globe.

"Having one system allows us to share corrective/preventative actions, documentation, and product launches seamlessly across the globe. This ensures that all plants within our organization are sharing best practices," commented Payionk.

The company also implemented three major features of QAD EQMS:

Advanced Product Quality Planning (APQP) and Product Part Approval Process (PPAP)

The company reduced the time it takes to create PPAP documents with the use of templates. The Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEAs) that tie to Corrective Action Preventive Action (CAPA) promote institutionalized knowledge of possible failures. Lessons learned from CAPA are archived.

Document Control

PennEngineering gained a single source of truth when reviewing and approving documents, including email notifications and escalations to keep the workflow moving. A comprehensivechange managementsolution ensures that a single change request includes all documentation, drawings, processes andAPQP documentation.

"It's brought clarity to all of our documentation. We've shared guidelines, work instructions and best practices across all locations globally - it's really opened up our ability to see what's happening on a plant level and a customer level. I don't have to call the plant in China from here in Michigan, I can just look at the system and see what's being applied and go from there. It's definitelyconnected all of the plantstogether," said Payionk.

Non-conformance Reporting (NCR) / Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA)

Now the company responds to non-conformances and issues alerts faster, and prints hold tags to the shop floor to isolate problems. PennEngineering has streamlined its disposition process. The company is also using embedded root cause tools to establish corrective actions that address the root causes, reducing repeat issues and ultimately improving the customer experience.

"QAD EQMS has built-in logic to help identify the responsible site and who the quality contact is at that location," added Payionk.

Global Best Practices

Among the many benefits of implementing QAD EQMS, PennEngineering has standardized its quality system across its global operations and thereby gained:

• Visibility into corrective/preventative actions
• Best practices, especially in APQP and foundational and family FMEAs
• Streamlined internal and supplier PPAP management
• Improved industry compliance, better documentation, and viable change management solutions
• Seamless visibility into product launches, improving new product introductions

"I know our handling of quality issues has improved because I can see it. Documenting quality issues in one single system has given us the ability to identify issues and correct them on a bigger scale. We have definitely seen a decline in customer issues over the last 3 years, because we're putting them in the system. They're visible. They're not buried somewhere," commented Payionk.

Read more about how PennEngineering improved its quality and customer experiences in thefull case study.