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One of the most common issues among manufacturing companies is the inability to permanently solve quality issues. Click here to download the program outline.

How many times have you put a solution in place to correct a quality issue only to have it pop back up weeks, or months later? Probably much more than you wish to share. Whether internal scrap and rework, customer returns or process improvement, this issue crosses all industries, but the more complicated the processes involved, the bigger the issue. The primary “root cause” of this is the lack of formal training in the process of root cause analysis. TRAC has created a customized RCA & 8D training program that will be branded to your organization and pay for itself in 30 days.

Reach out to schedule this root cause analysis and 8D training for your organization and start saving money and increase customer satisfaction.

Steve

920-841-3478

Steve@tracQMS.com

 

First, I would like to thank the 50+ clients that have believed in my company and enabled me to keep the business going strong heading into year 11. A special thanks to the number of customers that have been with me in various capacities since day one; your loyalty is greatly appreciated. I am also proud to announce a 100% certification track record with my clients across the international standards of AS9100/ISO 9001, ISO 13485, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, IATF 16949, and MIL-PRF-31032.

The company was founded September 30th, 2013, so while the actual 10-year anniversary was last September I am extending the celebration as there will be a special anniversary offer extended to all of my clients over the past 10 years. Separate emails will be sent out to these clients with details, but a summary of the offer is outlined below.

 

10-year QMS Upgrade

Every year I make changes to my core Quality Management System that improves, simplifies and increases efficiency. The system is also updated based on the constantly changing auditor preferences and interpretations of the standard(s). This will be a one-time QMS upgrade that incorporates all the improvements over the past 10 years and that can be accomplished over a one-month period via onsite and online meetings, including training to the new upgrades. Typical results are a 40-50% reduction in procedures, forms, tasks, etc., with an ROI of only 6-months or less. The number of clients in any given month will be limited to allow appropriate time to each client, but the offer will  be extended as many months as needed to accommodate all that are interested.

Once again, many thanks to my clients in helping to achieve this milestone, and I look forward to the next ten!

Steve

 

Contact me for all your quality needs

Steve@tracQMS.com

920-841-3478

PRESS RELEASE

The Right Approach Consulting

March 5, 2024

Hanover Park, IL

Elite RF receives ISO 9001 2015 Certification

I am proud to announce that client Elite RF, an industry-leading RF amplifier and generator manufacturer, has received certification to ISO 9001: 2015 from certifying body IAPMO SCB. The entire management staff put in a tremendous amount of work to make this certification happen, as evidenced by receiving zero findings in their initial certification audit. A special shout out to Deep Patel, VP of Operations, for spearheading the project internally and inspiring a quality culture throughout the organization.

Ami Patel, Chief Administrative Officer & Partner, stated: “Quality is important to us, and getting ISO 9001 certified validates Elite RF’s commitment to maintain a healthy quality system and assure we meet all customer requirements. Customer satisfaction is our #1 priority as stated in our Quality Policy, and ISO will help us hold that promise to our customers. Receiving ISO certification will help our customers know they are in good hands when ordering RF amplifiers or generators from Elite RF. Also, special thanks to Steve Williams of TRAC  for his guidance through our ISO journey.”

About Elite RF

Elite RF has a profound understanding and years of experience in RF/microwave power amplification technology. They focus on 3 product categories – RF Power Amplifiers, Solid-State High-Power Microwave Generators, and RF Ablation Medical Devices, as well as custom RF solutions. The company works diligently toward meeting the needs of its clients in industries such as medical devices, aerospace, military, quantum computing, particle technologies, communication, plasma-based applications (such as lab-grown diamonds, and semiconductor processing) plus many more. Please reach out to them at sales@eliterf.com to discuss your RF/microwave product specifications and they will closely collaborate with your team to develop your idea into a working product.

For more information go to: http://www.eliterfllc.com

Contact Steve for all of your QMS needs.

Steve@tracQMS.com

920-841-3478

In conjunction with the IPC, join me on this live Webinar Wednesday, March 13th, 2024. Sign up using this registration link to the webinar https://www.ipc.org/event/importance-good-pcb-design-package

 

 

 

 

 

 

Topics Include:

  1. Customer Service Representatives Are Not Engineers
  2. Netlist does not match the manufacturing data
  3. Impedance stackups do not meet impedance requirements
  4. Not using the appropriate material set
  5. Customized CAM adjustments
  6. Designer not understanding fabricator capabilities
  7. Inheriting a design from a competitor
  8. Overdesigning a PCB
  9. Unmanufacturable designs
  10. Lack of designer/fabricator engagement

 

Contact me at:

Steve@tracQMS.com

920-841-3478

Good leadership always makes a difference; unfortunately, so does bad leadership. This leadership truth continues as we will be talking about law 19 of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

Timing is Everything

How often have we heard this throughout our lives? Too often to count I would suggest.

We don’t have to look around us very far to find examples of both good timing and bad timing. In the context of leadership, there are really only four outcomes for any decision and the first three are a result of poor timing: … Click here to read the entire article http://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1479191-pcb007-sep2022/89?-3478

Contact me to begin your leadership development journey

Steve@tracQMS.com

920-841

Early in my career I had no idea what I wanted to do; I got into this business because printed circuit board manufacturing was the family business; back then it was just a starter job and I had no idea that it would turn in to a 47-year (and counting) career path.

After years of working, hearing both internal and customer complaints and noticing what things work and what did not, I began to find my groove and decided to position myself to make a difference and change the things I could influence. Click here to read the rest of the article http://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1464867-pcb007-apr2022/77?

 

TRAC is here for all your quality & leadership needs.

Steve@tracQMS.com

920-841-3478

Press Release

March 17, 2023

West Chicago, IL

I am pleased to announce that client American Standard Circuits has achieved certification to ISO 13485 for the medical device industry. This latest certification adds to ASC’s AS9100 Aerospace, ISO 9001 Commercial, IATF 16949 Automotive and MIL-PRF-31032 Military certification

President and CEO, Anaya Vardya commented, “This certification represents a great deal of work and dedication from all our team members, along with Steve Williams of TRAC. They all put together a tremendous effort to reach this goal. It is my understanding that there are very few printed circuit board companies that have earned ISO 13485:16 Medical Certification which makes us stand out as a preferred medical electronics circuit board provider. As we continued to grow our medical business exponentially, we felt that this certification would go a long way in establishing our leadership in this marketplace. Now that we have made the investment in time and people to accomplish this certification we look forward to meeting and working with even more medical electronics companies.

 

For more information about American Standard Circuits’ services or to ask one of their technology experts a question go to http://www.asc-i.com

Contact me to start your ISO 13485 Medical certification.

Steve@tracQMS.com

920-841-3478

PRESS RELEASE

The Right Approach Consulting

January 7, 2023

Elgin, IL

Brigitflex Achieves AS9100D: 2016. I am proud to announce that client Brigitflex has upgraded their QMS from ISO 9001: 2015 and received certification to AS9100D: 2016 from certifying body TUV Rheinland. Brigitte Lawrence and her management team were highly engaged with the goal of driving organizational improvement during this transition. A special shout-out to Plant Manager Bruce Gunter for his hard work and dedication throughout this project.

President & Founder Brigitte Lawrence stated:

“We have a number of Aerospace contracts in the queue, pending this certification and it was crucial to gain AS9100 certification as quickly as possible. Aside from the certification itself, I was very pleased to see the improvement in all of our business processes given the extreme complexity of our product. I would also like to acknowledge the guidance and facilitation of Steve Williams of TRAC, which was key to our success in this transition”

About Brigitflex

Brigitflex is a woman-owned Mid-West circuit board fabricator, with a focus on specialty materials, multilayer, flexible, and large scale formats designed for the antenna industry. Brigitflex combines old & new technology with specialty equipment and a highly-trained workforce to create a documented process that can be repetitively manufactured. Their extensive experience with multilayer, flexible, and large scale formats allow the conversion of complex design requirements with difficult to handle materials into specialty printed circuit boards.

For more information go to: https://brigitflex.com

Contact TRAC to start your AS9100 journey.

920-841-3478

Steve@tracQMS.com

PRESS RELEASE

The Right Approach Consulting

July 18, 2022

Waukesha, WI

Alloy Products Corp. Receives ISO 14001: 2015 Certification

I am proud to announce that client Alloy Products Corp. (APC) has received certification to ISO 14001: 2015  for Environmental Management from registrar TUV. This adds to the company’s certification to ISO 9001: 2015. President Betsy Bear-Hoff created and chaired an environmental “dream” team of Todd Schlicht, Tanya Tavernia, Emily Lynch, Nick Dunne & Ray Woo that were charged with accomplishing this significant task in under two months. The results were a perfect audit! Congrats to the team and appreciation for all the cooperation & hard work.

Bear-Hoff stated:

“Environmental protection and compliance have always been a core strength of APC, but going through the certification process definitely has raised our game and made us a better environmental partner.”

About Alloy Products Corp

A leader in the fabrication of stainless steel and other alloys since 1929, Alloy Products Corp. consistently meets or exceeds the most rigorous industry standards. APC manufacturers portable pressure vessels & fixed pressure vessels manufactured to ASME and UN specifications used in a variety of sanitary, industrial and general purpose applications. The pressure vessels are constructed of stainless steel and other modern alloys. These pressure vessels are designed for dispensing, mixing or storing hazardous, corrosive, high purity or flammable products to 13.8 bar (200 psi). Few manufacturing facilities can match their superior craftsmanship and quality assurance in designing and manufacturing a wide variety of stainless steel pressure vessels and containers.

For more information, they can be reached at 800.236.6603, or through their website https://www.alloyproductscorp.com

Contact me if you want to add ISO 14001 or ISO 45001 to your company, or with any QMS need.

920-841-3478

Steve@tracQMS.com

Great leaders are committed to victory and make things happen, period. To make this point I would like to borrow a lesson from Genghis Khan in my book Notorious: Business Lessons from History’s Most Ruthless Leaders. Lesson 7 in the book is “Lead from the Front”. One of the most enduring mantras in leadership is “Never ask a follower to do something you are not willing to do yourself”. Read the whole article here: http://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1453746-pcb007-feb2022/45?

Contact me right away to get started!

920-841-3478

Steve@tracQMS.com