Quality Assurance (QA) is a means of preventing mistakes and reducing or averting defects. At O’Neal Manufacturing Services (OMS), Quality Assurance means much more.
QA is a way of conducting a sound quality management system located in all aspects of OMS’ infrastructure, not just the manufacturing floor. OMS uses a quality management system to better our organization and become the recognized industry leader in the markets we serve. QA is used as a tool for internal auditing, policies and procedures, identifying risks, process improvements, error proof and much more. A sound quality management system drives a OMS to continue to improve at all levels of the business!
The Day to Day Life of a QA Employee
The QA team balances the interests of all involved parties: customers, employees, and shareholders. OMS’ QA teams are so well rounded at every facility that they will be pulled into all areas of business throughout any given day. One moment they may be completing a process audit, the next they may be called for an inspection at a machine or become involved in new product launches. This is what makes OMS’ team so capable when it comes to problem solving. The biggest challenge that a QA team may face is simply where to focus their time at any given moment. All facilities operate independently of each other, but all policies between each facility and team are similar.
In December of 2018, OMS’ QA team started holding monthly calls to gain experience working on projects together. Before September 2019, most of the QA team had not met in person. OMS’ Senior QA Manager Chris Thomas, who works out of the Pittsburgh facility and has been working with OMS for 12 years, found it critical to get everyone together for a meeting. For Chris, it was important for the team to finally put names to faces.
Face to Face at the Ponderosa
Chris, with the help of the central office team, arranged for a meeting to take place at the Ponderosa allowing all managers of the QA team to finally meet face to face. The team worked on multiple projects together, got to know each other better, presented engaging ideas, and overall had a great time.
Thank you to all of our attendees!
Presenters:
- Russ Bagby – Presenting the current state and the future of OMS
- Amy Gartman – Presenting what HR means to OMS and how to get engagement from employees
- Danny Owens – Presenting the importance of Steel School, market trends, and 2020 outlook
- Melissa Paruskiewicz – Presenting an on-boarding training video for new hires to demonstrate QA
- Walt Brittain – Presenting the improvements in safety metrics this year and the plans for 2020
- Chris Thomas – Presenting the importance of Quality Assurance within OMS
- Jeff Beckner – Presenting his 30 years of experience of internal auditing skills
- Warren White – Presenting what Process Standard means to the Greensboro facility and how to incorporate it nationwide
QA Managers:
- Chris Thomas– Pittsburgh, PA
- Warren White– Greensboro, NC
- Jeff Beckner– Indianapolis, IN
- Don Riley – Louisville, KY
- Larry Merchant – Houston, TX
- Armando del Tejo – Monterrey, MX
- Nate Kluiter – Cedar Falls, IA