E-Archive

VOL. 10 November ISSUE YEAR 2009

Nadcap Column

in Vol. 10 - November Issue - Year 2009
eQuaLearn Announces 2010 Public Class Schedule

Building on the success of 2009, PRI announces the eQuaLearn public class schedule for 2010. eQuaLearn is part of PRI’s Customer Solutions & Support (CS&S) which exists to provide quality customer-drive and cost-effective business solutions to continually improve organizations throughout the world.

There are several new classes on the schedule including:
 
Introduction to Nadcap Special Processes (including Chemical Processing, Heat Treating and NDT)
Designed to provide a complete overview of Nadcap requirements related to the special process audit, the course is taught by a Nadcap expert.

Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis
Explains Process Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (PFMEA) and provides participants an opportunity to develop a Process FMEA using a case-study approach to learning.

The schedule also features popular classes such as Introduction to Pyrometry and Root Cause Corrective Action, among others. The schedule is available at www.eQuaLearn.com


Case Study: Vibro-Meter, Switzerland

Vibro-Meter in Switzerland, a wholly owned subsidiary of Meggitt PLC, a multi-national high tech manufacturing company, participated in onsite RCCA training. Nadcap Quality Manager Stephan Gehrke explains why:

What’s the background to your company having an onsite RCCA class?

I participated in an RCCA class in Birmingham, UK in 2006. I didn’t want to be the only person at my company who knew how to do effective root cause corrective action. I have to manage the whole process so I needed to be able to delegate elements of the work. For this reason, I decided to have a few of my colleagues trained as well. The Production Director recommended that if one department is being trained on something so useful, it would be a good idea to train all staff that need to understand RCCA.

What did you do next?

I contacted PRI who provided good support. In the end we arranged two onsite RCCA sessions to train about forty members of staff.

Did you find the training useful?

Yes. About 70% of our business is aerospace so Nadcap accreditation is important to us. We had our initial Nadcap electronics audit in May 2009, and the few non-conformances we received were no problem because we had a good understanding of root cause corrective action. I think participating in the RCCA class has improved the level of our people.

Do you see a use for what you learned outside of Nadcap?

Yes. The class teaches a very methodical approach with useful flowcharts and diagrams. It’s as useful for team leaders as it is for operators and engineers. It’s not just good for Nadcap audits – it’s a good system for resolving all problems.