Quality Engineering analyzes the outputs of quality assurance and quality control for evaluation of products, processes and services, cause and corrective actions, and for establishing process controls for continuous improvement and customer satisfaction.
APT quality engineers are highly educated, experienced professionals who understand the principles of quality evaluation and control for products and services.
- Quality methodology
- Quality Management Systems (QMS)
- Customer expectations
- Supplier selection, evaluation and control
- ISO 9001, AS9100, and other quality related specifications/codes/standards
- IPC-A-610E electronics build industry standards
- IPC-J-STD-001ES joint industry standards for acceptance of soldering and electronic assemblies
- IPC-WHMA-A-620A joint industry standards for acceptance of cable and wire harness assemblies
- Audit processes
- Nonconformance root cause evaluation, corrective action, and preventative action
- Continuous improvement
- Reliability, maintainability, and risk management
Photo Credit: NASA
Capabilities
Photo Credit: NASA- Implement and maintain QMSs to ensure products or services are designed and produced to meet or exceed customer requirements and expectations
- Develop and implement quality programs, including tracking, analyzing, reporting, and problem solving
- Develop and maintain quality control systems
- Develop and update quality plans
- Define methods and equipment used to measure a process’s key quality characteristics
- Apply sound systematic problem-solving methodologies to identify, prioritize, communicate, and resolve quality issues and improper quality control practices
- Perform trending analysis on quality issues and performance metrics to identify potential hardware or process problem areas
- Determine root cause, gather and analyze data and implement corrective action to reduce or eliminate cause
- Perform product and process evaluations to identify areas for improvement
- Identify process escapes and systemic issues
- Recommend solutions to identified problems
- Implement approved changes using sound quality engineering principles and fully document requirements on a timely basis
- Communicate QMS requirements and continuous improvement efforts across all functional areas
- Define vendor and/or internal audit requirements
- Audit quality systems for compliance to standards, contracts, technical directives, policies, and requirements
- Perform follow-up audits to ensure resolution to previous audit findings
- Work closely with manufacturing operations to identify and resolve production and quality system deficiencies
- Monitor quality control of a company’s products or services for their customers
- Acquire and analyze data using appropriate standard quantitative methods across a spectrum of business environments
- Participate in product and process start-ups. Design and write protocol and implement process validation procedures in accordance with quality guides
- Participate in the change management process to assure the products or services continue to meet customer requirements
- Participate in the development and review of project documentation
- Assess testing, inspection and operating procedures
- Train production workers in updated work procedures and productions
- Act as liaison between suppliers and customers
- Assist in regulatory reporting activities
- Participate in hardware or process reliability, maintainability, and risk assessments
- Assess metrology and calibration standards processes used in product build
- Understand and evaluate effect of human factors in production and test
- Evaluate cost of quality vs. cost of poor quality
- Identify process deficiencies and re-map processes
- Evaluate 5S Program effectiveness in profitability, efficiency, service and safety
- Understand and utilize Six Sigma tools and techniques
- Understand lean principles for waste reduction in processes
APT Point of Contact
Dr. John Hall 256.327.3373
aptinfo@apt-research.com