Packaging Solutions for Electronics

Quality at Equipto Electronics

The Equipto Electronics Quality System is designed to compliment our engineering and manufacturing excellence and to assure compliance to our customers' expectations. Everyone at Equipto Electronics is part of the Quality System.

The Quality System was established on Mil-I-45208 requirements. In addition, we follow ISO 9001:2000 guidelines for quality system management.

The goal is to achieve a 100% rating in each category of our Customer Satisfaction Survey.

Periodically we ask our customers to rate our performance using our Customer Satisfaction Survey. Our current results are:

ISO 9001

Equipto Electronics is ISO 9001:2000 registered. Our first registration to the ISO 9002 standard was earned on October 23, 1993. In February of 2001, we were registered to ISO 9001 to cover the design functions.  In February of 2003, we were registered to the 9001:2000 standard.

ISO 9000 is a set of standards for quality systems developed by the International Standards Organization. ISO registration assures customers that Equipto Electronics has a formal system in place to monitor, control and improve the quality of all its operations. To maintain ISO registration, independent auditors review our Quality System every six months. This may eliminate the need for customer audits, saving our customers time and expense.

Responsibility

Quality Assurance is responsible for maintaining the Quality Manual and the Process Control parameters that assure the quality of our products. This includes documentation regarding quality of products and processes, Internal Quality Process and Systems Audits, training of all personnel in areas regarding quality, ISO 9000 Representative, calibration of measuring tools, and structuring of the Quality Review Board.

Documentation

The central document for maintenance of the Equipto Electronics Quality System is the Quality System Manual. The Quality System Manual provides direction and instruction for everyone so that we can realize our organizational goals. The Quality Manual is the responsibility of the Quality Control Manager. The manual, along with our Standard Operating Procedures, provides complete documentation of our Quality System. If you would like to receive a copy of our Quality System Manual, please contact our Sales Department.

Features of the Quality System

Just a few of the features:

Quality Review Board - The President, Quality Control Manager, Chief Engineer, Plant Manager and Purchasing Manager sit on the Quality Review Board. They meet monthly to develop quality and continuous improvement plans, review employee improvement suggestions, the effectiveness of the Quality System, review customer complaints/returns and any other issues surrounding quality of Equipto Electronics' products or processes.

Statistical Analysis - The Quality Control Manager maintains records of rework activities. Data for this is collected from the Rework Order forms according to Standard Operating Procedures. A report on the Cost of Poor Quality is issued each month using Pareto analysis to emphasize where appropriate action is needed to improve the process. Where appropriate, the Quality Manager will direct the data acquisition for statistical analysis, and ANSI/ASQ Z1.4-1993 (formally MIL STD 105E) will be used for sampling in quality evaluations.

Auditing - A Quality System Audit procedure has been established to assure effectiveness of the Quality System according to the ISO 9001 Quality Standard. The Internal Quality Audit is a process based audit that focuses not only on manufacturing processes but also on order processing, purchasing, design functions and management review. Specific criteria and objectives are described in Standard Operating Procedures to assure continual auditing and review. The Quality Manager and Quality Review Board verifies the progress of the organization towards meeting the quality plan through these Audits.

Training - All employees receive on the job instruction as to the performance of their job and the company's expectations. Quality is stressed and employee skill levels in the use of quality tools is continuously updated. The Plant Manager maintains a training matrix which provides a listing of on-the-job training employees have received. The Quality Control Manager is responsible for providing the necessary training and coaching regarding quality and maintains a record of training.

Corrective Action - Continuous improvement within the company is driven by the use of  a corrective action report to document incidents of failure to meet workmanship or process standards. Suppliers will also be sent a Corrective Action Request if established requirements are not met. Department Managers are responsible for assuring the implementation and effectiveness of corrective actions. Corrective action reports are reviewed by the Quality Review Board and are also examined during internal audits.

Approved Suppliers - Equipto Electronics requests suppliers to complete a "Supplier Quality Survey" and may conduct on-site supplier audits to assure us of our supplier’s ability to fulfill requirements. Once a vendor has been approved, they are added to our Approved Vendor List which is reviewed and updated every six months by the Purchasing Department.

See for Yourself !

We invite customers and prospective customers to visit our plant in Aurora, Illinois to see our Quality System in action! Please contact us at 800-204-7225 to discuss your quality requirements.