Looking back I can say that my career in quality began in a paint department for one of our many large manufacturing facilities in West Michigan. I arrived on the scene with considerable skills from previous employment, but my horizons were about to be broadened.

My supervisor recognized my experience as a paint sprayer and often assigned me to cover breaks and vacations. When not in the paint booth, I operated our advanced paint pretreatment system. This paint pretreatment system was new to me, but I quickly learned its importance for achieving a quality painted product. Properly pretreating metal parts is essential for good paint adhesion and corrosion resistance. My dedication to learning this system was driven by a relentless pursuit of excellence.

The paint pretreatment system I operated was designed for full automation through computer monitoring and electronic controls. Probes and sensors checked the chemistry of the tanks, automatically adding water or chemicals as needed. If the conductivity was too high, a solenoid valve would introduce water; if too low, a pump would add the required chemical. This system was marketed as requiring minimal personnel for operation.

I realized that nothing is fully automated, and human interaction is crucial. This prompted me to take responsibility for balancing the chemistry of the pre-treatment system. Monitoring key variables like total acid, acid consumed, pH, and concentration was essential, as even minor fluctuations could affect the final product’s quality. To maintain consistency, I began titrating the pretreatment chemistry five times a day at scheduled intervals.

Recognizing my limitations and lack of resources available to gather and record the process data motivated me to seek assistance from our quality department. This collaboration provided access to advanced analytical tools which greatly enhanced my understanding and control over the pre-treatment process. I applied process control charts and control chart rules to monitor the titration results of the pretreatment chemistry and I found that our processing solution fell outside the specified parameters several times each day.

Our fully automated pretreatment system was not consistently maintaining our processing solution within the specified parameters. I subsequently stepped in and began making changes when needed to intervene in this “fully automated pretreatment process.” Much of this required engaging our maintenance personnel to make program changes to the system’s computer controls.

My diligence began to yield measurable improvements evidenced by our reduced paint defect rates, cost savings realized on material usage, and our positive environmental product test results.

Our organization had eight paint departments located in West Michigan and each paint process had a paint pretreatment system similar to the one I operated. In our quest to achieve ISO certification, our paint processes (special processes) needed to be qualified or validated through rigorous environmental testing of our product. I can proudly say, it was due to my efforts to control the paint pretreatment system portion of our paint process that we were able to validate our paint process “first try.” A year later, we were still the only facility throughout our entire organization to have qualified their paint process.

I was fortunate to learn from seasoned professionals in our quality department, I admired their unwavering dedication to quality management principles and this inspired me. Although I wasn’t formally part of their team, collaborating with them allowed me to develop a profound understanding of the rigorous standards and methodologies that underpin quality practices at our company. Our regular collaborations highlighted the importance of cross-functional teamwork and exchange of ideas.

Out of the blue, two respected members of the quality department approached me to acknowledge my efforts and the significant impact my work had had on product quality. They mentioned their membership in the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC), a professional association for quality professionals. To join, an applicant needs endorsements from two current members. Although I was not in the quality department, they offered to endorse my application for ASQC membership.

This marked a significant milestone in my quality journey. I felt both humbled and honored when two current members invited me to join their professional membership association. At that moment, I became a lifelong member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ), and the impact on my career in quality cannot be overstated.