Doncasters
Doncasters was searching for a system to help them efficiently operate a large number of special processes and track and maintain compliance with regulatory and customer defined standards and specifications.
Background
Doncasters Group Ltd make aerospace fabrications and machined assemblies and is one of the largest suppliers of aircraft exhaust systems in the world. They produce highly specialised bespoke metal and alloy components that are difficult to shape, form and machine, utilising an extensive range of manufacturing technologies, processes and skills.
The requirements
“We have always enjoyed an excellent reputation for the quality of our products,” commented Trevor Swales, managing director. “However, the complexity of operating a large number of special processes, while at the same time tracking and maintaining compliance with many hundreds of regulatory and customer defined standards and specifications, was threatening to impose serious constraints on efficiency and our ability to keep pace with changing customer needs.
The challenge was to find ways to deliver timely, accurate information to the shop floor, without imposing cumbersome administrative procedures.” he added.
The EQMS solution
Quality Systems Manager, Michael Baldwin, said: “Our existing quality management systems and associated paper-based documentation was growing inadequate for the future needs of the business. Once we had a clear idea of how we wished the business to run, we mapped individual manufacturing processes to the standards which control them, thus ensuring compliance with the demands of regulatory bodies such as the CAA and customers such as Boeing Corporation and Rolls-Royce.”
He added: “We also took this opportunity to prepare for the new aerospace industry AS9100 standards. Once the new system was complete, and tested, we used Qualsys’ EQMS software across the business as a document management system to deliver documents and ensure their integrity.”
The entire process took less than six months to complete, with most of the work undertaken by a small dedicated team from the Bramah Quality Management department, supported by process owners and team leaders from the business.
Consultants from Qualsys were on hand throughout to provide guidance on the best use of the chosen process mapping technologies as well as sharing their project management experience and assisting with some of the more labour intensive tasks such as converting hundreds of hand-written, paper-based work instructions.
The role EQMS now plays
With the support of Qualsys, Doncasters now has software and processes to cover compliance to the aerospace industry AS9100 standards. This has significantly improved the level of customer service they can offer to their large aerospace customers and has saved approximately 20-30% on administration costs.
The new approach also enables managers, team leaders and operators to access and control detailed and work activity specific instructions via the company network, almost instantly and from anywhere in the business. “The saving in time spent looking for information or walking pieces of paper around the factory is fantastic. Our engineering team may never need to leave their desks again!” said Quality Management Administrator, Clare McGuinness.
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