American tool and instrument manufacturers L.S. Starrett Company are world leaders in the design and provision of full-line precision tools such as micrometers, calipers and rules as well as levels, electronic gages, dial indicators, gage blocks, granite surface plates and optical measuring projectors among other tools. The company is also a leading player in the Saw Blade manufacturing business with key products such as band saws, hacksaws, jigsaws and hole saws being used in both the professional and DIY markets. The company’s hand measuring tools and precision instruments are used by manufacturing companies, from small machine shops to Fortune 500 firms, to ensure the quality of their products.
Founded in Athol, Massachusetts – where the company are still headquartered – Starrett employs around 2,000 staff worldwide based in nine manufacturing locations around the world in countries such as the United Kingdom, Brazil, China and the Dominican Republic.
Starrett’s European base in Jedburgh, Scotland, required an electronic Quality Management System (QMS) to help them efficiently and effectively manage their Document Control, streamlining their processes. Q-Pulse, the quality and compliance management solution developed by Gael Ltd, was chosen to help them achieve this.
The Challenge
Starrett’s Document Control system had become extremely labour intensive which was resulting in numerous instances of duplication of effort. The company had a growing list of documentation which was proving increasingly timeconsuming to manage and so a central and electronic Quality Management System was required to help them overcome these issues.
Graham Scott, Facilities Manager at Starrett, Jedburgh, said: “Our Document Control system was labour intensive with over 1,200 documents and records in the QMS. We were finding that our new documents and revisions increasingly had to be retyped each time before being manually distributed. We also had accumulated a large file of amended and withdrawn documents so we couldn’t maintain a history of the changes.
“We needed a system that would allow us to manage these documents electronically and in one central place which would be manageable. I looked at several electronic systems before realising that Gael’s Q-Pulse satisfied all of our requirements.”
The Solution
L.S. Starrett Company Ltd decided to implement Q-Pulse after seeing the many benefits the quality management solution would bring to the company. Q-Pulse’s user friendly and easy-to-access modules helped the company gain complete control of their entire quality management processes. Soon Starrett were reaping the benefits of efficient and effective Document Control, Supplier Reviews and also remained on top of their Corrective and Preventive Actions.
Through their use of Q-Pulse, Starrett completely overhauled their Quality Management System, particularly streamlining their Document Management processes. Thanks to the initial success of Q-Pulse, the solution was quickly rolled out throughout the rest of the company.
Graham added: “Graham added: “I introduced Q-Pulse into the business after realising the benefits that we would experience through using the solution. It was such a success that its usage within the company was quickly expanded.
“It proved to be an invaluable tool in Document Control, Corrective Actions, Customer Complaints and Supplier Reviews. We also use the Asset Module for our Calibration Laboratory and it works exceptionally well.
“Q-Pulse helped eliminate the problems we were experiencing with our documentation as documents could be created in Microsoft Office and stored electronically within Q-Pulse, along with previous issues, to maintain the history. This was something that was extremely important for the company.”
Starrett’s Q-Pulse usage also found favour with their BSI assessors. And Graham added: “Q-Pulse gives us excellent control of our QMS in regards to ISO9001 requirements and this was something that our BSI assessors found very pleasing.”
The Result
Q-Pulse has allowed Starrett to display greater control and visibility of their QMS. As well as helping to tighten their Document Control, they now exhibit excellent management of ISO 9001 process as well as complete management of their Customer Complaints and Supplier Reviews.
Graham added: “There is a greater control and visibility of documents and records in the system and control over Corrective Actions. The creation and distribution of documents is simpler and tremendously less labour intensive. Everyone within the organisation can view the documents within the system, ensuring that all staff are aware of the current status of documents, for example. Q-Pulse ability to prompt the Quality Department when Documentation, Corrective Actions, Supplier Reviews etc are due or overdue, is a great aid for the company and helps employees across the organisation stay on top of their individual processes,
ultimately benefitting the company.
“Q-Pulse is easy to use and provides visibility and control to all levels of the organisation. I would recommend it to anyone who requires better control over their documentation as it is fully compatible with all file types including Microsoft Office and can be linked to other electronic documents – eg JPG, PDF and DRG.”