On May 8th, nine people gathered at Frontier RTP for our monthly Special Interest Group (SIG) meeting. Again, we had some regular attendees and welcomed new ones, including a non-member.

The attendees represented mostly the life sciences industry but shared prior experience in other industries, such as automotive. It’s always interesting to hear the similarities and differences between industries in terms of quality management practices, challenges, and terminology used.

One discussion point was related to customer complaints — how do we handle them effectively, who are responsible, what actions do they trigger, etc.? Having the right or sufficient information from the end users is critical but often lacking, making understanding the symptoms and identifying root causes difficult.

One attendee was looking for a job in Quality and received many helpful suggestions from the others, including the type of jobs to start with, e.g. Quality Control, and the ASQ certifications available. The in-person events like this really help people connect and build a network. If you are interested in or new to the profession, please join us and learn more from people who have worked in Quality for decades!

The next SIG meeting at Frontier RTP will be on June 12, 2025.