On August 14th, 10 of us gathered at Frontier RTP – Building 800, to “talk quality” in an informal atmosphere over beer and wine provided by Frontier’s Thursday OOO event.
We didn’t have a specific topic to discuss, but it turned out that one of us lost their job due to their company’s bankruptcy. Another didn’t have a temporary contract renewed. We talked for a while about the current job market, which is a struggle for those of us in the quality field. It is commonly the case that who you know is important to finding your next job, and there was some feeling that this may be more true here than in other areas of the country.
We had a lively discussion about defect reduction in the medical device and pharma industries. This is a complex topic, as a single defect can be a critical issue for a customer. The discussion was on the dual problems of eliminating and controlling issues in production, and also how to prevent single defect escapes. We discussed visual inspection and supplier management. In particular, how can we work with suppliers to improve performance and get them to tighten specs and expectations?
We had a short discussion about topics for future meetings. There was interest in benchmarking, centers of quality, and the impact of AI on Quality.
The next SIG meeting at Frontier RTP will be on September 11th, 2025.
Tim Whetten