Catching up with Gardien’s Rick Meraw

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Meraw: Yes, that’s correct. The lessons learned within one Gardien environment, be that at a customer site or service center, are shared with the rest of the group. I see my role as being the person who is responsible for transferring these lessons between our centers of excellence and making sure that nothing is lost in translation.

Beaulieu: Now that I know more about all of this I want to get back to your role as VP of Global Quality Assurance. In the realm of all that we have just talked about, how do you do all that it requires, which I now consider a pretty big job?

Meraw: Well, first of all there is the lesson distributor that we just talked about, but beyond that I am the person who makes sure that OnTrack and all of its modules are being effectively and consistently implemented and then followed. I have to make sure each location is doing the same thing in the same way. I spend a lot of time working on the processes and process improvement, getting them all in line and making sure our staff work in the exact same way. When I identify a process improvement I coordinate with our OnTrack programmers to make sure we effectively incorporate it within the system.

Beaulieu: So you are like the consistency police?

Meraw: Exactly—that’s why the title is Global Quality Assurance. If we go back to the previous example I gave on RMAs, I’m responsible for making sure that every center of excellence is processing them in the exact same way. I make sure that they are entering the defect codes correctly and that everyone is tying in with their certifications and that everything is handled in a timely manner. Another part of my role is being responsible for our own internal quality audits, making sure that equipment is calibrated regularly and that preventative maintenance programs are adhered to. Again, much of this is proactively handled within OnTrack.

Beaulieu: So what this all comes down to is consistent processes, data analysis, consolidation and communication.

Meraw: Yes, in a nutshell, that’s my job

Beaulieu: Since we’ve talked about data so much in this article can you address how you handle it? I know that companies are very sensitive as to how their information is handled and privacy maintained.

Meraw: Absolutely, and I’m glad you raised this point. We adhere to the strictest of privacy standards. When we consolidate data it is anonymized and aggregated. I want to make that very clear. We are not taking one company’s set of secrets and passing them on to another company. We are putting the data together in an objective, non-personal, and anonymous way so that we can provide a class leading service. The fact that OnTrack is ITAR compliant clearly demonstrates our understanding of confidentiality.

Confidentiality and discretion are hugely important to us. We literally work with hundreds of PCB fabricators and this is only possible if we maintain their trust.

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