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QMS Training Helps Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing Reach New Heights
With the help of: Impact Dakota
About
Founded in 1987, Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing (KMM) is a family-owned contract manufacturer of electronic circuit board assemblies, cables, harnesses, and ground support equipment for commercial and military customers utilizing traditional and fiber optic technology. KMM has manufacturing facilities in Dickinson and Killdeer, North Dakota, as well as in Kerrville, Texas. Their customer markets include aerospace and defense, with clients like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Crane Aerospace.
The Challenge
Killdeer Mountain Manufacturing (KMM) had an unexpected loss of their Quality Systems Management Coordinator. This event heightened the importance of needing deeper understanding of Quality Management System (QMS) knowledge throughout the organization. As KMM’s customers require AS9100D- Aviation, Space and Defense, QMS certified suppliers, KMM reached out to Impact Dakota, part of the MEP National Network™, for a direct path to enhance their QMS and maintain their AS9100D accreditation.
Having the support of Impact Dakota to elevate our company knowledge and application of QMS is invaluable. Being able to work seamlessly and effectively between our sites, programs, and departments while continually improving through the power of the proper application of QMS has helped to make us a more effective, robust, and meaningful employer, supplier, customer, and community partner.
MEP's Role
Impact Dakota met with KMM leadership and discussed the company's vision of an enhanced QMS and complete an assessment against the AS9100D standard. That QMS assessment set the stage for an effective partnership to transfer the QMS knowledge that would set KMM's top leadership team up to best understand and transform their QMS to meet their and their customers' needs even better.
Impact Dakota upskilled 19 KMM employees in AS9100D internal auditor training and held an audit facilitation training to their established audit plan. KMM held the remainder of their annual internal audits utilizing the upskilled/re-trained employees. These events took place prior to KMM's successful AS9100D registration audit.
KMM leadership then utilized their employees' heightened QMS awareness to implement meaningful changes to their departmental procedures and processes. "I'll never forget the meeting we saw the whole KMM leadership team just light up because they completely understood their QMS and how their core processes interrelate. They all chimed in to identify the suppliers, inputs, outputs and customers of their process through a SIPOC exercise during our documentation workshop. It was just an awesome moment when I saw smiles on every single one of their faces in the room at the same time," said Jodie Mjoen, CEO of Impact Dakota.