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Estes Design and Manufacturing is a full-service sheet metal fabricator. They offer customers a combination of product design, engineering, rapid prototyping and manufacturing services using advanced technology, including 3D laser welding. From conceptual design to full production, their staff of engineers, CAD designers, and manufacturing professionals collaborate to create an environment for rapid response manufacturing across a broad range of product and industry applications: medical equipment, appliance, HVAC, office furniture manufacturing, and aerospace.

Situation:

In 2023, Estes management established a strategic goal to pursue business opportunities in the aerospace/defense industry and make the necessary preparations for the company to do business in this new field. AS9100D certification is required to gain access to many Prime Contractors in this industry. This standard specifies the Quality Management System (QMS) requirements for organizations that design, develop or manufacture aviation, space and defense products. To accomplish this additional ISO certification, Estes sought the assistance Purdue MEP, utilizing the funding provided by the Office of Local Defense Community Cooperation (OLDCC). It was felt that the more demanding AS9100 QMS would help Estes elevate the quality of their products to a world class level, and more importantly, to create business opportunities to strengthen and diversify their sources of revenue.  Post-COVID, sales to the office furniture industry, which was Estes’ top industry for over 20 years, had declined by nearly 50%. The aerospace/defense industry is a targeted sector to replace a portion of this lost business.

Solution:  

AS9100D:2016: Training for QMS Development and Implementation - Purdue MEP provided a qualified and credentialed subject matter expert to train and guide all implementation activities to ensure a full understanding of AS9100:2016 requirements.

AS9100 QMS Internal Audit - Purdue MEP performed an internal audit to assess Estes's Quality Management System to verify its conformance to the requirements of the current AS9100 standard and the effectiveness of its implementation.

Results:

Estes saw several results including improved product quality, streamlined Quality Management Program (QMS) policies and procedures, increased employee engagement, and projected revenue increases.

During the time of the engagement with Purdue MEP on the AS9100D certification project, Estes has been able to achieve a defective parts per million (dppm) measure of 110 for their largest customer. The world-class standard is considered to be 700-800, so this places Estes in an elite class of quality part production.

An added benefit was that Estes was able to consolidate their ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and AS9100D Quality System Procedures (QSPs) into a single set of documents. With this consolidation, it is very easy for employees and auditors to understand the procedures Estes uses to stay aligned with each standard. This resulted in shorter lead times, high delivery reliability, and consistently high quality of services and products as indicated by the ddpm improvement. The optimized procedures and processes in their operations allowed them to save countless hours from the shop floor to the C-suite.

In addition, using the AS9100D certification, Estes is targeting $500k in the next 12 months.

Impact metrics:

• Improved product quality - 110 dppm for their largest customer
• Revised and streamlined QMS policies and procedures led to shorter lead times, high delivery reliability, and consistently high-quality services and products
• Significant increased employee engagement and excitement due to working on DoD missile-related product
• Targeted $500,000 in increased revenue over the next 12 months

“At Estes, we want to be part of the onshoring of the design, development and manufacture of aviation, space, and defense products and want to support the warfighters of the US and its allies. With funding support from OLDCC, coupled with the expertise of Purdue MEP, we are well positioned to do this.”

- Ron Estes, Senior Vice President Strategy, Estes Design and Manufacturing