Sargent and Greenleaf’s reputation for quality kept S&G products at the forefront of the industry for decades. Trusted globally by customers from governments to banks to businesses, S&G maintains a culture of quality and higher standards today.
However, as technological and threat landscapes shift more rapidly now than ever before, traditional quality frameworks need improvement to keep pace with change. In 2020, S&G renewed its commitment to quality, making it a major focus area throughout the business.
Sargent and Greenleaf’s plant manager, Craig Saunders, explains the shift. “Going forward, we’re looking at quality improvements from three angles: design, supply, and manufacturing. It’s not a once-and-done project, but an ongoing priority.”
Fast-Track Design Improvements
In spite of internal testing, sometimes issues only arise with products after they reach the field. “We analyzed every design issue from the past ten years and used that insight to set up a system to fast-track needed improvements,” Saunders said. Under the new plan, S&G’s quality team not only addresses backlog issues, but also works to ensure that new issues are dealt with promptly—or handled before they become problems in the first place.
Supplier Support
In the coming months, Saunders plans to re-evaluate S&G’s material suppliers in light of quality and outline a program to assist suppliers in improving their own internal quality standards. “Supporting our suppliers is a key part of S&G’s mission,” Saunders says, “Both in our commitment to true partnerships as well as protecting the quality of our products.”
Manufacturing Safeguards
While S&G already employs rigorous internal testing, Saunders plans to further improve those processes to protect S&G customers. By adding third-party testing and multi-faceted inspections at every step, Saunders hopes to reduce warranty claims by two-thirds in 2020. “S&G already has industry-leading warranties, and the claims are low by industry standards,” Saunders says, “But improving quality assurance within our manufacturing process will improve our customers’ security—and that’s the bottom-line goal.”
As S&G continues to roll out quality enhancements, customers can look forward to better products and faster improvements.
“We can’t predict the future,” Saunders concludes, “But improving quality assurance processes means better design, better products, and better security for our customers.”
