The NGN Reaches 100 LinkedIn Members

Recently, The NGN reached 100 members on our LinkedIn group. To celebrate this we selected a member at random to give their opinion how the NGN can reach out to it’s members, what the benefits are of the group and to talk about their ambitions and CQI membership grade.

Edward Turns, Quality Manager at Red Arch Engineering

NGN Member: Edward Turns
Age: 35
Industry: Automotive
Company: Red Arch Engineering
Role: Quality Manager
Joined NGN: October 2015

My background as Next Generation Network Member…
I am the newly appointed Quality Manager for Red Arch Engineering. Red Arch Engineering develops and manufacture OEM aftermarket exhausts.  I have been a Quality Manager for 2 months having previous been a Quality Engineer. My day-to-day role involves working with the Quality Engineer to ensure the quality of the parts leaving the manufacturing departments and the continuous improvement of the manufacturing processes. Some of the parts are highly aesthetic and training production staff to analyse subjective standards can be challenging.

Additional functions include the release of new products via the company APQP process. We have released four new products so far this year and have more currently in the development stage. I am also the sole auditor for the company and tasked with updating the company QMS to move from ISO9001 to TS16949 in 2016.

How and why I joined the Next Generation Network…
I was searching LinkedIn for quality groups to join to gain insight into how other quality professionals work in my industry. The NGN had massive appeal as I have often worked with quality personnel whom are very set in their ways and are change resistant. I felt the idea of a group of young, enthusiastic professionals trying to improve the image and standard of the quality field was something I wanted to be an active part.

How I can gain from the Next Generation Network in 2016…
I hope that being part of the NGN will help me contribute to an ongoing improvement to the perception of quality departments within companies; not as a police or enforcement unit but more as a support function that is working with other departments to optimize product and process standards.

The Next Generation Network can reach out by…
I would like to see regular discussions about challenges we face in our profession so we can learn from other’s insights. I believe there is a lot of knowledge from a variety of fields represented by the NGN and we should use this to help us all grow in our profession. Further interviews similar to the one will help us get to know our members.

My career ambitions for 2016…
My ambition for 2016 is to successful gain Red Arch Engineering TS16949 certification. On a personal note, I want to gain Practitioner grade (PCQI) with the CQI.