Person:Harrison Waber (1)

Harrison was the founder of Waber Tool and Manufacturing, which is currently run by his granddaughter, Heidi Waber (1921)

Notes: Eagle Group USA, Inc., Press Release - July 2003   K-ZOO firm KO'S ISO 9001 Audit Registration Effort Supported By Eagle Group USA, Inc.  

Waber Tool & Engineering Co., Inc., a small Kalamazoo, Michigan firm specializing in the design, manufacture and build of testing solutions and equipment primarily to automotive component manufacturers, has successfully obtained ISO 9001 registration.

Waber Tool passed their Deloitte & Touché registration audit with no findings.

Waber Tool has been in business in the Kalamazoo area since 1920, when Harrison Waber, a quality toolmaker opened the doors. The family business has continued to be passed down and in 1983 Harrison's granddaughter, Heidi Waber, assumed the company reins. Heidi's father John and Uncle Morris began moving the organization into manufacturing and specialized in zip-cut abrasive saws and drilling machines. They also patented zip-cut®, a tool designed to drill multiple holes simultaneously for the assembly of tractor/trailers.

Heidi, President and Owner, grew up in the business and in 2001 was able to certify Waber Tool as a woman-owned business.

The Challenge

Heidi Waber has seen the good times and the bad. She's familiar with the severe economic downturns her business and others are experiencing. But she also saw the opportunity, along with the strong nudging from some of the automotive customers, to develop a Quality Management System that would help meet customer expectations, develop consistency within the company and set Waber ahead of the competition.

Realizing that she was going to need help to develop a Management System, Heidi and her Plant Manager set upon an extensive search to find the right consulting firm to help guide Waber through the process. After a careful selection process, Waber selected Eagle Group USA, Inc. to help develop and guide the company through the process.

The Solution

During the Eagle Group consultant's first visit, an implementation plan was laid out to identify responsibilities and timing, the registrar selection was initiated and the documentation development commenced.

Eagle Group also worked with Waber to help offset training costs by assisting in obtaining a Michigan Works grant designed to implement and maintain employee continual training, as well as, expand and provide employee advancement opportunities. ISO 9001:2000 Awareness, Problem-solving, and Business Operating System training classes were an integral portion of the overall implementation plan. Eagle led the management team through the first Management Reviews and helped to refine the important key objectives that Waber had identified during the implementation.

Eagle Group also assumed responsibility for the Internal Auditing process to ensure independence and allow Waber personnel to concentrate on meeting their customers' needs. About 5 weeks before the registration audit and timed to coincide with the registrar document review, Eagle Group performed a "mock" registration audit called a Final System Review. Bringing in another qualified auditor from Eagle Group to review the new system, this fresh set of eyes looked for problems, as well as, conformance. Then the consultant helped to resolve the findings.

"Our consultant worked with our employees to develop a system that represented Waber Tool's existing activities and still met the requirements of the standard. He patiently explained and took the time we needed to understand the requirements. By the time Deloitte & Touché came in for the audit, we had a Management System that we understood and owned."

The Results

In just a short time, it became evident that Waber was benefiting from the more disciplined and documented system. The Engineering area was more structured and had developed additional tools to control the design process. Waber Tool's employees and customers seemed to eagerly accept the changes that were being put in place. Since their registration, Heidi Waber reports that the ISO 9001 certificate has been instrumental in winning and maintaining contracts and she sees more efficiency.

"We could not have gotten ISO registration so easily and successfully without Eagle Group. We are very proud to have passed the registration audit with no findings. It was readily clear to us that we made a good decision. Eagle Group helped us implement an ISO 9001 system that made sense for Waber Tool. They did not require unnecessary paperwork, in fact, the forms and tools that Eagle Group helped us to develop were exactly what we needed to become more quality-focused and consistent."