Quality Assurance

Minerva Engineering is in the final throws of completing ISO 9001 certification and has in place a very detailed quality control assurance process that ensures that all systems accomplish their slated requirements as received and/or set forth by the customer. We place a high priority on delivering quality, trouble-free products; Our reputation depends on it.

Minerva Engineering has in place a very detailed quality control assurance process that ensures that all systems pass their slated requirements as received and/or set forth by the customer. We place a high priority on delivering quality, trouble-free products; our corporate officers receive quality reports directly from the manufacturing sites; they track trends and emphasize continuous quality process improvement. Figure 1 depicts QA Management separate from the Project Manager to maintain independence. This provides an independent observer of quality from preliminary design through final acceptance testing. The key to our quality process for design, development, test and production is a traveler which includes the as-built drawings, the bill of materials (BOM) the quality inspector’s buy-off or rejection of each step, a history of engineering dispositions for any rework or retest and component replacements. Figure 2 shows the connection of the traveler and its connections to various steps of the product life cycle. This process is started as soon as the design is initiated for a particular unit and follows the unit for the entirety of its lifecycle. This process ensures our customers get the quality product they are paying for. Minerva Engineering accumulates and analyzes traveler data to improve processes and track performance of fielded units. The Minerva Engineering documents and processes governing the quality control process meet the intent of ISO 9001: 2000 and AS9100. (American National Standard, Quality Systems Model for Quality Assurance in Design, Development, Production, Installation and Servicing). To date, our quality assurance program and processes are being used extensively on programs for the US Army and US Air Force Research Lab. We have delivered systems which have been deployed to US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have been no reported failures and we are currently in production on additional systems.

Figure 1 QA Organization Reports to Executive Management Independent Path Ensures Our Close Corporate Commitment and Attention to Quality

Figure 2 Life Cycle Travelers Included with Each Unit Delivered QA Ensures Each Step Is Completed in Accordance with Approved Processes and Policies