Lab Team Goes the Extra Mile to Deliver Data & Convenience to Defense Client

In the field and in the lab, Industrial Inspection & Analysis (IIA) strives to provide story-worthy service on every job. Some days, that means providing a rapid turnaround when customers are in a pinch. Other times it means trouble-shooting an unusual issue or customizing a test method to meet the customer’s unique needs. In general, story-worthy service means going above and beyond — and it’s a way of life at IIA.

IIA Senior Metrologist Tony Lowe shares one example (of many) from his 17-year career. In this situation, the client — a defense contractor based in the Midwest — was working with a number of different suppliers to develop a part for a complex assembly. IIA’s lab provided dimensional inspection for the test parts.

Typically, the client or suppliers will combine a batch of parts into a single purchase order (P.O.). Then, IIA creates a single work order corresponding to each P.O. However, in this case, one of the client’s suppliers had an unusual process that required more effort and paperwork.

“This particular supplier created a purchase order for each individual part, and they would send about 25 parts at a time,” recalls Tony. “We had to create a work order for each one. It was extremely unusual and cumbersome from an administrative standpoint.”

To further complicate the situation, the Product Engineer in charge of the project occasionally had difficulty opening Excel and other electronic files, depending on whether he was working from home or the office. Even though the technical issue was on the client’s end, Tony began troubleshooting a way to bypass the client’s computer glitch.

“He was having trouble opening up the majority of the Excel files we had provided. It didn’t make sense, so we had to do some work internally,” says Tony. “I found a file that I knew he could open and used that as a Master.”

Creating a new file, Tony then went the extra mile to combine test data from all 25 work orders into a single file so the client would not have to open 25 individual files.

“Our original quote did not include the things we ended up doing to help the client. The client had given us permission to increase the quote amount, but we decided not to re-quote the job,” says Tony. “In the end, we made a little less on the job, but gained his respect for how we handled the process. I’m proud that we were able to go the extra mile and earn the client’s loyalty.”

After receiving the compiled and streamlined data in a file he could easily open, the client responded:

“Appreciate the AWESOME Customer Service….If you guys could bottle it, you would all be able to retire.”