Company
Tri State Foam Products Inc. manufactures and fabricates polystyrene foam sheet and shaped products for the construction, pharmaceutical, and packaging industries. Founded in 1983, Tri State Foam is a family owned business located in Martinsville, VA. The facility employs approximately 50 workers in their single location.

Situation
Tri State Foam has seen steady increases in sales in recent years and the owners are proud of its good reputation with customers for fast service, quality and delivery. The growing pains resulting from such rapid growth were in jeopardy of hurting the bottom line for the firm. Management became concerned about maintaining customer responsiveness, quality, and productivity as the sales grew. The plant does not have a quality department and they did not utilize a structured quality program.

Response
Management believed the implementation of a quality management system based on the ISO 9002 standard would provide the structure and consistency needed to ensure continuous improvement in quality, productivity, and customer responsiveness necessary for future success. GENEDGE ALLIANCE helped design a system of documented processes for both operations and front office functions, helped integrate those processes to achieve smooth handoffs among departments and helped create a quality culture. A "checks and balances" system of corrective action, preventive action, internal audits and management review were put into place to help ensure that the system would not fall by the wayside as time went on. The result was an efficient, and effective quality management system owned and utilized by all personnel in the organization.

Results
Throughout the design phase and the first phase implementation, Tri State Foam began to reap the benefits of standardized, integrated, and systematized processes that a documented quality management system provides.

The positive results from the quality management system implementation are already being realized and include:
• workforce turnover was cut in half,
• productivity increased 20% on average,
• production errors and rework were reduced by one-third,
• overall quality levels increased,
• shorter learning curve for new employees due to having documented processes.
• improved consistency of operations,
• improved customer satisfaction,
• order processing accuracy increased 15%,
• expanded market opportunities in those sectors where quality system certification is a prerequisite for obtaining business.

Testimonial
" It’s the'‘journey' that is important. Tri State Foam's leadership made the strategic decision to embark on this journey to reach excellence in quality management. GENEDGE ALLIANCE's expertise allowed us to move forward minimizing the excursions off the main road. As we move forward for certification under the 2000 version of the ISO Standard, we intend to have GENEDGE ALLIANCE as our ongoing partner." - Robert Humkey, Strategic Planning Manager, Tri State Foam Products Inc.

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