Re: New Folks - Please Take a Minute and Introduce Yourself / Say Hello!
Hello Everyone,
I'm Rick Patterson, and I was hired as the ISO Coordinator at McWane Cast Iron Pipe in Birmingham, Alabama (USA) in April 2007. In the five months since I was hired, I've already been through a surveillance audit in May and a 3-year Recert audit in Sept. We passed the Recertification with no findings, of which I am very proud.
Before McWane, for five years I was the ISO Coordinator and one of the few internal auditors for a very large international calcium carbonates corporation in Sylacauga, Aalabama. At the end of March 2007, I was downsized along with a majority of the most experienced quality managers. Through someone I'd met at an ASQ Meeting, I found a position open at McWane within two weeks!
I've been in Quality since 1997, having worked as a QA Lab Tech before becoming ISO Coordinator.
I am an ASQ Certified Quality Auditor and Certified HACCP Auditor, and completed the 5-day Lead Auditor course from BSI.
What I feel sets me apart is my ability to stay optimistic despite the fact that others tell me that I'll become as "jaded" as they are before long. I also have a talent for seeing things that most people tend to overlook, which helps tremendously in audits.
My Pet Peeve in Quality (ISO) is when people, especially managers, stick to the "old ways" and fight against improvements because they refuse to change.
I also would like to rename 'Quality Management System' because people tend to see ISO as "the Quality Department's job". The QMS actually involves and affects much more than the Quality Department.
Rick Patterson
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