-: My name is Thomas Cortine
and I'm involved in quality assurance,
and in that role as quality assurance manager,
I also deal with key accounts for my company.
Well, the world of quality assurance
has evolved quite a bit, it kind of ties
into another area called supply chain management
because quality assurance is concerned
with everything that happens from the factory,
all the way through to the customer,
and is the customer happy with the product they received?
Well, we gather data from start to finish
and we analyze the data, we keep track of
where we have problems and where things are going well,
and we adjust how we run the supply chain accordingly.
A busy day for me would be
looking at
data
and putting it into a spreadsheet,
and analyzing the data for things that need
to be corrected or adjusted.
Also, I am involved in creating samples
for new customers.
Because I work with key accounts,
that means people want customized awards,
not just what's ever available on the website.
That requires making samples or having samples made,
and that requires making sure that
if the customer decides to do business with us,
will we be capable of making a product
for them that they'll be happy with?
Well, we look at customer complaints
and what was the complaint?
Was it that they had damaged their product?
Did they feel they got the incorrect product,
did they feel the product didn't look
the same to them as it did in the photograph we sent them?
Those kinds of things, and we adjust accordingly
as to how we should handle it going forward.
So, it's always looking to improve things.
Well, some of the services are customization
of the trophies and awards.
This is important because it's not
the trophy or award that they're giving to someone,
it's the recognition they're giving to someone,
and someone needs to be able to
come to appreciate that intangible
by being given a physical award,
so it's important that our awards spark in someone
that feeling that they've been recognized for something.