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Our commitment to quality is not negotiable. It is a value that is driven into every area of our business from the very top of the company. Over the course of decades of experience in the embedded business, we have also learned that quality is not a generic concept. Instead, quality means different things to different customers and therefore our commitment to quality requires precise attention to the specific needs of specific customers.
Application-Specific Quality Standards
Most of our customers have clearly defined standards that they must meet, and these standards are the minimum level of quality they can accept. For example, telecommunications and networking equipment is strictly regulated and must conform to standards promulgated by national and international bodies such as the FCC, NEBS/Telcordia, UL, etc. These telecom standards are not the same as standards which have been developed for the defense and aerospace industries where the equipment has to function in a totally different type of environment.
The reality is that quality is often defined by the application. And for this reason GE Intelligent Platforms precisely documents for our customers the relevant quality standards which our products meet or exceed. We believe that a quality product is one that meets the highest standards required for the customer’s application, even though that very same product may be totally inadequate to the needs of a different customer with a different application.
Customer-Specific Quality Standards
Certain customers, with certain types of applications, define quality in terms of a precise product configuration. These customers are willing to pay for the extra services we provide which will not only notify them of changes to components, but also seek their approval for any changes to a standardized product. For these customers, a quality product is one that never varies in any way without their approval. This is a service we gladly provide because it is so valuable to these specific customers. In fact, without it, every other measure we might take to ensure quality would be meaningless.
For other customers, it is not just the product and it’s components that define quality, but also the entire company response to product lifecycle management, product support, product roadmap planning, supply chain management and other issues related to extending the useful life of a system. For these customers, a quality product is one that not only meets their needs today, but one that can continue to evolve over time to accommodate new advances in technology.
The Many Facets of Quality
For each type of application and for each type of customer, GE Intelligent Platforms has created specific programs and protocols which are designed to deliver quality. Since our customers define quality in various ways, so do we. And since the features sought by one group of customers may conflict with those desired by another group, we have divided the applications and customers into general groupings as follows:
Military and Aerospace
Communications and Networking
Industrial and Commercial
These groupings provide a convenient method of clustering similar applications and standards. So, for example, the Military and Aerospace grouping would include industry standards such as ISO 9001:2000, AS 9100, VITA 47, EIA-625, MIL-I-45562, MIL-Q-4858, IPC-2221, IPC-2222 and DEF STAN 05-57 to name a few.
Our goal is to make it easy for you to determine whether we offer products which may comply with your requirements. At the same time, if one of our products would suit your needs, and yet it does not meet your specific standards, we have long experience with modifying our products to make them compliant. If you are in need of this service, we are most likely able to be of assistance.
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