Exploring Quality & Service with the Women of 3DC
There’s no business like small business when it comes to customer service. Especially when you have the experience, drive, and processes to back it up. Rhonda and her husband Kim started 3D Composites in the fall of 2013 after visiting an additive manufacturing convention that peaked their interest in the business. By December they had purchased their first printer and by 2015 had already opened a second location.
“I worked in the medical field for 30 years, CAT scanning works with sliced layers and 3D printing lays down in slice type layers too.” Rhonda’s past experience has given her a unique perspective on the aerospace additive manufacturing industry. “Being a pilot I’ve worked on our airplanes, we’ve done our own maintenance and I’ve gotten familiar with the parts.” She has taken these skills and expanded them into a company that has a proven record of quality and service.
Her favorite part of the job is customer service, “Quoting jobs, getting the parts made to their specifications and hearing back that it works…that’s really rewarding for me,” and it shows through the commitment to the company’s Quality Objectives. “We document those daily. The on-time delivery is tracked on our production schedule and the error-free product is tracked through our (paperwork)”.
Rhonda has also made sure that the attention to keeping the quality goals is also reflected in the employees of 3DC. By bringing on folks like Kim M., Mary Lee, and Sara to manage part production she is leading a team of a majority women to keep the company on track. “We mainly look at the best person for the job really and as it happens most recommended applicants have been female.” As industry standards go they seem to be in good company. “Engineering is definitely weighted heavily male, but management is actually more female…almost all of my buyers are female.”
But for now the future holds growth. Expanding the services 3DC provides in the shape of processes like vacuum thermoforming and CNC machining has been just the next step for a company that has more than doubled since its start a few years ago, and you can expect to see the same commitment to quality service throughout.
Click here to learn more about Rhonda and the quality standards for 3D Composites and check back next month to learn more about quality and service with the women of 3DC.