RCBI aids American Babbitt Bearing
in gaining its quality certification

American Babbitt Bearing, a Huntington company, has achieved ISO 9001: 2008 certification. The accomplishment was announced by the company’s plant manager, Joe White, who credited the Robert C. Byrd Institute for Advanced Flexible Manufacturing (RCBI) with making the certification possible.

The company has been providing quality bearing repairs for over 15 years, serving fossil, hydro and nuclear power generating facilities, cement, steel and paper producing facilities, as well as motor repair facilities. It has customers throughout North and South America.

American Babbitt Bearing earned the ISO 9001 certification after an intense process and an independent audit by ABS Quality Evaluations, Inc.

ISO 9001 is a quality management standard established by the International Organization for Standardization. Achieving ISO 9001 certification means a company has implemented steps to meet customers’ quality requirements and satisfy applicable regulatory requirements while aiming to enhance customer satisfaction and achieve continual improvement of its performance in pursuit of these objectives, according to RCBI Director of Quality Services Erica Cheetham.

“Eddie Fisher, a certified ISO auditor with RCBI, began working with us last December and our goal was to complete the registration process by the end of August 2010,” White said. “During the next eight months, Mr. Fisher conducted employee meetings, advised us on the technical requirements of our Quality Manual and conducted all necessary internal audits. More importantly, he did all of this while providing a real world approach as to how a successful Quality System can be a valuable asset to any company.”

Charlotte Weber, Director and CEO at RCBI, congratulated American Babbitt Bearing on successfully achieving its registration. “We’re indeed proud to have helped the company earn this recognition and proud, too, to add its name to the growing list of companies we have similarly aided,” Weber said.

RCBI has provided Quality Management implementation courses and assistance to more than 200 companies and continues to work with companies across the service region with updates, gap analyses, etc. Thirty-eight (38) companies have become registered to various standards as a direct result of this RCBI assistance, and still others are now compliant to various standards because of RCBI efforts.

Now celebrating 20 years of service, RCBI provides access to cutting edge technology and technical training to manufacturers across the region. Operating Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers in Huntington, Charleston, Bridgeport and Rocket Center (near Keyser in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle), its mission includes developing a quality, just-in-time supplier base for the Department of Defense, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the commercial sector.