Dear Readers,

Welcome to our August edition.

Well that was that it seems. I honestly have no idea where the summer went but I already miss it.  I am really not a fan of the cold however coming from North Germany I learnt to adapt to any kind of weather.
Being able to adapt to new situations is an important quality in every aspect of life. Implementing amended regulations, weather changes while flying, annoying passengers and clients, no matter where you look adaptability is key. 

Georg Stöcker shares some thoughts about quality and safety with us in the main article .

Also included are a couple of short topics .

In the not so distant future there are our courses, of course. Please have a look at the open course status and our course updates.

This month we have several job offers and you can of course continue to send us your job offers.

Have a wonderful September!

Quality and Safety

Just returned back to the office after a few days off – some people call it holiday – and again sitting here in front of the screen trying to find a subject to talk about.

Somehow it should be interesting so that you do not fall asleep immediately once you start reading. Unless you did not have a lot of sleep during the last night, as I did.

So, keep us awake, but how.
Walking through the deserted office late in the evening - already 10:00 p.m. – looking through the bookshelves, I try to find an idea.

• A&P Technician Airframe Textbook
• A&P Technician Powerplant Textbook
• A&P Technician General Textbook
• Excel 2003
• Outlook 2003
• Access 2000
• Dangerous Goods Regulation
• Airport Handling Manual
• Private Pilots Manual
• Private Pilots Exercises

That sounds interesting. What is that about? A book from 1991. Nice beginning.
„Congratulations on taking the first step towards learning to fly“.

But, to be honest, too dark outside, at the moment. Most probably I would get lost. And then we would have to alarm the Search & Rescue (SAR). Too much efforts.

Ah, what is that. Some more books.

• Qualitätsverbesserung (original title: The Chain of Quality. Market Dominance through Product Superiority)
• Qualität ist machbar (original title: Quality without tears. The Art of Hassle-Free Management)

Hey, who translated these titles into German? Is this translation quality?

So, here we come to the question: What is quality?

Today I learnt the definition of „quality“

“Quality is the degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfils requirements”

Imagine you would sit together with your friends having a beer or a glass of wine, maybe one more, and than they would use such complicated language which is not even understandable once you are sober?
Anyway, we were thinking about the definition of the term „quality“.

Simply put, it means you first must know what the requirements are, i.e. what does the other party expect from you. And then you can try to fulfil these expectations.

If you can manage to fulfil these expectations you deliver „quality“.

As an example – a nice one which was brought up during the today’s session – regardless whether I buy a Mercedes car or a Ferrari or a Dacia or a Fiat, all these cars can be considered to be quality cars. It just depends what I, being the customer, would like to have. If I am looking for a very cheap one and do not think about speed, then I go for a car which fulfils these expectations. If I would like to have a luxurious one – who would not like to have one – then I choose a different one.

That shows that “quality“ is a very subjective term.

But now, in our daily business life in aviation, why do we talk about quality, quality systems, quality manager, quality audits, etc., etc. etc.?

Sure, first of all it is part of the strict requirements which we have to follow – the aviation regulations.
Regardless whether we are in Europe, America, Africa, Asia, Australia, or wheresoever, all aviation regulations require a quality system somehow or other.

And what are the key elements of such a quality system? According to the European regulations the quality system consists of

• procedures to show that we are in compliance with the regulations
• monitoring system to evaluate that we follow the procedures
• feedback system to the management to make the management aware about the situation

Another part of this quality system is a reporting system to ensure that deficiencies are addressed and followed-up and corrected. The goal is to ensure that weaknesses are improved.

For that we have to have the right employees; meaning employees who know about our procedures and processes, who know about the requirements and expectations, who are motivated to implement the procedures.

And why that?

Here we are back at our top priority which is

„SAFETY“.

In the end we want a safe product. We want a safe aircraft flying over our heads. Nobody would like to wake up in the morning and find an aircraft wreckage in the front yard or may be in the garden or on the roof or – worst case scenario – in the bed.

No. „Safety“ is our goal and „quality“ is the way to reach this.

I know, a lot o people argue

„Did we fly unsafe in the past?“

„Why all this administration?“

„It all costs money.“

„Who will pay for that?“

So, what to answer?

Not a single statement exists which can be used to convince everybody.

But, we have to understand that quality does not cost it is an investment.

Costs occur when something happens and we have to correct this, if this is then possible. Then we do not only have to pay money, what is at least as painful as paying money is the loss of reputation. I don’t want to talk about the worst case scenario.

There are libraries dealing with this subject and proclaim the advantage of quality systems, showing methods and tools for implementation. In the end it is up to us as individuals to find an efficient and effective way.

With these thoughts – may be a little bit chaotic – I want to wish you a good night and a safe sleep.

We don’t want to have that scenario.

“Belp is our home destination”

Flying, the old dream of humankind. The safety standards and regulations in aviation provide great demands for businesses in this industrial sector. Q.C.M. is internationally sought-after when it comes to quality assurance, quality management and training in the field of aviation safety. The company returns its headquarters to Belp. The ground-breaking ceremony for the new build of the company building took place last Friday, 27th August 2010.

Nearly 3 million Swiss Francs will be invested by Q.C.M. quality control management AG in the new build at Eichholzstrasse in Belp. The company would like to move in in August 2011. CEO and head of the administration board, Mr Markus Enck, assesses the new build as a corner stone of the still young history of the company: “This is an important step into the future of our company.”

Q.C.M. was founded in 1999 as a two man company, moved to Belp in 2002 into rented properties in the building of Heliswiss. In 2007 the company moved to Kehrsatz due to lack of space. Shortly after this two more companies were founded namely Q.C.M. camo plus AG and Q.C.M. maintenance AG.

With more than 30 employees and instructors Q.C.M. decided to return to Belp and to establish itself long-term. “Belp is basically our natural home destination”, says CEO Markus Enck and means of course the distance to the airport as well as the attractive conditions for SMBs.

The international safety standards, amongst others provided by the European aviation agency EASA and monitored by national authorities like the Federal Office of Civil Aviation (FOCA), are constantly changed and expanded. Companies like Q.C.M. assure that the actors - airlines, maintenance providers, helicopter companies, etc. - continue with their trainings and implement the new standards into their companies. For this, staff trainings are needed but also the expert monitoring of new aircraft types for their beginning of operation and maintenance. In these fields, Q.C.M. is active with clients from over 15 countries.

In the two-part /two-story new build the general management and administration will be housed and the training facilities find their new home. Included in the new build will be accommodation for trainees, which come from all over Europe and overseas as well as the Far East to Belp for the trainings.

Notices of Proposed Amendments (NPAs)

FAA Proposes Civil Penalty Against American Airlines

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has proposed a $24.2 million civil penalty against American Airlines Inc. for failing to correctly follow an Airworthiness Directive involving the maintenance of its McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft. This civil penalty is the largest ever proposed by the FAA.

The FAA alleges American did not follow steps outlined in a 2006 Airworthiness Directive requiring operators to inspect wire bundles located in the wheel wells of MD-80 aircraft. The Airworthiness Directive, AD 2006-15-15, required a one-time general visual inspection by March 5, 2008 for chafing or signs of arcing of the wire bundle for the auxiliary hydraulic pump. It also required operators to perform corrective actions in accordance with the instructions of the applicable manufacturer’s Service Bulletin.

All scheduled courses from September to November are listed below.

All other information regarding Q.C.M.’s courses and services as well as an overview of 2010 course-dates are published on our website www.qcm.ch .

Please feel free to call us if any questions arise. You will find our contact details at the end of this newsletter .

Important:
Please note that details of job advertisements or searches for the next edition must reach our office (info@qcm.ch ) by 22nd of next month. Without further notice, your advert will be published only once.

Contact details may be directly integrated in your advertisement or be deposited at Q.C.M. AG.

Q.C.M. is looking for employees in the following departments

Q.C.M. camo plus AG

1. Maintenance Coordinator

You fulfil the following requirements

• You should have experience in the field of Maintenance Planning
• You have finished your training as Aircraft Mechanic /Aircraft Technician
• Ideally you have experience with the planning tool AMO /CAMP /AMOS
• You are fluent in English both written and spoken
• A working knowledge of Office Word /Excel /etc.

Work place is Kehrsatz /Switzerland, employment 80-100%

Contact Person:
Lukas Oppliger
oppliger@camoplus.ch

Q.C.M. maintenance AG

2. Certifying Staff

You fulfil the following requirements

• You are an experienced licensed Mechanic Part-66 Cat. B1
• Ideally typerated on Bombardier Challenger 604, Embraer 135 BJ or Cessna products
• You are fluent in English both written and spoken
• A working knowledge of Office Word /Excel /etc.

Work place is Kehrsatz /Switzerland and partly our offices in Germany and Italy, employment 80-100%

Contact Person:
Markus Enck
enck@qcm.ch

Q.C.M quality control management AG

3. Assistant to Quality

You fulfil the following requirements

• You have experience in Quality assurance
• Engineer degree / Flight mechanic
• Detailed knowledge of Part-145 /Part-M/G /Part-147
• You are fluent in English both written and spoken
• A working knowledge of Office Word /Excel /etc.

Work place is Kehrsatz /Switzerland, employment 80-100%

Contact Person:
Markus Enck
enck@qcm.ch

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