Martin S.-Head of Quality Management Brooks Europe

Background Construction of the Super-FRS, a research facility over 200 meters long for the separation of atomic nuclei. Quality tasks had largely been delegated to work package owners, work package leaders, assembly leads and production planning; the required quality expertise and coordinated implementation needed further development.

Responsibility Responsible for Quality Control from incoming goods through NCR and problem-solving management to quality handover for Commissioning. Further developed the quality skills of operational leads; coordinated closely with GSI quality colleagues for development and Supply Chain Management.

Actions Defined quality milestones, inspection requirements and inspection procedures with the responsible functions and supported their implementation. Managed deviations at component and assembly interfaces that only became apparent during installation through NCR and problem-solving management; coordinated and followed up on technical clarification, corrective actions and verifiable quality records.

Result Strengthened quality expertise and independent quality practices within operational functions; established clear inspection requirements and NCR procedures. Ensured quality-assured assembly within the project scope and helped shape the quality culture. Assignment expected to end early in October/November 2026 as part of project-wide budget consolidation.

• Advised and supported the development of a business-process-oriented Quality Management System for a major, next-generation infrastructure project, using BPMN 2.0 in Signavio and Sharepoint.

• Supported industrialization and achieved an industry-level quality maturity level.

• Built the team through training and professional development.

• Introduced APQP, D-/P-FMEA and PPAP in product and process development, including Change Management.

• Introduced Supplier Quality for critical suppliers.

• Introduced QA/QC in process development and production.

• Introduced Business Process Excellence and a CAQ system (Signavio, Babtec).

• Result: Built Quality teams for existing and new development projects; APQP deliverables made part of Gate Reviews; warranty cases began to trend down during market launch.

Starting point Leadership vacancy in Quality Management; product and process defects, and a need to stabilize incoming inspection of circuit boards.

Responsibility Took over as Head of Quality Management with 8 direct reports; reporting to the technical managing director. Responsible for quality control and complaint management, and for providing quality support to product development and production.

Actions Analyzed and addressed major product defects and manufacturing weaknesses; managed a stock review with 100-% inspection at the supplier; used NC/CAPA management and cost tracking in the problem-solving process. Goals: improve First Pass Yield and failure rates, as well as incoming inspection and material supply.

Results Covered the leadership vacancy and completed the stock clearance with full inspection at the supplier. Identified and addressed major product defects and process weaknesses; established cost transparency for claims handling and continuous improvement.

• Covered the vacancy for Head of Quality Management.

• Led the QM system transition to IATF 16949:2016; provided training and professional development; coordinated the expansion of the QM system from ISO/TS 16949 to IATF 16949:2016.

• Conducted audits and certification as a lead auditor for ISO 9001 and IATF 16949; implemented the annual plan for system, product and process audits.

• Document management/archive system: cleared the archive and disposed of data past its retention period; disposed of approximately 5000 folders in coordination with the people concerned.

• Achievements: IATF 16949:2016 certification in March 2018, providing access to the automotive market; received the “Quality Award”; ISO 9001:2015 recertification.

• Responsible for product, process & service quality: APQP, PPAP, FMEA, MSA, SPC, PLP, including change management and NC & CAPA management.

• Expanded the QM system scope to include service; systematically revised all production control plans for reliability.

• Optimized logistics processes using Lean Six Sigma; developed and rolled out the concept and trained all responsible managers.

• Improved the complaints process using RMA, FA and the 8D process; reported on quality performance.

• Introduced and coordinated Standardized Supplier Quality Assessment (SSQA) to assess maturity levels and support improvement.

• Implemented Brooks Process Certification with PQP, 5S, Safety, audits and an annual audit plan, including follow-up actions.

• Achievements: Improved product & refurbishment reliability by 25 %; reduced failure analysis turnaround time by 60 % and complaints by 55 %; improved the SSQA maturity score by 2,8 points.

• Implemented and achieved group certification of the QM system to ISO 9001; expanded it to include VDA 6 and TQM at all locations in Germany, Switzerland and Spain.

• Training & professional development; lead internal auditor; contact for customers, suppliers and certification bodies.

• Achievement: AUDI Quality Award as an Engineering Partner.

• Project engineer for the development and construction of assembly machines for the semiconductor and automotive industries.

• Developed a semi-automatic welding device for cable crimping, from basic design through commissioning.