Strategic Materials Deploys InfinityQS' Enact Platform

InfinityQS International, Inc., a global authority on data-driven enterprise quality, announced that one of North America’s largest glass recyclers, Strategic Materials, has deployed InfinityQS’ cloud-based Quality Intelligence platform, Enact, to standardize data collection and quality programs at 31 of its recycling plants—with plans to expand to others. Using Enact, quality professionals at Strategic Materials gain real-time visibility into the process performance within these plants—empowering immediate issue detection and corrections, as well as the cross-site analysis needed to drive continuous improvement.  

Founded in 1896, Strategic Materials supplies recycled glass to manufacturers of glass containers, fiberglass insulation, highway bead, decorative glass, glass fillers and other specialty glass. Previously, the company used non-standardized data collection methods. As a result, plant personnel were required to manually enter quality data into separate spreadsheets for each process. In addition to being time consuming, this method prevented consistent, regular quality checks and the timely discovery of issues.

Differences in the data collected between sites—such as in process nomenclature—made it challenging for Brad Bell, director of quality and continuous improvement at Strategic Materials, to look at each plant’s performance and uncover actionable insights. Bell needed a quality system that could easily unite Strategic Materials’ disparate quality data—and he selected Enact.

Built to collect quality data and conduct deep-dive analyses, Enact provides a richer way for manufacturers to understand their processes—and surfaces the intelligence needed to make rapid improvements. According to InfinityQS, Enact unlocks the true power hidden within manufacturing quality data, exposing trends across an entire enterprise. This enables companies to respond quickly and make required process tweaks in the moment—preventing out-of-specification products from leaving a plant.

Because Enact is a cloud-native platform, Bell was able to quickly roll out the solution to multiple plants—starting with 12 sites and expanding to 31 in only three months. Today, Strategic Materials benefits from the insights gained from having centralized data that gets entered in a standardized manner. Quality technicians now have the power to tell, in real time, how any process is performing—and can make immediate adjustments as needed. Moreover, Bell and his team can quickly and easily assemble quality data from all 31 plants into a single report—exposing once-hidden opportunities for process improvement.

“How quickly we built standardized data collections—and how easily we can visually identify trends—is nothing short of great. Enact gives us a real-time, complete picture of all our processes,” said Bell in a statement. “We use the system to closely monitor performance across facilities on a day-to-day basis. Most notably, we share Enact data with our customers every week. The reporting enables us to demonstrate—to current and future customers alike—that we are a consistent, worry-free supplier who produces a high-quality product.”

“The Strategic Materials story is a compelling example of what’s possible when organizations have unified, standardized data—and the ability to effectively act on them,” said Eric Weisbrod, vice president of product management at InfinityQS, in a statement. “Beyond the cost and waste savings that come with better process monitoring, manufacturers can attain a clear competitive advantage by way of a focused commitment to quality. Using Enact, Strategic Materials has set themselves apart from the competition, leading to increased business, additional revenue streams and overall greater profitability.”