Ep 156 Tom Taormina talks NASA Quality and Beyond

Tom Taormina is a seasoned professional who spent more than 30
years working in quality control and management for various
organizations. In a recent podcast, he shared his experiences
working with NASA during the Apollo program and how it helped shape
his career. Taormina started his career as a draftsman for a small
company that produced parts for the aerospace industry. He was soon
promoted to the quality control department, where he gained
valuable experience in inspecting and testing aerospace components.
This experience prepared him for his eventual role at NASA. Tom was
a member of the team at Mission Control in Houston during the
Apollo 13 disaster and recovery. His experiences during his 14
years at NASA formed the foundation for his ability to rapidly
analyze problems and diagnose solutions. As Mission Control Houston
came online in the mid-1960’s, a group of engineers adopted a
vision of preventing defects before they happened, instead of
inspecting for them after the fact. Tom was part of the early
evolution of Quality Control Engineering at NASA. Taormina also
discussed the importance of clear communication and documentation
in the quality control process. He emphasized the need for
suppliers to provide detailed records of their production processes
and the importance of conducting thorough inspections and tests to
ensure that components meet the required standards. Throughout his
career, Taormina has worked with a wide range of organizations,
from small suppliers to large corporations. He stressed the
importance of building strong relationships with suppliers and
working collaboratively to improve quality and efficiency. We are
very excited to have the change to discuss with Tom his experiences
at NASA and in the quality control field offer valuable insights
into the importance of quality control, clear communication, and
collaboration in ensuring the success of complex projects. Our team
at Texas Quality Assurance has been blessed to have the opportunity
to work with and learn from Tom and look forward to sharing more
with our clients and audience in the future! Tom is also a prolifc
writer, and we encourage you to purchase and read one of the many
books he has authored. Search here on amazon. http://texasqa.com/
Tom Taormina, CMC, CMQ/OE, FBP, MOQ Tom was one of the first
Quality Control Engineers at NASA’s Mission Control Center in
Houston during Projects Gemini and Apollo. He went on to run three
manufacturing companies where he replaced overhead quality control
with self-directed work teams. In 1991, he became a consultant and
trainer in ISO 9001. He has led scores of implementations, trained
hundreds of individuals and wrote 12 books on the beneficial use of
the Standard. He has worked with more than 700 companies as an
implementor, trainer and auditor. Today, he is working with Quality
Digest, The Kaizen Institute and Exemplar Global as they release
the Master of Quality Training and Certification Program. He also
authored BMS 9001:2023 which is an implementation guidance document
that builds on ISO 9001:2015 by applying business process
excellence and risk avoidance enterprise wide. tom@rockettom.com
www.taorminagroup.com 775-847-7929