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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.
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.
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