Great Lakes Crystal Technologies Earns ISO 9001:2015 Certification

GLCT’s president and CEO Keith Evans wanted to establish best management practices early on in the company’s development, and thus early establishment of an ISO 9001:2015 compliant QMS was a firm goal of GLCT ever since it was founded in 2019.

When the company was launched, Evans was an Entrepreneur in Residence at Spartan Innovations, a subsidiary of Michigan State University Foundation, where he learned from Frank Urban of Spartan Innovations about the Michigan Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) program which is managed by the Michigan Small Business Development Center (SBDC) and administered in the Lansing region by Lansing Economic Area Partnership (LEAP). The company went on to leverage the BAF to bring in a number of professional consultants to help grow the business, including most recently to help establish the QMS. LEAP’s Joe Carr helped GLCT with the BAF proposal process.

GLCT’s president & CEO Keith Evans commented, “We are very thankful for the Michigan Business Accelerator Fund (BAF) program and LEAP’s support which enabled us to bring in Dave Bradley from the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center to help us set up the initial QMS system and to bring in Stacey Dysinger of AVU Registrations, Inc. of Rosebush, Michigan, which is an Accredited Certification Body, to perform the audit that led to our full certification.”

GLCT’s director of production Ramon Diaz led the final push to get the QMS certified and leveraged the efforts of GLCT’s chief scientist Paul Quayle earlier this year to get the initial QMS in place.

“Paul and I worked closely with Dave Bradley of MMTC back in January in the initial buildup of the QMS, and when Ramon joined us in June, he took the effort over and got it across the finish line. Neither was particularly experienced in QMS then and I am very thankful they were able to jump in and help make this happen,” added Evans.

GLCT is in the process of building its pilot manufacturing line at the Van Camp Incubator + Research Labs in East Lansing, Michigan which it plans to use to manufacture its first commercial products and to carry out its federally funded research projects. The scope of GLCT’s QMS certification covers its commercial activities only yet GLCT designed the QMS to provide a natural path to transition successful research outcomes over to the commercial side of the business.

About QMS and ISO 9001:2015

According to the American Society for Quality, a QMS is defined as a formalized system that documents processes, procedures, and responsibilities for achieving quality policies and objectives. A QMS helps coordinate and direct an organization’s activities to meet customer and regulatory requirements and improve its effectiveness and efficiency on a continuous basis. ISO 9001:2015 is the most recognized and implemented quality management system standard in the world. ISO 9001:2015 specifies the requirements for a QMS that organizations can use to develop their own programs.

About Great Lakes Crystal Technologies (GLCT)

GLCT’s mission is to create a commercial source of semiconductor-grade diamond materials for advanced applications in high energy particle detection, x-ray and other photon optics, electronics, and quantum technology. GLCT launched in 2019 as a Michigan State University (MSU) startup with early support from Spartan Innovations and Red Cedar Ventures. The company has also benefited from the positive Michigan based ecosystem for startups receiving the Business Accelerator Fund and Emerging Technologies Fund, both of which are administered by the Michigan Small Business Development Center in partnership with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

GLCT is a founding member of the Quantum Economic Development Consortium, a member of the Inaugural Cohort of the Duality Quantum Accelerator, and a member of the Resilient Infrastructure + Secure Energy (RISE) Consortium. For more information about GLCT visit their company website or send them an email.