Wavecom, Inc. Serves the Globe with Must-Connect Technology

Wavecom, Inc. was awarded the 1B4NC plaque from the North Carolina State University Industrial Extension Service (IES) in early February. The company, headquartered in France with offices in the United Kingdom, China and Research Triangle Park, develops Wireless CPUs used in retail point of sale communications, home/office security systems and automotive applications.

Before commencing the interview, Sara Brown, communications manager for Wavecom, checked the status virtually, of a sparkling wine shipment shipped from Barcelona, Spain the location of Mobile World Congress, an upcoming mobile telecommunications event, to its final destination in the Canary Islands.

Wavecom, a provider of embedded wireless technology for M2M (machine-to-machine) communication, makes hardware and software that enables asset tracking and other applications. Based on specifications written into their quality management system, Wavecom required an external third-party auditor to check their internal quality processes. They called on IES.

ISO 9001 is an international standard which promotes a commitment to customer satisfaction, ensures consistency in the delivery of products and services, as well as the commitment to continual improvement of processes and products.

Systems not created equally

Eric Smith, quality manager for the RTP office, had helped the company obtain quality management system registrations in Europe and Asia. But he explained that even though both management systems are quality-driven, they each follow very different interpretations. He explained how in the United States, the standard is followed to the ‘letter of the law’ whereas, in Europe, it‘s more of a “in the spirit”-type consideration.

That’s why it was imperative for Wavecom to have an external, objective resource. Nora Milley, extension specialist with IES, provided that imperative ‘letter of the law,’ perspective. Milley made recommendations for corrective actions and improvements that led to a successful audit and certification for the company.

“Nora did a tremendously good job and her role was of critical importance,” said Anders Franzén, president of Wavecom. “This certification verifies that we serve the customer the way they expect us to.”

There are 95 employees at the RTP office working on approximately five major projects. They work to enable mission-critical communications such as North Carolina Amber Alerts, where messaging is sent from a central origin to multiple recipients for the purpose of facilitating communication as quickly and accurately as possible.

IES celebrates companies that contribute more than $1 million toward the IES promise of generating $1 billion in economic value to the state of North Carolina in five years (2006 -2010), in a campaign called 1B4NC.