Abby Marino Solidifies Management Team at R&D Machine
OLDSMAR, FL – November 26, 2024 – The southernmost Compass Precision operating company, R&D Machine already had a strong management team. But it recently became stronger.
R&D officially announced on November 26 the addition of Abby Marino. The company is also promoting her to Quality Manager.
“Abby leads by doing and isn’t afraid to jump right into a problem to help solve it by getting her hands dirty,” R&D Machine VP & General Manager Justin Kovscek said. “It is absolutely wonderful to have her on the team, and she has demonstrated her ability to lead a quality team.”
Abby began working at R&D as Quality Supervisor in late August 2024. She arrived at the operating company with five years of experience in the manufacturing industry.
“I haven’t been here too terribly long, but I feel like everything so far has exceeded my expectations. I just really, really love working here. It’s been a huge blessing so far.”
It’s also not as though Abby came to R&D with low expectations. She described her interview process with Justin and Operations Manager Kat Pennison as “wonderful.” Abby added that she felt from the beginning of her application that her and R&D were a “perfect” match for each other.
Abby previously worked in various roles for a small after-market gun parts company. In her five years with the company, she oversaw inventory, managed production schedules and provided customer service. She also essentially created a quality department from scratch for the gun manufacturer.
At the end of her tenure with the company, she served as Operations Manager.
While establishing a higher level of quality at the gun manufacturer, Abby implemented a lot of ISO standards. As the company grew, they purchased coordinate measuring machines. Abby became proficient on the Zeiss CMMs through basic and expert courses along with on-the-job training.
Although she’s not programming CMMs at R&D, in just three short months, her knowledge has already had a positive impact on the operating company’s quality department. So has her overall understanding of the manufacturing process.
“Abby came to RDM and hit the ground running immediately,” added Justin. “She was able to organize the Quality Lab and the workflow in a very short amount of time.
“She’s been a tremendous help getting CMM programming standardized and throughput of new parts through the QC area.”
Abby suggested a lot of the credit for her smooth transition should go to the established R&D management team.
She also said the two different aspects of her new job are helping her thrive.
“The way Kat and Justin manage the shop and the employees, just their level of professionalism and the way they deal with people and jobs that need to be done, the way that they handle problems when they come up, it’s exactly how I would handle things if I was in their position,” Abby said. “Just the task and roles too, it’s such a great mix of being able to work with people from the management side and still being heavily involved in the inspection process, the inspection plan and programming.
“It’s just a perfect mix of the things I enjoy doing.”
Prior to working at the gun manufacturer, Abby worked as a veterinarian assistant. She graduated with a bachelors in biology from Clearwater Christian College in 2012.
Abby changed her career path when an opportunity in customer service arose at the gun manufacturer. During her half a decade at the company, she discovered quality was her favorite aspect of the field.
Within her first six months at R&D Machine, Abby said she wanted to standardize everything in QC. She is pleased to say that that first goal has been accomplished.
The quickness in which the quality department reached that goal under Abby’s tutelage left Justin impressed. Abby has been equally in awe over how thankful Justin and the management team have been with her efforts.
“As part of my transition into R&D, it’s been very evident that continuous improvement both in processes and in people is highly valued and appreciated,” she said. “I am so grateful to be part of and contribute to this culture.”
Next, Abby aims to streamline the overall workflow through the R&D quality department.
“Every single job that comes through, we need to know exactly when it needs to get QC, so we don’t have to go backwards, if you will. That’s my goal for next year.”
“Abby is way ahead of the pack with her innovative thinking about the linkages between production, inspection, and customers’ needs,” added Compass CEO Gary Holcomb. “We are really happy to have her as part of our team at R&D.”