Quality Manager Does It All at Strom’s North Plains. OR Operation
Brian Kedroske’s dad was a Thunderbird pilot. As a result, Brian and his family lived all over the world when he was growing up. But no matter where they were, his father consistently preached, “Wherever you are, start doing whatever needs to be done.” Brian always took this to heart. And this attitude has taken him a long way.
Brian is Strom Manufacturing’s Quality Control Manager. Has been in Inspection at Strom since 1998. But over time, he started doing much more. Always doing whatever needed to be done. Just like his dad said.
None of this distracted Brian from being Strom’s quality guy. Employees know that. Customers depend on that. Always have. And Brian has never disappointed anyone.
But Brian is so much more at Strom. He also schedules the shop. And handles shipping. And deals with staffing issues. Brian does what most companies hire an operations manager to do. But Strom does not have an operations manager. They have Brian.
“We hired Brian mostly because he had a strong quality background,” explained Strom President Bill Strom. “But we quickly discovered he was also a good manager. So over time, he has taken on more and more responsibilities, many way outside the world of quality. He is sort of like our version of the LA Angel’s Shohei Ohtani. Like Ohtani, Brian gets to bat (production) and pitch (quality) in the same game.”
Brian has always been multi-dimensional. He started his career as a service tech with Pitney Bowes and learned the business quickly. Promotions soon followed, and he became the youngest Branch Manager in company history. Along the way, he developed a preventive maintenance system for Pitney Bowes equipment that is still being used today.
Brian relocated several times for Pitney Bowes, the last spot being Portland. An opportunity with Weiss Scientific lured him away. Once again, he excelled doing many different things, doing what needed to be done. Brian worked in CNC machining, then took a hybrid job straddling manufacturing and quality when the existing inspection organization had difficulty with dimensional inspection of complicated-shaped quartz components he was making. Promotions continued, with Brian rising to become Quality Manager, where he led the effort to obtain ISO certification. He was also instrumental in implementing an exact copy of the inspection process used at Intel, a major customer.
“I have always wanted to contribute in any way I could,” explained Brian. “I joined Strom with the same mindset. Initially, I was the mechanical inspector . But over time, they needed help in other areas, too. Many of these were production management related. Most organizations have a strict line between quality and production. Not us. We work together to do the right thing for customers.”
“Brian is great to work with,” said Paul Sonderen, Strom’s Sales & Estimating Manager. “He is also our primary interface with outside vendors, an area where our quality and production interests come together.”
“I have been around plenty of shops,” echoed Mike Strom, the company’s Technical Manager. “Not sure I have ever seen an individual contribute to both quality and manufacturing the way Brian does. He makes everyone else’s job easier.”
Brain also displays his versatility outside of work. His wife, Regina, is a singer with a 12-piece funk and soul band called Soul Vaccination. Brian sometimes serves as the group’s sound engineer for performances, something he also does for other performers.
Brian has two sons, Ryan and Jason. Interestingly, both work in technical roles for Boeing in the Seattle area. Brian and Regina also have two dogs, Yoyo and Paloma. Both are rescue dogs. The couple would not have it any other way.