Featured Employee

By Paul Hardin
VP of Sales and Marketing

Take a Look Inside the Test Dept at ACR

Bill Monser (Senior Tech 3), a valued ACR employee, is committed to building life-saving equipment.  His life-long experiences and hobbies make him uniquely qualified to work in ACR’s Production Test Dept.

First let’s talk a bit about Bill’s background and qualifications.
Bill has been boating for about 50 years. A Florida native, Bill started enjoying the outdoors as a youngster in Miami. He and his cousin even built their own boat from a set of plans. His uncle worked for the Coast Guard. His father and grandfather took him boating and fishing in the back country and the ocean. A few years ago, (1999), Bill hit the books and passed the USCG Master Captain exam. He is also certified for Commercial Tow Assist.

Bill spent 7 ½ years with the U.S. Air Force Strategic Air Command including the Cold War Global Assist and 3 tours in the Vietnam War. He worked with bombing and navigation systems including in-flight repair of radar and bombing systems. He trained in survival and evasion in both jungle and global situations using survival radios and strobes. He received an Air Force Commendation Medal and a Strategic Air Command Master Technician Award.

Bill studied Marine Biology and Electronics while in college prior to starting at ACR in 2001.

Tell us about the equipment you work with.
The main equipment we use are spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, RF counters, and frequency generators. Our test lab and the manufacturing engineers have developed some great application-specific fixtures that assist with specific products.

What’s the best part about your job?
Bill is not the sort of person who likes to brag but he is really proud of the way the test area works together. The people are hard working and loyal. The technicians have a wide variety of skills and backgrounds, so they often learn from each other. As lead technician, Bill enjoys helping others learn to solve problems. Each person has their own way of doing things. He likes to see them progress and learn to handle more difficult issues.

Bill’s manager, Mike Griffin (Test Dept Manager) has been at ACR for 23 years. Mike provides great support as needed and insulates the department from other issues so they can pretty much concentrate on testing the products without distraction.

What kind of challenges do you face in your job?
The biggest challenge is probably that sometimes the timing of fallout is not the best. Technicians also need to identify trends quickly so they can be reported up the line and addressed earlier in the process.

I asked Bill about the stress of being involved in building products that are used to save lives.  Bill told me that he is accustomed to the stress and finds building life saving products gratifying. Prior to coming to ACR, he worked for Audio Intelligence Devices where they made lifesaving products for law enforcement.

Which products are the most difficult to test?
The most difficult products are hand-made and hand-soldered (some of our older military products). The AquaFix/TerraFix/AeroFix and new MicrOFix/ResQFix have taken advantage of the latest surface mount technology. Their lean production lines and testing organization produce quality products much faster, better and easier.

How do the technicians keep up to date on the latest techniques?

The engineering department often brings the latest technology. The technicians also read various journals and articles on the web. Bill likes to keep an eye on the USCG Nav Center for the latest trends in the USCG. Another useful site is www.Cospas-Sarsat.org . ACR offers a tuition reimbursement program to encourage employees to pursue further education. Generally, an ACR technician needs to have a college degree and must continually stay current with the state of the industry.

Do you see many auditors coming through the test area?

We have the UL ISO-9000 auditors. The GSA (US government), FAA and the Airlines audit us from time to time.  We also get a number of auditors from approval societies and governments all over the world.  They always seem pretty impressed with what we are doing here.