History

1979 - Engineering Research and Design Associates (ERDA)

After learning of a need in the airline industry for a company to make high quality, light weight airplane seats, Dave Brandt started ERDA in his garage in 1979. ERDA, which stands for Engineering Research and Design Associates, started with 5 employees and initially worked on a honeycomb panel design that would be both strong and lightweight. This honeycomb design is still used today at DeCrane Aerospace Aircraft Seating to make their panels in the composite lay-up area.

1983 - ERDA Moved

In 1983, ERDA moved into the old Thomson Boat Factory building, the building that DeCrane Aerospace Aircraft Seating Company (DASC) still occupies in Peshtigo today. The ERDA Team continued developing swivel and latch mechanisms that helped them grow in the aircraft seating industry.

1989 - Purchase of Cade Precision Machining

In 1986, local businessman John Cade was killed in a plane crash in Detroit. In 1989, Dave Brandt purchased Cade Precision Machining to support the growing aircraft seating business. At this time, the name changed to CamSpec (Computer Aided Machining Specialists).

1991 - Sales Growth

Two years later, in 1991 CamSpec was moved into the Peshtigo facility. The Plant Manager for Cade, Bob Ebsch, was a natural salesman and began hitting the road to support the newly combined business. The first entry into the medical business began when Bob made contact with GE Healthcare in Waukesha and the machine shop at Peshtigo began producing parts for GE. A short while later, GE approached Bob with an opportunity to start building assemblies and perform service work, and in 1995 the medical assembly portion of the business was given its own area in the back of the current Peshtigo Seating facility. With the addition of the Siemens business in the late 90's, the medical division needed room to grow. The facility in Monterrey, Mexico, was opened in 2000 to provide assemblies to GE, and in 2001 the medical assembly area from the Peshtigo Seating facility moved into its current location at 3000 Woleske Rd, Marinette after the company was purchased in 2000 by DeCrane Aerospace.

2005 - Product Diversification

ERDA enjoyed success and grew as GE and Siemens grew. In 2005 a salesman from Kidde Fire Fighting knocked on the door of our facility in Mexico and asked if we would be interested in building fire suppression equipment. We decided to take on the project in Marinette, instead of Mexico. The Kidde Fire Suppression line prospered and almost doubled in sales volume from the start of production in the fall of 2006.

2006 - More Accreditations and Focus on Lean Manufacturing

In 2006, ERDA achieved ISO certification (International Organization for Standardization). The next few years brought several new name changes for ERDA. In late 2007 and early 2008, ERDA launched a sustained lean approach to manufacturing, and a consolidated approach to business planning. A wealth of support emerged that helped re-establish values and a modern, forward-looking business culture. The door opened for more product diversification, and sustained improvements and growth.

2009 - Quality Assembly & Logistics, LLC

In 2009, ERDA became Quality Assembly & Logistics, LLC (QAL). QAL retains the focus on lean manufacturing processes and the specialty of complex electro-mechanical assembly. QAL is majority owned by Guy Meyerhofer and Generation Growth Capital (GGC) as a non-managing equity investor. Return to Top