Pacamor Kubar Bearings (PKB) recently announced that Chris Lake has rejoined the company as quality manager. Lake previously worked as quality manager at PKB for six years before temporarily leaving the company in December for a position closer to his home and family.

"We're pleased to have Chris back with us at PKB", said Ed Osta, executive vice president. "Chris's experience with quality standards and in-depth knowledge of ISO, AS9100, and FAA requirements is important to our continued growth in the aerospace market. It is an advantage that he is already intimately familiar with our processes and production capabilities."

Lake most recently served as quality manager for Power and Composite Technologies, LLC in Amsterdam, New York, a globally recognized manufacturer of power generation parts and components.  Earlier in his career, he spent 5+ years as a manager of quality assurance and regulatory affairs in the medical device industry. 

During the past six years PKB has gained process improvements in virtually every area of the factory. Everything from simple enhancements to precision grinding machines, tighter controls over gauging tolerances as well as cross-training of employees to major improvements like doubling the square-footage of the Class 10,000 clean room, doubling the number class 100 laminar flow hoods in the assembly, lubrication and packaging areas and the purchase of a VIBRAC BRG 3000 Bearing Torque Tester.

From a quality management standpoint, PKB has progressed from being ISO 9001 certified to being ISO 9001 and AS9100 certified, which includes the additional QS requirements specific to the aerospace industry. The company attained certification from the FAA to manufacture bearings per the requirements of TSO-C149, thereby enabling it to provide bearings as replacement parts to FAA certified repair stations. 

When asked about returning to PKB, Lake said "I enjoy working with everyone at PKB, particularly the management team, and consider many of the people here to be friends. This company has been very good to me. I'm happy to be back".