Prayon, Inc. Success Story

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A Partnership of Quality and Continuous Improvement

Prayon, Inc., is a mid-size manufacturer of phosphate-based chemical products. With a customer base that includes everything from construction and horticulture to the pet food and health care industries, Prayon has 1500 employees in multiple locations across Europe. Its U.S. headquarters, located in Augusta, Georgia, employs 140 people.

Prayon facilities in Augusta, GA

Situation

Although Prayon’s European locations employ internal auditing teams, the facility in Augusta faced challenges maintaining robust audits due to its regulatory differences and small size relative to foreign counterparts. To meet stringent quality and food safety requirements for sustaining ISO 9001:2015 and FSSC 22000 certifications, the company sought external guidance. Said Prayon COO Laurent Beckers, “The idea was to establish a trusting partnership with an entity that would work hand in hand with us and keep fostering improvements.”

Elliot Price, Augusta region manager at the Georgia Manufacturing Extension Partnership (GaMEP) at Georgia Tech, has been a longstanding professional contact of Prayon’s quality manager, Cheryl Parks. Price had performed internal quality and management audits for Prayon, and as the company grew over time, he brought in additional colleagues for support, including Olivia Pitts, GaMEP quality management systems project manager, and Wendy White, GaMEP food and beverage industry manager.

Solution

To provide Prayon with comprehensive internal auditing guidance for ISO 9001:2015 and FSSC 2200, Pitts recently conducted an ISO 9001:2015 internal audit, and White assisted with the internal audit of FSSC 22000.

Pitts and White brought valuable external perspectives to the project. Drawing from their decades of experience collaborating with a wide range of manufacturers, they offered fresh insights about new ways to approach challenges while encouraging Prayon to continue its growth.

Pitts’s audit identified several improvement opportunities, which led to action plans that reduced risks and operational costs. White’s work ensured compliance with global food safety standards, enabling the company to meet current customer requirements and expand its client base. GaMEP also identified a traceability issue regarding materials coming into the warehouse, prompting Prayon to modify the process before it became a problem.

Results

Through its collaboration with GaMEP, Prayon has:

  • Retained existing sales by maintaining ISO 9001:2015 and FSSC 22000 certifications with zero major findings
  • Maintained 140 jobs
  • Created five new jobs
  • Presented and received approval for an $8 million capital expansion project to upgrade food safety compliance in a critical area and support continuous improvement
  • Strengthened its culture of quality and continuous improvement across U.S. operations

Testimonial

“Working with the GaMEP team has been refreshing, challenging, and rewarding. They have access to the best of what’s been done elsewhere, and their enthusiastic outside perspective and state-of-the-art ideas keep us progressing on the right path.”
— Laurent Beckers, COO, Prayon, Inc.

“GaMEP has been very supportive. They hold us accountable to standards while providing more clarity about expectations and what’s needed. They’re familiar with other facilities and the way people are doing things now, and the additional feedback they provide has been instrumental to us.”
— Cheryl Parks, Quality Manager, Prayon, Inc.