The team at Power Plant Services is working hard to keep the lights on. Power plants depend on them—they are known as the emergency room for power plants—and they are available around the clock.   

 Whether it’s fossil, nuclear, hydroelectric or wind, the Melrose Park, IL, plant provides equipment and services to keep the industry running, as well as rail and defense applications. 

The team is continuously improving the 200,000 square feet of manufacturing space just outside Chicago. They have three plants at the location, along with another plant in Oswego, IL, as well as locations in Ohio, Georgia, and India.   

With multiple quality labs, high-tech machines and inspection equipment as well as a motivated staff, things have been going well. Even auditors have commented about the company’s professional atmosphere, long-term customer base and experienced workforce.  

Quality has stepped up in the last few years—and customers have noticed. Staff say that they aren’t at the top of the mountain yet in terms of quality, but they’ve come a long way. Still, Jeff Bolam, director of operational excellence who previously worked at Caterpillar as well in automotive, has a lot more that he’d like to do.  

With its strong staff, commitment to quality and training, and investment in technology, we’re proud to name Power Plant Services our 2026 Quality Plant of the Year.  

Meet the Team 

When I met with the quality group in their conference room, some staff members said they felt nervous. I reassured them that having an editor on site is not like an auditor; there was nothing to be nervous about. And based on their recent audits, they shouldn’t even feel nervous about those. In fact, they should be proud of the work they’ve done.  

As the company prepares for AS9100 recertification this year, Bolam shared the company’s April 2025 surveillance audit results: “zero findings, 94.5% OASIS benchmarking rating (exceeding 94.5% of peers), and strong KPI performance (most met, including very low defect rates).” 

The group cares about their work, and the company isn’t afraid to move people to different positions for the best fit. Jeff Bolam, Ernesto Montiel, Rohan Shah, Mitch Whalen, and Diana O’Donnell have all been doing great work, and I had the chance to hear about it firsthand. 

Bolam decided to apply for the award after coming across information at the Quality section of the ASSEMBLY Show. He stays busy in his new role. When I visited, he had traveled to a plant in Georgia the previous week.  

Quality Manager Ernesto Montiel says he has big shoes to fill with Bolam’s promotion—“He left the bar way too high.”—but Montiel has been overseeing record levels of quality as well.  

“It’s all teamwork,” Montiel says. “Everybody’s willing to step in.” He hosts a monthly lunch with inspectors. With three plants at the site, inspectors don’t always get to see each other, so it’s nice for morale. But in the spirit of continuous improvement, Montiel says he wishes he could buy lunch for everyone every week.  

Rohan Shah, engineering manager, says that quality and engineering work closely together. Whenever there’s an issue, they address it. “We learn from it and move on,” he says. His favorite part of working at PPS is getting the opportunity to learn.  “This is a big part of this company. Learning all this, taking it all in at once can be daunting, but it’s a great place to grow and learn.” He also appreciates getting to contribute back to society by providing energy.  

Diana O’Donnell, quality assurance specialist, works both in the Oswego, IL, location as well as Melrose Park, and has nothing but praise for her colleagues: “For me as an employee, this is the most top-notch group of quality professionals I’ve ever worked with in my career.” 

It’s not just the quality and engineering staff. The rest of the company is strong too. Mr. Turbine, their mascot, can be seen around the world from photos. They also have a big presence on LinkedIn—and a recent four-million-dollar order from a new customer came from LinkedIn.  

Founder CEO Manny Gandhi started the company in 1998 in a 9,000 sq. ft. facility. 

Today the company covers over 250,000 square feet across its locations. Current CEO Keith Ravan (Power Services Group, overseeing Power Plant Services) emphasizes, “The right people, doing the right things, for the right reasons.” Training plays a big role in doing the right things, whether it’s internal auditing, 8D, equipment training, or CAPA.  

In his application, Bolam wrote, “Operators and technicians have been pivotal in the successful implementation of new quality technologies and strategies. The eight auditors (three Lead, five Internal), actively involved in process development, have applied AS9001 and AS13000 training to enhance quality controls. Specific roles include Production Manager Andrzej Szeretucha strengthening production processes, QC Manager Ernesto Montiel improving CAPA reports, and IT personnel Mitch Whalen and Setareh Manafirasi developing ERP logic controls, collectively fostering a culture of continuous improvement.”  

The Plant in Action 

Seeing manufacturing sites in action is always a highlight. The PPS shop floor reads like a Who’s Who of products, with name brand quality equipment everywhere you look. They have blue light scanners, XRF analyzers, CNC machines, EDM machines—the coolest area, according to Bolam—as well as handheld CMMs and plenty of the latest software, including a new ERP system. We toured areas for magnetic particle testing, milling, vertical grinding, polishing, and welding, as well as the furnace. They acquired a new furnace two years ago, which helped with demand, as the cycles run long. Some could be 29 hours or even for Inconel, 96 hours.  

Technology may be easy to acquire, but not so for staff. Along with many other manufacturers, skilled labor can be difficult to come by, and they do have open positions to fill, particularly CNC or CMM programmers. Montiel’s wife and son are engineers, and he notes that kids today would prefer to be engineers rather than CMM programmers. 

Customer Satisfaction 

Customers agree that Power Plant Services is doing something right.  

Cindy Aylen, LSSGB, ASQ CMQ/OE, CQE, CQA, Supplier Quality & Development Engineer, Mitsubishi Power Americas, has been working with the company for almost a decade. She’s been working with the company to improve their quality and says the numbers continue to improve as they have more fully embraced quality.  

Aylen has high standards for quality, having been in the quality field for 30 years. She was in the second class of women in the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.  

When she discovered formal quality, she found a good fit. “This is what it can do for you,” she said. “I really enjoy doing quality. It’s satisfying. I’m mostly focused on supplier development. I take suppliers who think it’s just about inspection and say ‘Let me tell you about prevention.’” She’s a big proponent of Phil Crosby. The ideas are not new, she said, citing Benjamin Franklin’s famous ounce of prevention.  

In addition to improving quality, she said Power Plant Services has been fast.  

“They are very good for quick responses,” Aylen says. “We support the energy industry. If turbine goes out and we need quick expedited parts, they are very good at expedited parts.”  

After a recent customer visit, Bolam said, “They want to give us as much work as they can. When capacity becomes your biggest problem, it’s very nice.” 

Continuous Improvement  

Quality is ongoing. Early in his career as a manufacturing engineer, Bolam says he would see someone from the quality department and walk the other way. That changed when he joined their ranks. He became a quality engineer and then involved with new product launches at the automotive Tier One supplier. He started his career in Georgia, moved around Ohio, and then moved to the Chicago area to be closer to family.  

This move has brought success on a personal and professional level—playing hockey with his son while also raising the bar on quality at PPS. While things have been going well, Bolam has a vision for even bigger things ahead for the plant. “We’ve got the path ahead of us outlined. I wish it could be overnight.” 

For those looking to improve their quality, Rohan Shah says, “The mindset comes first. As a team, we need to always be improving, never be stagnant. Understanding that there is always more to do.” 

Power Plant Services 
Melrose Park, IL 
186 employees 
Plant Manager David Cox 

From their application:  

The corporate quality goals for 2025 included a 10% improvement in internal and external PPM quality rates from 2024 levels and a customer nonconformance rate of less than 1%.  

Improvements above these goals are evident in the data, with internal PPM decreasing from 3291 (February 2024) to 1712 (July 2025), exceeding the 10% improvement target.  

External PPM has reduced from 1748 to 749 over the same period, also surpassing the goal.  

The customer nonconformance rate has dropped to 0.56% YTD, well below the 1% target.