Member Snapshot: Corning Incorporated

We asked Corning’s Ian Harrop, director, finance transformation, what he finds most valuable about APQC membership.

About Corning Incorporated

Corning is one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science. For more than 160 years, the company has applied unparalleled expertise in specialty glass, ceramics, and optical physics to develop products that have created new industries and transformed lives. The company succeeds through sustained investment in R&D, a unique combination of material and process innovation, and close collaboration with customers to solve tough technology challenges.

What tools, expertise, services, or information do you use the most?

APQC has very informative, robust content in the Resource Library that relates to our areas of interest, especially from a shared services perspective, when we are looking at the traditional streams of work. APQC’s website is easy to navigate, so we can get to the information we’re looking for quickly. I also find APQC’s benchmark data and webinars to be helpful.

One thing that I especially appreciate is how APQC reaches out to members. The accessibility of APQC team members is helpful for me and my team members. If we leave a message, APQC always gets back to us promptly. That’s a differentiator, and it’s really very valuable for us.

How does APQC membership help you work smarter, faster, and with more confidence?

APQC gives us an independent, third-party source for information, rather than just relying on internal information.

Our membership gives us an educational forum and ensures that we are staying current with where the industry is going as well as to participate in the dialogue. 

Every three years, we develop road maps, and we review them every year. As we are reviewing our road maps for processes across the board, we check APQC to learn about current industry trends, emerging approaches, and best practices. We also use APQC to make sure that we are measuring the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are considered the best for each specific stream of service. At the same time, we can identify and learn from other APQC members that are highlighting trends that they’re seeing in that specific stream as well.