The Cascade Technical Support Department

You may know Technical Support as the helpful, knowledgeable people on the phone, but there is a lot more to the Cascade Dafo Technical Support Department. They work to make sure your patients have the best brace possible. The eleven-person Technical Support Team is separated into three primary functions: Order Review, Phone Based Technical Support and Quality Control. How does it all work?

As the daily shipments of casts arrive from UPS, FedEx, and US Postal Mail, the casts are individually numbered for identification, logged into the computer system and presented to Order Review, the first phase of Technical Support. Before any molding or production begins, the order review team carefully reviews and analyzes the paperwork which indicates the specific requirements for the order. They visualize the child’s condition, analyze the angles and details of the cast and then assess whether the brace ordered with its custom requests will indeed work well for the child. If there is any missing information, or if the practitioner is asking for something unusual, the Order Review team will contact the practitioner to discuss and clarify the instructions on the work order to make certain that the order placed is indeed going to provide the best possible brace for the patient.

The cast enters production where it goes through plaster build-up, modification and then assembly. Once the brace has been fully produced with pads, toe rises, straps and all finishing details, including the engraving of the patient’s name and order number, the order is forwarded to the Quality Control section of the Technical Support group. Quality Control staff ensures that the completed brace accurately represents the order placed. They examine all aspects of the brace order making sure the order is complete and clear before releasing it to the shipping department.

Phone-based Technical Support is available at any stage of the brace manufacturing process. The six person team includes: Technical Support Representatives Tiffany Calder, Jenny Lecture, Hillary Peadon, Elisabeth Edwards, Associate Manager Loretta Sheldon, and Manager Tom Escovar. The highly skilled team often helps practitioners select an appropriate brace style for the patient’s condition, they trouble shoot with practitioners about special circumstances, provide casting tips and input, and manage any warranty related issues. Cascade’s 90-day warranty is designed to guarantee that patients have a brace that works well for them. In order to help practitioners with brace specifics, the team has a good understanding of biomechanics and of how the unique details of each DAFO work for specific conditions.

Practitioners and ultimately patients benefit from the continual collaboration and interaction within the Technical Support Department. On a daily basis the group discusses situations with casts and looks for trends that can be identified and prevented or improved in the future. All efforts at Cascade are geared toward getting the best possible brace on the patients as fast as possible. The Technical Support Department continually works to help improve the system, from the order process all the way through to the delivery and fit.