Many small and medium-sized companies only need a part-time quality professional to oversee their quality management system. So rather than burden an existing employee with those added responsibilities, or struggle to justify the expense of a full-time quality professional, it just makes sense to hire a contracted Quality Director / Manager.

According to PayScale.com (1/22) an average Quality Assurance Manager in the United States earns $82k annually. And experienced Quality Assurance Directors in the United States earn up to $130k annually. Similarly, a Quality Control Director in the United States earns $120k annually. And experienced Quality Control Directors in the United States earn up to $134k annually.

Understanding the challenges of managing a business, and the need for operational flexibility, Randall offers more cost-effective Contracted Quality Director / Manager services to fulfill the responsibilities of that role until such time as a full-time Quality Director / Manager can be justified.

Using a contracted Quality Director / Manager at 10-20k per year (as needed) provides significant cost savings to a small business.

These responsibilities typically include tasks such as:

• Develop and implement a formal Quality Management System (QMS),
• Develop and implement a Knowledge Management System (KMS),*
• Train employees in their responsibilities relating to the Quality Management System,*
• Develop a Supplier Management System for evaluating, qualifying, and managing suppliers),*
• Develop and implement a calibration management system (for any measuring and monitoring equipment used),*
• Develop and manage Quality Objectives / Goals that indicate the effectiveness of each process in meeting quality requirements,*
• Perform Internal Audits to verify compliance with the Quality Management System,*
• Perform “Value-Added Assessments”,
• Develop and implement an operational risk management system (e.g., utilizing Process FMEAs),
• Host Management Reviews of the Quality Management System,*
• Manage the Corrective Action process,*
• Achieve ISO 9001 / AS9100 quality system certification or ISO 17020 / ISO 17025 accreditation (as determined necessary by management),
• Maintain a quality management system that consistently produces measurable improvements (e.g., through implementing LEAN management techniques / tools).

* required by ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 17020, ISO 17025, etc.

With over 2 decades of experience in Quality Management (e.g., ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 17020, ISO 17025), Richard Randall has Quality industry expertise to implement these systems quickly, efficiently, and within strict budgets. And after implementation, he can maintain them cost-effectively.

For Contracted Quality Director / Manager assignments, Randall's standard fee is $1,200/day… with a contract for a minimum of 2 weeks (10 working days) per year. Travel & Living expenses are invoiced at the actual expenses.

This fee is greatly reduced from his consulting fees based upon the long-term nature of the assignment.

The benefits of implementing a recognized Quality Management System (QMS), such as ISO 9001, and achieving quality system certification or accreditation have been extensively researched and widely reported.

Richard C. Randall excels in assisting personnel at small and medium size companies quickly and economically implement a quality management system that leads them to successful ISO 9001 or AS9100 quality system certification / ISO 17020 or 17025 accreditation.

Most small and medium size companies can complete this process and be ready for a 3rd party audit in as little as 2 months (for ISO 9001:2015). However, the actual timeline varies depending upon several factors, such as:

• Whether the company has a Quality Management System - or parts of a system - already in place.
• How much time personnel can devote to working on the Quality Management System (QMS) implementation.

Primary Implementation Tasks
While the initial QMS development and implementation can be approached as a “project”, once it is fully implemented, it must be maintained. The primary tasks include:

• Develop and implement quality management systems (e.g., ISO 9001, AS9100, ISO 17020, ISO 17025),
• Train employees in their responsibilities relating to the Quality Management System,
• Perform Internal Audits and Management Reviews,
• Achieve ISO 9001 / AS9100 quality system certification or ISO 17020 / ISO 17025 accreditation,
• Maintain a quality management system that consistently produces measurable improvements,

When special skills are required, Randall will work with management to find the best “fit” for the organization. And where a situation warrants, assigning a member of his team who is more experienced in the client's specific industry / needs.

Establishing Metrics
All Quality Management System (QMS) standards require the monitoring, measuring, and analysis of data demonstrating that the processes are “effective” in achieving “planned results”. So many companies use the “implementation” stage to:

“What is not measured, is not managed.”
~ Joseph Cubby

• Identify “core” processes,
• Determine the “measurable objectives” that demonstrate whether each “core” process is “effective” in its role to achieve compliance with customer requirements, and
• Begin gathering metrics data (e.g., “On-Time Delivery”).

Where a process is found not achieving its objectives, the company must implement actions necessary to improve the performance of that process - leading to it fully achieving its objectives.

Certification / Accreditation Body Selection
For those clients who have completed their QMS implementation, Richard Randall offers the following services at NO additional cost:

• Assistance in evaluating and selecting an appropriate 3rd party certification / accreditation body
• Assistance in negotiating a quote from the selected certification / accreditation body

The cost of registration is based upon (1) the scope of registration / accreditation, (2) the number of employees affecting quality, and (the number of employees performing an identical job function in the same process. Not knowing how the registrars calculate their fees can be a costly mistake.

While the base cost of certification / accreditation is generally competitive among all Certification / Accreditation bodies, there can be some significant “hidden” costs. For example, selecting a Certification / Accreditation body with local auditors can eliminate airfare and hotel costs. In some cases it is more cost effective to utilize a locally based Certification / Accreditation body. In other cases a large national or international Certification / Accreditation body have more local auditors.

Certification / Accreditation Support
Because the ISO 9001 / AS9100 quality system certification or ISO 17020 / ISO 17025 accreditation process can be intimidating for many who have never experienced a 3rd party audit, Randall offers an additional service of assisting in the actual certification / accreditation audit as a co-host.

Also, since almost every company receives nonconformities from their 3rd party audits… especially during their first few audits, when Richard Randall can assist in addressing and closing ALL resulting corrective actions. Alternatively, if the company disagrees with one or more nonconformities identified by the Certification / Accreditation auditor, Randall can assist in the appeal process.

Randall specializes in setting up and deploying ”DokuWiki“ Knowledge Management Systems (KMS).

Standard consulting fees are $1,600/Day + actual Travel & Living expenses.

While some companies have 5 or 10 year “Strategic Plans”, these can quickly become meaningless in today's fast changing world. Randall offers a unique approach toward “Strategic Planning” by utilizing a variation of “Fishbone” analysis (the Ishikawa diagram) where the “head” of the “fishbone” is a strategic goal rather than a problem. And the “bones” are “obstacles” to the goal, rather than causes of a problem.

Randall's “Strategic Planning” sessions are focused on assisting companies in defining pathways to achieve a small number of major goals during a short period of time. As a minimum, goals should be annual, but ideally, are quarterly objectives.

Randall requests management to define 2 or 3 major goals / objectives to be achieved during a specific time-frame. Randall then hosts an full day meeting with the management team to perform a “root cause” analysis identifying obstacles preventing the company from achieving those goals. Once the “root causes” are identified, SMART action items are created to remove those obstacles. Once focused on the goals, and with the obstacles clearly identified, most companies experience short-term growth at a greatly accelerated pace.

Using this approach, one company was able to achieve the objectives of their 5 year “Strategic Plan” in only 1 year.

Fees are $1,600/Day + Travel & Living expenses.

Richard Randall also offers:

• Internal Auditing Services
• Supplier Auditing Services (on behalf of companies)
• 3rd party audits (i.e., for ISO 9001 / AS9100 Registrars & ISO 17020 / ISO 17025 Accreditation bodies)

Richard Randall is an Probitas AS 9100:2016 (Rev. D) Aerospace Auditor (listed in the Aerospace IAQG OASIS database) and was a IRCA certified Principle Quality Auditor for 25 years (from 1993 to 2018).

Fees vary depending upon the type(s) of audits performed.