ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Andrew (Andy) W Nichols, CQP FCQI, has more than 30 years’ experience of management systems. As the quality manager of a UK-based NATO contractor, he was responsible for developing a quality assurance program to meet the AQAP 1 Quality Assurance requirements, when supplying communications equipment (hardware and software) to the SHAPE organization. Subsequently, as design/supplier assurance manager for a well-known British-based metrology equipment company, he was on the leadership team responsible for achieving ISO 9001:1987 certification – a first in class.

In 1990, Andy joined the first UK accredited certification body (LRQA) as a lead assessor, quickly becoming a supervisor and trainer, responsible for mentoring new certification auditors, leading internal sales training, and conducting ISO 9000-based training for clients. He performed some of the earliest ISO 9000 certification audits in the US. In 1992, Andy joined a small team responsible for opening the LRQA North American operations.

Shortly after arriving in the US, he pursued a career as a consultant and trainer with Excel Partnership Inc, a leading provider of QMS implementation support. He delivered hundreds of ISO 9000 training courses, covering implementation, documentation, and auditing, making the material relevant to audiences ranging from shop floor personnel to CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.

As an instructional designer, Andy led, and contributed to, the development of best-in-class training courses for ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO/IEC 17024, QS-9000, ISO/TS 16949, and ISO/IEC 17025.

His clients included Tellabs, Chrysler, GKN, General Motors, Visteon, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing of America, Hewlett-Packard, Dresser Industries, ANSI, the USDA, and many branches of the U.S. Department of Defense.

Andy has held certifications with the International Register of Certificated Auditors (IRCA) and the RABQSA (now Exemplar Global) as a lead auditor of QMSs. He is a fellow of the UK’s Chartered Quality Institute and has been a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ).

Andy joined the global certification body NQA as its East Coast sales manager in 2008 and contributed to its overall sales success.

In September 2016, Andy joined the Michigan Manufacturing Technology Center, a Top 5 NIST Manufacturing Extension Partner in the US. As a quality program manager, he brings his 40 years of industrial expertise to clients seeking to improve their manufacturing operations and has led clients through successful transitions (based on ISO 9001:2008) and ‘ground up’ implementations where no formal quality system existed. He has led a significant number of clients through ISO 9001:2015, as well as AS9100D and IATF 16949 implementations. He also guides clients in sales management and information security management systems to ISO/IEC 27001.

Andy is a regular technical contributor to online forums, LinkedIn groups, and blogs.