Three Reasons Why You Should NOT be Here
Hi, I'm Bryan Armentrout.
I live in Loveland, Colorado with my wife. We have a dog and no kids. Life is about choices.
By the way, if you haven't been to Colorado, you should get out here and take a look around. It's not all just about marijuana and skiing out here...
I doubt however that you are here to listen to my business war stories or see pictures of what I ate for dinner last night.
What you likely are wondering instead is if this guy is worth my attention?
I will be frank, for most people my answer is NO.
Here's Why:
Reason Number One: Most people think that what they have is good enough.
If you view quality as a separate function that is hidden away until needed and that its only purpose is to have a good audit score, then I am not for you.
I could help you, but I won't.
Why?
Because when I hear someone say, "We have a quality issue" I know they don't get it.
They view quality as an impediment to getting production out the door.
Quality systems are hard to put in place - but here's the irony in what I just said.
If you do it right, they are actually simple and elegant. They show people what is expected and how to react if they don't go the way we expect.
Here's what you can expect from me.
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Actionable steps to building a quality system that everyone will understand and be proud of.
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No dictating from an ivory tower. Quality and productivity are the same and good ones are built on the floor with the people who actually do the work. No theory, just real-world lessons learned in the trenches.
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Clear steps and progress that you track and know that you got what I promised.
Simple, right?
Well, only if everyone is on board and understands what is going on. That starts at the top - from the CEO and Board of Directors on down.
Reason Number Two: "We never had a problem before."
When I hear this, it's a really bad sign. It's complacency. It's arrogance. It's failure.
It's a recall waiting to happen.
Did you know the average cost of a recall in the US is now over thirty million dollars?
If one happens to you, it's a life or death struggle for your company and if FDA thinks you are a bad player, your chances of coming out of it intact are not good.
I have been the Recall Coordinator for serious recall issues. When it happened, I essentially took control of the company for the duration of the crisis. Decisions need to be made quickly and without hesitation, if you are to survive.
Nothing else matters. Everything stops until the crisis is over.
You need to prepare. You need to practice and NOT just at the plants. You need to involve everyone, especially Sales. It needs to become second nature to your business.
If you ignore what I am saying, your only other option is to find out how it works during the real thing. That would keep me up at night. It should for you, too.
Plan for the best, prepare for the worst. I can help you with both if you are ready.
Reason Number Three: You need to look at your corporate systems first.
Think about it. Who audits your corporate systems? Just finance, right? You hire a team of external auditors that come in once a year to check the books. But why is that?
They are making sure that your systems are correct and in line with accepted practices. No one wants to be surprised by another Enron. They are making sure that you follow the best way of doing things. It's all about trust.
It should be the same for all your other departments. But, who audits their practices?
No one - they are left to do as they please. It may be good, it may be bad. It's left to chance and that's bad for your business.
Individual departments have their own goals. As the saying goes, what gets measured gets improved. If I work in Procurement and my performance bonus is tied to how cheaply I can purchase commodities for, what do you think I am going to do? Am I worried about quality issues with that unknown Chinese supplier or is my mind on the new car I am going to buy with my bonus at the end of the year?
You need to shake up how things are done with outside eyes to help you.
My company does something that no one else does, it's called Enterprise Risk Assessment.
Depending on your situation, I can call on a long list of world-class experts in Procurement, Legal, Operations, R&D or any other function that put you at risk.
I don't know everything, but I know people in their area of expertise that do.
If you want to really find out where the holes are in your company, I can help. As an added bonus, your products launch faster and at less cost. This program pays for itself.
You have never seen a program like this before, I guarantee it.
Read more here about Enterprise Risk Assessment Here
Here's My First Sales Pitch to You
Get to know me and my approach a little better.
Go to my podcast and watch some of my interviews with industry leaders.
Read some of the articles I have posted.
Get an understanding of who I am and why what I am saying is different from your typical run of the mill "quality guy".
You will find that what I do not only makes your life easier, it will make you more money.
If you like what you are hearing, let's see if we can work together.
Pretty simple, right?
Thanks for reading this page and let's get to work!
