Paul Naysmith

Quality manager

Expro Group

Paul Naysmith is the author of Business Management Tips From an Improvement Ninja and Business Management Tips From a Quality Punk. He’s also a Fellow and Chartered Quality Professional with the UK’s Chartered Quality Institute (CQI), and an honorary member of the South African Quality Institute (SAQI). Connect with him at www.paulnaysmith.com, or follow him on twitter @PNaysmith.

Those who have read Paul’s columns might be wondering why they haven’t heard from him in a while. After his stint working in the United States, he moved back to his homeland of Scotland, where he quickly found a new career in the medical-device industry; became a dad to his first child, Florence; and decided to restore a classic car back to its roadworthy glory. With the help of his current employer, he’s also started the first-of-its-kind quality apprenticeship scheme, which he hopes will become a pipeline for future improvement ninjas and quality punks.

Wed, 01/04/2017 - 12:00
It’s Easy to Poke Holes in Something Especially when it already has holes
Mon, 10/29/2012 - 12:29
Cheese is by far one of the greatest foods. It is my only ambrosia, wrapping around my taste buds and sending fireworks of pleasure around my brain. In particular, I love the nutty flavor of Switzerland's holiest of cheeses: Emmental. When you meet…
Six Tips for Avoiding the PowerPointless Have you ever been taught the skills to use this tool effectively?
Tue, 10/02/2012 - 08:53
Let me give you my definition of “PowerPointing”: To provide a presentation of slides so crammed with text that the background no longer shows, and that are read aloud, line by line, by someone staring at a screen rather than the audience. Many of…
My Toyota Dilemma, Part Three The journey toward lean is never-ending
Wed, 09/12/2012 - 10:47
I’m back, writing about another Toyota dilemma of mine. In part one, interestingly titled “My Toyota Dilemma,” I wrote how I, as an avid fan and supporter of the Toyota Production System (TPS) have never owned a Toyota. I ended that column vowing I…
What the Fukushima Is a Risk Assessment? Or, how the Fukushima disaster could have been prevented
Mon, 08/06/2012 - 10:24
On Friday afternoon of March 11, 2011, an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude was detected about 45 miles off the coast of Japan. One of the most powerful ever recorded, it moved the 8,000 square-mile island of Honshu 8 feet to the east. It also set off a…
What the Heck Is an Audit? It’s a gift
Thu, 07/12/2012 - 18:28
It’s two days before the quality audit, and as the Texans say, “This isn’t my first rodeo.” My team has done an outstanding job to help me and the production team prepare. I’m at my desk looking over the auditor’s schedule and audit scope, and…
The Art of Writing Procedures How to become an artisan of quality
Wed, 06/27/2012 - 14:47
These days quality professionals have shifted away from actually writing procedures to helping others develop documentation to describe the businesses they are in. Although I live in hope, I still see many poor attempts at “procedures”—or at least…
My Toyota Dilemma, Part Two Field notes on car-purchasing, American style
Wed, 05/30/2012 - 10:09
Last year I wrote a column titled “My Toyota Dilemma,” what I considered a nice little story about how I, an avid fan of the Toyota quality principles, didn’t actually own a Toyota, and how ironic that was. However, Quality Digest fans, I can now…
A Week in the Life of a Sales Professional We quality types must also be adept at selling difficult and strange ideas
Thu, 05/17/2012 - 12:53
Sales professionals, according to some circles at least, aren’t all that different from us quality professionals. I once believed they were two-faced liars, because they’d sell their mother to get that precious sales commission. However, as a…
The Best Investigation Technique Part of our job is teaching others to solve quality issues together
Wed, 03/21/2012 - 13:04
During the the mid-1980s, two great schools of investigation were put up against each other. Each were immensely popular, and still are today, with fans firmly seated in one methodology or the other. One school was led by a disheveled, cigar-smoking…
Résumé Help Ten tips to land your dream job
Tue, 02/28/2012 - 11:57
The pile of papers in front of me is sizable. I’m wondering what would be the correct term for the volume of these white sheets of paper. A group of lions is called a “pride”; is a group of résumés called a “wedge,” a “stack,” or a “flurry?” I’m…