Larry Coleman
Consultant, Auditor and Trainer
Larry Coleman is a simpleQuE consultant, with more than 20 years of combined experience in the areas of AS 9100, ISO 9001 and IATF 16949® quality management with a focus on enhancing customer satisfaction, cutting operational costs, supporting strategic solutions and implementing effective process improvements. He is a lead auditor for ISO 9001 and AS9100 and currently performs audits for a certification body.
Work Experience
ISO / Quality Management Systems
As a Global Quality Manager for a leading electronic manufacturer, Larry had a proven track record of accomplishment with experience in negotiations, and the ability to globally bring different divisions, departments, and cultures together to resolve customer issues. He also served as Director of Quality for Behm Quartz Industries – leading them to successful ISO 9001 certification and facilitating lean manufacturing practices to all their facilities.
Automotive
Larry began his automotive career at GM then spent 10 years at Pioneer Automotive Technologies as Quality Manager. His responsibilities at this Tier 1 supplier of automotive electronics to Ford, GM, Honda and Toyota, included collaboration with manufacturing and service partners (domestic and international) to implement ISO 14001, QS 9001 and TS 16949 quality and environmental standards. He conducted internal and supplier audits and directly supervised 13 on-site employees and 5 engineers located at North American customer sites, and indirectly supervised all company OEM manufacturing quality managers. Larry presided over a 97% customer satisfaction rating for launch of 90 new products into the OEM market and was responsible for all OEM product quality shipped to North America from all Asian manufacturing locations.
Aerospace
Most recently Larry was Director of Quality at DRS Advanced ISR in Dayton, OH. There he was in command of all quality control issues for 1 Field Service and 4 manufacturing locations, combining 4 different quality systems into one QMS for successful AS9100 Rev C certification and CMMI Level III accreditation. He was responsible for Design and Production quality assurance and all internal and external corrective actions – as Lead AS9100 Auditor, he facilitated, trained and audited the CORE Continuous Improvement program at all facilities. Some of his key contributions included: 32% increase in supplier quality; 18% increase in manufacturing quality; and 53% increase in customer satisfaction.
At Benchmark Electronics, Larry introduced AS9100, TL9001 and ITAR processes and procedures for new aerospace and Department of Defense contracts. While there he reduced yearly costs by over $1M by simultaneously conducting multiple Six Sigma programs.
Certificates and Training
- AS9100:2016 and ISO 9001:2015 Certified Lead Auditor
- Probitas Certified AS9100 Aerospace Industry Experience Auditor
- IATF 16949:2016 and Core Tools Training
- ISO 19011:2018 Training
- Six Sigma Black Belt
“SimpleQuE is an awesome company to partner with when needing to accomplish the impossible!” – Rita Gregg, American Micro Products
Education
Larry received his AS in Electronic Engineering from the National Institute of Technology. He was also certified in Bio-Medical Engineering at St. Thomas Medical Center and pursues ongoing Quality Management studies at Eastern Michigan University.
