For our Spearhead Family post this month we are highlighting Abdulrahman Alrifai, Onsite Quality Manager at The Spearhead Group in Canada. Based in Amherstburg, Ontario, Abdul is a vital resource and operations lead for our clients. Abdul shares more with us about joining The Spearhead Group and what inspires him to work on innovative projects.
Tell us about why and when you joined The Spearhead Group.
I was thrilled to be asked to join The Spearhead Group in March 2019 as an Onsite Quality Advisor based in Canada. It has been a great opportunity acting as a vital resource to ensure product compliance and providing customer support as part of the group strategy to achieve excellence in providing services. In January 2020, I joined the team as a permanent team member as an Onsite Quality Manager for operations based in Amherstburg, Ontario. Working together with this team has been amazing; I love to work within a team that can brainstorm, find solutions, practice and build ideas to innovate within this industry.
Tell us a little more about your background and what excites/inspires you to work on innovative projects?
I started my career as a cereal quality chemist in grain silos and moved into production and cereal processing. As my passion grew, I added in the implementation, coaching, and auditing of different management systems, while volunteering in assessing government excellence awards. I worked on an inspiring innovation project that establisheda chain of trading gifts and children learning stores. This was an inspirational outcome from the necessity to improvethe quality of education of youth in my area by improving their on-hand experience. It was a successful experience based of collaboration between trade people, passionate scientists, and industry professionals to find innovative products with relation to specific ages. Today, this innovative process is still driven by my current peers and they strive for new ideas and innovation solutions.
The Spearhead Group has 5 core values (1. Focus on Sustainability and Diversity; 2. Innovative Thinking; 3. Do the Right Thing; 4. Acts with Equal Respect for Clients, Colleagues and Suppliers; 5. Go the Extra Mile with Entrepreneurial Spirit). How do you practice these values?
In my role, I support the client in using our product, helping them know how to reduce waste and prioritize sustainability, and more. When issues arise on the floor with the client, even if it is not related to Spearhead’s products, I try to add value with collaboration, for example by coming up with strategies to reduce loss of material. I feel like I am a part of that team too, with an every morning smile to the team on daily basis, respecting their health and safety rules, and being flexible to scheduling changes to achieve the ultimate goal of win-win situation for all.