Onega Ulanova

Quality Management Systems Expert & Lead Auditor

IRCA Certified Lead Auditor, ISO 9001Six Sigma Black BeltAPI Auditor (20+ specifications)MS Engineering & Technology ManagementExecutive MBA

52 articles publishedLinkedIn ↗

Biography

At a glance

Onega Ulanova is a quality management systems strategist with two decades of experience implementing ISO 9001 and API Spec Q1 across manufacturing, energy, and industrial sectors. She is an IRCA Certified Lead Auditor and former American Petroleum Institute auditor who has audited manufacturers including Schlumberger, Weatherford, GE Oil & Gas, and NOV.

Covers: ISO 9001 auditing and implementation · API Spec Q1 quality management · Lead auditor practice

Onega Ulanova is a quality management systems strategist with two decades of experience implementing standards, auditing manufacturers, and guiding organizations through certification. Her work is grounded in a specific question: not only how to implement a standard, but why the requirement exists in the first place.

Her academic foundation is both theoretical and applied. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Standardization, Metrology and Certification — studying how standards are developed, the discipline of metrology, and the role certification plays in trade and supply chains — followed by a Master of Science in Engineering and Technology Management from Louisiana Tech University, concentrating on industrial engineering and operations management. She later added an Executive MBA to sharpen the business side of quality management.

Her career has spanned several continents and industries. She joined Valveworks USA as a QMS consultant and quality engineer, then was recruited by the American Petroleum Institute as an auditor, training across more than 20 API specifications and conducting quality management system audits for energy and manufacturing companies including Schlumberger, Weatherford, GE Oil & Gas Drilling and Production, and NOV, along with dozens of Gulf Coast fabricators, machine shops, and drilling equipment manufacturers. She also conducted international audits across Russia, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe.

The World Bank engaged her to build a full quality management system for Topan, a state-critical facility in Kazakhstan employing more than 200 people, which achieved API Q1 certification under her direction.

Onega writes about clause-by-clause implementation, management review, internal audit programs, supplier approval and flow-down, corrective action, and the operating habits that separate a certified company from a genuinely capable one. She is a member of the American Society for Quality (ASQ) and the American Petroleum Institute (API).

Areas of Expertise

ISO 9001 auditing and implementation
API Spec Q1 quality management
Lead auditor practice
Corrective action and CAPA
Supplier evaluation and flow-down
Six Sigma and process improvement
Management review and internal audits

Articles by Onega

ISO 9001:2026 Publication: What ISO's Record Confirms

September 16, 2026 · 10 min read

News

ISO 9001:2026 Service Industry Implementation Guide

August 10, 2026 · 13 min read