About OPSA
A small Richmond consultancy that would rather be useful than impressive. Here is who we are, how we started, and the rules we hold ourselves to.
Started in a rented room on Cary Street, 2016
Michael Smith spent seventeen years running operations for distribution and light manufacturing businesses across Virginia and the Carolinas before founding OPSA. The pattern he kept meeting was the same one he had lived through himself: capable companies whose processes existed only in the heads of four or five long-serving employees.
The first OPSA engagement was a fourteen-person plumbing supply company in Ashland that could not explain why its Friday invoicing always ran late. It turned out three people were each waiting on the other two. Mapping that took a day and a half. Fixing it took a morning. That ratio — a small amount of clear thinking against a large amount of recurring waste — is still the business we are in.
Ten years on we are a team of six, still headquartered in Richmond, still doing the same work. We have deliberately not grown into a large firm. Every engagement is delivered by people who have themselves been accountable for a P&L, a shipping dock or a service schedule.
OPSA at a glance
| Founded | 2016, Richmond, Virginia |
|---|---|
| Owner | Michael Smith |
| Team | 6 consultants and support staff |
| Office | 270 Magazine Street, Richmond, VA 23219 |
| Focus | Operations, process and reporting for 8–250 employee firms |
| Billing | Fixed fee per phase, or monthly retainer |
Who you will actually be working with
Every proposal names the consultant who will deliver it. The person who sells the work is the person who does the work.
Michael leads assessment and supply-chain work. Before OPSA he was Director of Operations for a regional distributor with four depots and, earlier, a production supervisor in automotive components. He handles first contact for every new enquiry personally.
The wider team
Alongside Michael, OPSA fields two senior process consultants, a data analyst who builds the reporting layer, a training facilitator, and a client coordinator who keeps schedules and paperwork honest.
- Backgrounds in manufacturing, distribution, healthcare administration and field services
- Every consultant has held a line management role, not only an advisory one
- Named delivery team confirmed in writing before an engagement starts
- Background-checked and covered by professional liability insurance
Five commitments we put in every contract
Price before work
You receive a written scope and a fixed fee before anything begins. If the scope changes, we re-quote in writing and you decide.
No borrowed juniors
The consultants named in your proposal are the ones on site. We do not staff engagements with people you have never met.
You own the output
Procedures, maps, spreadsheets and dashboards are yours to keep, edit and reuse, with no licence fee and no lock-in.
Vendor neutral
We take no commission from any software or equipment supplier. If we recommend a tool, it is because it fits.
Finite engagements
Projects have an end date. Retainers can be ended with 30 days' written notice. We are not trying to live in your business.
Measured, not asserted
Claimed savings are calculated from your own figures and shown with the workings, so your accountant can check them.
Community and standards
OPSA is a registered Virginia business operating from Richmond. We carry professional liability and general liability insurance, and we are happy to provide certificates of insurance, W-9 forms and references on request during procurement.
- Written mutual non-disclosure agreement available before the first working session
- Certificates of insurance issued within one business day of request
- Two client references supplied with every proposal above 10,000 USD
- Annual pro-bono week supporting Richmond-area non-profits
Want to talk to Michael directly?
Every first conversation at OPSA is with the owner. Thirty minutes, no charge, and a straight answer about whether we can help.