I think every department needs to understand the importance of their individual roles. R&D shouldn’t blindly rely on the quality department to make sure the products they developed are safe. Quality control department seems to be the one to get all the blame if something goes wrong however, R&D is just as responsible for anything that can go wrong. Quality control and R&D should go hand in hand as both departments are working towards the same goal of providing good service to customers to keep company alive. They should have weekly meetings regarding how product development process is going and whether the procedures set by quality department are being followed. If not, at least they can do something about it early.