1) Saves valuable time
While we can all work harder and smarter and increase our business, we still cannot make more time. When business is booming we need our in-house quality staff to ensure that the increased product flow is monitored and correct, and they have little time left to monitor the system too. Where we use different people from different departments to carry out our internal audits, they are aware that they are being taken from their "main" jobs and still have to catch up when they get back. This leads to resistance to carry out the audits, and sometimes to them being carried out in a hurried manner
2) Ensures independence
One of the conditions of ISO 9001 is that: "Selection of auditors and conduct of audits shall ensure objectivity and impartiality of the audit process. Auditors shall not audit their own work."
Since all of the auditors within an organisation will have other duties it is sometimes hard to ensure that this happens effectively, particularly when the audit programme slips behind schedule. The people with the most invested in the system are the ones who are keenest to ensure that the audits are brought up to date, but with they also have the least impartiality.
3) Ensures consistency of audit and audit standards
It is inevitable that where you have several trained auditors in the organisation that some will be more verbal, some more analytical, some more spontaneous than others. This means that the audits, even although all on the standard forms will vary substantially. One checklist will have 3 questions and the report will run to 3 pages, another checklist will have 10 questions and the report run to 3 paragraphs. Having all of your audits carried out by the same individual or the same team will ensure that the audits of each department will be carried out in the same way, with the same amount of formality and the reports produced will be to the same standard. This means that comparisons between departments and functions will be easier and that best practice can more easily be identified.
4) Ensures latest Quality concepts and accreditation bodies preferences are taken into account during audits
While the standard remains the same, QMI staff members are aware of the impending changes, both to the standard and the way that various accreditation bodies are looking at it. It is part of our continuous professional development to read the latest magazines and attend the various seminars that keep us up to date. Where changes are imminent we are talking to people on the various committees and logging on to professional chat rooms to see how the changes might affect our clients. We are also working alongside many different accreditation bodies and are aware of the emphasis that they are putting on various sections of the standard. E.g. many of the accreditation bodies insist on auditing 6.2.2 during every surveillance visit while only sampling from the rest of the standard, but not all accreditation bodies do this. Do you know which? QMI does!
5) Easy to scale down audit programme as the system matures
When a system is new or when there have been substantial changes (such as the 2000 update) there is a need for more audits to be carried out. This checks that everyone is aware of what they should be doing, irons out changes to the procedures that have been amended etc. It may well be a good idea to employ additional people at this point to help out, however, when the system is more mature, what will these people do? With an audit support package, the solution is simple, you scale down the number of visits.
6) Expertise on hand during surveillance visits and client audits
The current ISO 9001 standard is very flexible, it does not prescribe much, however often people's judgement becomes clouded. They assume that the most common approach to a paragraph is the only approach and may argue that you are not fulfilling the requirements of the standard. That's where it is useful to have an expert on hand to point out how your approach really does fulfil the requirement and where the evidence can be found within your system that the current approach works.
7) Expert advice on system changes and improvements
When the system requires a major change, due to a change in size, change in business, or even an update to the standard, then its useful to have an expert on had to advise on how best to incorporate the changes without upsetting the integrity of the system. As auditors employed by your organisation we are allowed to give this advice without compromise, whereas, the accreditation bodies are unable to advise their clients without invalidating their ability to maintain their independence. During the internal audits, we can also suggest improvements to the system to help with the closure of any non-compliances found.
8) Ensures personal relationships with vendors is maintained and strengthened before during and after conducting vendor audits.
In the present business climate, having partnerships with vendors is much more common and for these vendors to supply parts or services that affect your own product or service quality is also much more common. It is important that the relationships with these vendors are strong but it is also important that your organisation is sure that there are sufficient controls over their processes. One of the methods of doing this is through supplier audits, however if the person carrying out these audits is also the one who has worked hard at building a friendly relationship, then this could all be blown if an audit goes badly. Having the independence of QMI means that the personal relationship can be maintained, and the independence also means that we have no points to score or old scores to settle. We can with complete independence verify their systems, identify possible weaknesses and work with you to facilitate the best possible solution for both parties.
9) Ensures that the day-to-day business does not end up coming before the quality system.
Everyone knows that the quality audits have to be done, however, there are always three good reasons why it should be tomorrow not today. The audit schedule has always highlighted when the audits will be, but with internal staff it is easier to negotiate to put them off for a while. QMI is flexible, and dates can be changed, however they have to be changed in advance. This means that genuine reasons for postponement can be taken into consideration but bad planning, and today's crisis (that will go on to be being another one tomorrow) cannot. Once booked the QMI auditor will turn up and will need to be paid, so it makes sense to work round the crisis and hold the audit anyway. It is also very useful to see how the system works under crisis conditions, because this is when the system is tested to its limits.
10) The Certificate of On-going Surveillance gives clients and accreditation bodies confidence that your system is being audited independently and regularly.
This certificate is given to all of our audit support clients and lets external organisations know that you take your ISO 9001 certification seriously.
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