Getting Certified & Implementing Supplier Audits
When someone is starting in the business world, he or she doesn’t really have a good idea of everything involved in owning a company or business. Most of the things and elements people think about are related to the resources, spaces, human resources, and everything required for the company itself. However, they seem to forget about the regulations, laws, and standards they have to meet to conduct certain actions and activities.
Also, about the processes, a company needs to conduct by itself—or with the assistance of someone else—to guarantee that its performance and operations are going smoothly.
For example, are you familiar with audits?
If you are not, you will have to read and research a lot of information about it if you want your company to go in the right direction. Otherwise, you will have a hard time with the standards you have to implement in order to meet some mandatory requirements.
Now, the reason you are here isn’t to talk about random standards or a topic without going to a final destination. The reason you are here is that you have decided to conduct Supplier Audits for your company or maybe on behalf of someone customers. Maybe both options apply.
Therefore, you must get familiar with all the aspects, elements, and details involved in all this process. And we assure you that it is going to take quite some time to even collect the information, read it, and understand every part of it. That being said, you might be wondering what does it take to conduct Supplier Audits without issues and an organization behind you telling you that you’re doing a few things wrong.
You need to start with the standards you have to follow and implement. From now on, ISO 9001 will be your best friend—almost literally—in order to know all the guidelines and approaches to conduct this auditing process. And you will notice there are many requirements you also have to meet to get certified in this area.
Why getting certified?
This is a question you will ask yourself and the companies involved with it once you reach a point where the standards have been implemented and you need to start conducting the audits. Every company that wants to provide a service, deliver a product, or conduct an audit, in this case, needs to get certified in the area. This certification shows the abilities and capabilities of the company to conduct Supplier Audits—in this case—properly and without any issues.
Of course, other aspects such as having reliable auditors and trustworthy workers that can handle the process are included in all this matter. But for now, focus on getting certified in this auditing process since it is the one that interests you.
What standards besides ISO 9001 need to be implemented and get certified in?
ISO 9001:2015 is the latest version of this standard and the reason behind your company needing to implement it and get the certification is because it provides guidelines and parameters for audits only. And this applies to companies, particulars, or businesses that want to conduct any type of audit, not only supplier one.
Essentially, the standard covers internal and external audits where you will find many subtypes associated with these main ones. Supplier Audit is one of them since it qualified as an external one due to its nature: you have to conduct it in the supplier’s facilities or management systems.
However, this is only the start of the standards you have to implement and this is when things get a bit more complicated. Depending on the supplier and the products or services it provides, the standards will change.
During a Supplier Audit, what do you analyze or review? The main objectives are to evaluate the quality and delivery management systems of the supplier and if it can meet the customer’s requirements. For this, you must be familiar with the standards that are implemented in the quality management system or the delivery system in the industry the supplier is part of.
For example, if the customer is interested in obtaining parts or components for planes, or another similar vehicle, this means the supplier is part of the Aerospace industry. This industry has its own standards and normative to follow, and if you want to go through the process of auditing the management systems, you must know how they work according to the requirements in the specific ISOs of the industry.
It sounds like a lot of work, right? Because it is. However, it isn’t something you can’t do and believe us when we tell you that you will get used to it sooner than later.
How to get certified with us at ISO Pros.
Our company is specialized in providing auditing, consulting, implementation, and certification services. This means we can help you to implement all the standards and regulations for you to conduct Supplier Audits perfectly and get certified in the future.
For this, we have auditors and qualified experts that will go through the entire process with you and help you not only with ISO 9001 but rather with every ISO need you to have. After all, keeping in track all the ISO standards you have to follow and implement is what makes all this difficult.
However, keep in mind that you don’t need to get access or request our consulting and support services if you only want to get certified. You can reach out to us and ask about our certifications only and schedule an appointment for the audit to take place—or final evaluation—that will get you certified in case there is no non-conformance.
We are right here for you, and there is no need to come to us only when you want to hire our services. You can contact us to ask us any questions or doubt you have in mind and we will answer or clear them without compromising you to anything.
Feel free to contact us anytime and whenever you have ISO needs.