Times are changing. You need me to say that again?

The new environment we are currently living in has impacted our Quality Manangement industry. Work from home/flexible work/ work in your jammies is the new normal. Luckily our industry has adapted always with the objective to help businesses continue providing services and products around the world. At the same time also maintaining our ISO certifications valid.

Although there was no specific rule against it, conducting ISO certification audits and/or any ISO internal audit remotely was not warmly embraced by the industry. However, current times are forcing organizations to re-think & do things differently. Many people believe that auditors cannot really be thorough when they are not in front of a document, an auditee or a group of people. But auditors can perform audits remotely and still be thorough. Actually, I could even try to debate that it is a more focused audit than when doing onsite audits.

Before scheduling a remote audit you need to understand the Benefits & Disadvantages of remote (online) ISO audits. After reading these, decide if remote audits fit your business. If it does, then move on to our 5 step guide to get ready for the ISO audit.

Benefits

Less time is wasted & we focus into audit mode faster

When an auditor goes on site, niceties take up time. Asking how you are, going into the conference room, getting PC’s or tech set up takes time.

Your processes will be reviewed thoroughly

Auditors will ask for your documents. They will review your documents outside of the audit, either to prepare for the audit or to ensure the documents match what they saw or heard during the audit.

Better prepared

If prepped properly, your process owners and quality team will be better prepared because while getting ready for your online audit, you will find that your process owners will be more in-tune with what is needed from them and would faster grasp how important the evidence based process is.

Cost reduction

Performing online audits will reduce the cost of travel expenses and even that cordial lunch you provide to your auditors.

Disadvantages

Its easier to miss physical issues

For example, the auditor might miss seeing a calibration sticker or seeing a potential environmental or safety issue in the company.

Your documents might be overly reviewed

The auditor might be focused too long on document redlining rather than checking on process effectiveness.

Less computer-savvy employees will struggle

They will find complexity logging into a conference call, facetime or remote situation. They could also find it difficult to share documents. Will need to practice before time the audit.

Paper dependant systems will require more attention

If you do not have the electronic records, then you will need to scan them, take pictures and send to the auditor.

Now, after reviewing these, I am sure some of you are eager to schedule your remote audits but some will not be ready for that.

If you are not ready or convinced that remote audits are adequate for your company, discuss this with other people to get second opinions. You can email us anytime and we’ll can help you better decide or at least provide more information.

For those who are ready to jump into remote audits, here are 5 pro-tips to get ready for an upcoming remote audit:

5 Steps

Prepare for your online audit- What tools are we using?

As usual you need to try to control the audit so be proactive and select the online conference tool/app that you prefer or that your company is currently using (i.e. Zoom, Webex, GoTo Meeting, Google Hangouts, Skype, Teams, etc.)
If the auditor provides a tool to be used, go to it, download the app to your computer, and test it. Make sure it works within your network/system and that you can navigate it. You will have to teach others in your organization how to use it.
Be opened to using the “video” for the video conferences.
Ensure computer microphones and audio work.
Ensure that people rehearse sharing their documents online, scanning them if needed, taking pictures or know how to share their screen.
Have a plan B should your internet fail or the original meeting app is not working such as Facetime/WhatsApp/etc.
Be flexible.
Be ready to be mobile if the audit is going to include a tour of the manufacturing area- hence the device(s) that will be used need to be ready.
Every auditor has different likes/dislikes so naturally the audits will feel different so be ready for that.

Get your documents ready

Do you have a list of all your documents + records? Make it easy for your auditor to know what docs and records are out there. This will also in turn help you keep organized.
- Orders, quotes, customer PO’s, your purchasing documents, approved supplier lists, receiving records/ log, quality control records, management review minutes, internal audit records, corrective action records (forms filled out/completed), quality procedures/ plans if you have them, latest quality objective KPI’s (metrics) etc.
Check with each process owner to ensure their documents and records are accessible, easy to retrieve when asked for. Don’t let the auditor wait too long.

Prep your process owners - review their process

Has anything changed in their process?
Do they have Key performance indicators? If so, what are they and how are they measuring up to their plans?
Does their documents really show what they do?
Do they have new hires? If so, have they been trained appropriately? Does the new hire understand their role in the quality system, their policy and the company/ quality objectives?

Ensure all your corrective actions are completed

You need to know if your corrective actions are completed. If they are not, then ensure you have a good reason to keep them open. If they are closed, review a few to ensure they were done appropriately.
Most importantly, was the verification of Effectiveness acceptable? Could this issue occur again?

Bonus Tip : Perform a management review

If you have performed your scheduled management review then don’t feel forced to have another meeting. However it might be a good idea to have a brief one meeting that at least covers how the business is reacting to the COVID-19 crisis.
Ensure your leadership is engaged/ committed to the system, if not, what can you do to make them commit to it?
Update your Context of the Organization- discuss if the current situation has affected the expectations of your interested parties and how the business is responding to those current needs and expectations.
Quality objectives are up to date and how the objectives might be affected.
Review that all input requirements are there.

If you really take a look at our 5 tips, you will notice you already should have 2-5 under control because it is what you do to get ready for a regular onsite audit. The only difference is #1. So take our advice, to make your online / remote audits go smoothly.

Certification bodies are already reaching out to customers and depending on their locations and local work restrictions they are scheduling remote audits accordingly. Bare in mind that some audits will only be completed partially and a portion of the audit can be requested to be completed on-site at an appropriate time. Hence as you prepare for the 3^rd party audit do ask what are the requirements and how exceptions will be handled. Certification bodies are looking to work with all their customers in order to maintain their respective certificates active/valid.

Factor Quality has performed over 40 online audits. All consultants have a different flare in how they do it, but they all have the same purpose: find/look for evidence that you meet the standard’s requirements to ensure that your system is alive and well.

Fill out the form below if you’d like more information about online auditing, if you need help to prep for an audit or if you want to perform an internal audit with experienced remote/online auditors. Not many in the industry have as much expertise as we do in online audits.

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Getting Ready for a Remote (Online) ISO Audit? | Simple 5 Step Prep Guide