ISO 9001 Audit by Customer

This week we are finishing up our External ISO audit for re-certification. A new customer came in yesterday and wants to send their auditor in to do an ISO audit to confirm we are ISO.
This is new to me - in a lean world, this is a big waste of money, time and resources for the customer. Sounds like they aren't very trusting of our certification.....
Anyone else have this issue?

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

This happens frequently...for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they call it an ISO audit, but it is really a supplier visit to check out their operations and Q System and qualify you as a supplier. But frequently they are looking at you from a different angle than a straight ISO audit. That what your situation sounds like.

In other cases, it really is a redundant audit and could be a waste of resources, but a lot of companies feel they need to do it.

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

This is in regard to ISO 9001, correct?

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

The poster referred to ISO, but my comment would apply to any standard...entirely up to the customer as to how they qualify a supplier.

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

That may be, however my question is to the original poster so we can be clear here as to which standard. I *assume* ISO 9001 but would like clarification.

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

Supplier quality audits like this are typically reserved for situations involving critical component sourcing and sole sourcing agreements. It's a chance for a more in-depth evaluation to determine the compatibility of the potential supplier.

You could always say no... but if you want the business, you should probably find a way to accommodate the request.

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

I am with Marc, confirmation on which "ISO" you are referring to may change the response. In my experience, it is very rare for a customer wanting to do their own audit when you are 3rd party certified - quite often in these cases they have asked for a copy of the certificate, and recent external audit reports as evidence.

In contrast, we have a number of customers that conduct their own ISO27001 audits and have told us that they will continue to do so even if we gained 3rd party certification.

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

tori2432 said:

This week we are finishing up our External ISO audit for re-certification. A new customer came in yesterday and wants to send their auditor in to do an ISO audit to confirm we are ISO.
This is new to me - in a lean world, this is a big waste of money, time and resources for the customer. Sounds like they aren't very trusting of our certification.....
Anyone else have this issue?

Click to expand...

tori,

Ask for a copy of the audit plan so you can make sure the required auditee reps are available.

The audit plan should inform you of the audit objective and the audit criteria.

Then you know where you stand; it could be to check your capacity for more orders.

It is a sales opportunity so welcome a chance to further impress your customer.

John

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

tori2432 said:

Sounds like they aren't very trusting of our certification.....

Click to expand...

That could be one of the reasons. There are many people/organizations who don't place much value on ISO 9001 certificates.

Another possible contributor/reason: They have a number of people employed as supplier QA folks and they have to keep these people busy....otherwise, they could not justify having them....job protection.

As always, you SHOULD ask the new customer why your ISO 9001 certificate is not sufficient, as others have mentioned, inquire what is the scope of the audit they will perform. Make sure you don't let the customer rep see proprietary products/processes if any exist at your facility.

Good luck.

Re: ISO Audit by Customer

Very much agree, Reg. Another opportunity - if the CB chosen was worth their salt, is to throw the doors open to the customer and ask them to take a look, because the organization did a good job and were endorsed by an effective CB audit...Maybe win some of that confidence back!