As I was driving home from work, I noticed the following on the back of a vehicle, “Quality without question”. This got me thinking about the message that was being conveyed. Did the organization mean to convey that their quality was great and should not be questioned? That a customer should take their word just because they say so. For many of us that is exactly what we do when we purchase goods off a grocery shelf. We trust the certified organic and non-GMO ratings that we observe on the packaging. But should one question these and how should an organization decide when to?
To check or not to check
ISO 9001 is an internally accepted standard that sets out the requirements for companies looking to implement a quality management system. While ISO 9001 allows an organization to self-declare many organizations choose to go ahead and pursue certification. This is because it demonstrates to the customer an external independent validation by a subject matter expert of the organization’s ability to manage risks and enhance customer satisfaction.
In many cases though, these companies are often audited by customers especially in highly critical industries where the margin for error is very small. ISO 9001 does not require companies to audit their suppliers but asks organizations to determine the type and extent of control they intend to apply. In determining the type and extent of control, consideration should be given to the perceived effectiveness of controls by the supplier. Essentially can the system controls be trusted to effectively manage risks and deliver? This becomes the basis for the need to check or not.
But we don’t have the resources to audit
This is often the case for many small businesses and perhaps even for some governmental organizations that are limited to one or a few suppliers. In these cases, the organization is still obligated to control the externally supplied process, product, or service. Companies can do this by monitoring metrics such as on-time delivery, sampling incoming items for conformity, and in some cases accepting the external organization certification. No matter the approach used, it does not ever absolve the company of ensuring control of the outsourced process/product/service.
In the case of critical items or a single supplier, they may choose to sample 100% of all items coming in and decide over time based on the results if to continue with a large sample size or to reduce to a smaller one. Here also the aspect of resources plays a part. In cases where the resources cannot be made available, the leadership must acknowledge and accept the risk.
In conclusion
Quality must always be questioned, first internally by the organization itself and checked through its processes. It must also be questioned by the customers on a case-by-case basis. Quality and systems that are left unchecked and unmonitored will over time deteriorate and perhaps result in a major incident/accident. To learn more about the requirements of ISO 9001 join QMII’s next lead auditor training.
