Strengthening Supplier

Relationships Through
Comprehensive Audit
Planning
Katherine Lynn
2004 American Quality Congress

Interactive Session
Sharing All of our Knowledge
Supplier

Auditing Experience
All Quality Auditing Experience

Objective of Presentation
Emphasize

planning for each audit

Share some experience in audit
planning
Present a suggested flowchart for audit
planning
Learn through an exercise in audit
planning
Share our group experience

What is a Supplier Audit?

May

include system, process

and product audit
May be a certification audit
May include some partnership
value engineering
Must be defined and understood
by the supplier, user and auditor

Some Audit Nightmares

Arrive

for process audit and the

production line is down for maintenance
Travel to a production facility and find
that critical operations are completed offsite
Opening meeting reveals that the
Supplier is not sure why you are there

Planning is the Key to Getting the

Most out of your Supplier Audit.

AUDIT PLANNING REFERENCE

Request for Supplier Audit Initiated
Select audit team
Research past history with Supplier and Industry Information
Clearly define the audit objective with the audit requestor.
Prepare audit working papers.
Schedule audit with supplier AT LEAST ONE MONTH IN ADVANCE.
Contact the supplier TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE AUDIT DATE.
Audit begins

Ask the audit requestor

What is the objective?:
New

supplier qualification?
Follow-up audit?
Routine supplier review?
Certification or Re-certification audit?
Change of ownership or facility?
YOUR QUESTION HERE

Remember to ask the audit

requestor:
Is there more than one objective?
Are there any hidden objectives?

Contract negotiations are coming and

we promised management a certified
supplier.
Buyers are looking at a lower cost
supplier and want to verify that the
new and old supplier are the same.

Knowing what the audit requestor

needs will ensure that you can be
open with your supplier about the
purpose of the audit and that you
gather the correct information.

You want to prevent this phone call:

Audit requestor to supplier #1: There were no findings in your
audit. However, we are going to select supplier #2 because
Supplier #2 keeps complete process control charts on file for
each product lot.
Supplier #1: We keep process control charts for each product
lot. The auditor never asked us about that!

Know:
What

is the audit objective?

Who is the supplier contact?
Who are the key participants?
Where is the product produced?
When is the correct date and time?

Research
How is the product used?
What is the product specification?
What problems have been reported since the
last audit?
How can the product fail?
What supplier testing can prevent problems?
What has the relationship been with the
Supplier in the past?
How critical is the product?

Communicate
Share past audit reports with audit team and
supplier.
Obtain all Quality Manuals and procedures
that can be shared in advance of the audit.
Notify the supplier what audit tools will be
used for the audit with advance copies.
Contact the supplier and confirm who will
participate in the audit.

And Communicate Again.

Verify all documents have been received by
supplier participants
Verify audit team members have received
documents and have reviewed them
Verify audit team understands their role in the
audit
Send a final audit agenda to all participants

Bad Planning Example One

Objective

clear (re-certification)
Past audit reports not shared
Requirements for Re-certification not
shared
Audit objective cannot be met!

Planning Example Two

New

supplier is qualified
Foundation is laid down for increased
communication
Supplier partnership and no-surprises
environment

AUDIT PLANNING REFERENCE

Request for Supplier
Audit Initiated

Select audit team

Research past history

with Supplier and
Industry Information

Clearly define the audit

objective and obtain
agreement for the
objective with the audit
requestor.

Routine audit
Failures detected
Follow-up audit
Change of Owner and /or Management Team
New Product and or Company
Certification or Re-certification Audit
Your company history with the product.
How the product is used? What is the product
specification?
Will this product save the Company money or improve
safety?
How critical is the product to your Company?
Industry articles and reports.
Past audit reports.
How the product has failed?
Number of alternative manufacturers qualified?
Interview with your in-house personnel about the Supplier.

Prepare audit working papers.

Is a point system used in routine audits for your company? Are these
points well defined for this audit process?
What questions must be answered and what processes reviewed to
meet the audit objective?

Schedule audit with supplier AT LEAST ONE

MONTH IN ADVANCE.
Work with supplier to select a date when all required
personnel would be available. Select a date and time
when the processes to be reviewed are running.

Contact the supplier TWO WEEKS

BEFORE THE AUDIT DATE.

Audit team arrives at the Supplier at the

appointed time with extra copies of blank
working papers and other related documents
to share with the auditee. Audit commences.

Speak with supplier contact to ensure that the Supplier clearly

understands audit objective.
Work with supplier to identify what personnel must be available
during the audit.
Request a description of the Suppliers process and Quality
Manual to be sent for review.
Send copy of the audit agenda and blank working documents
with questions to be asked during the audit.
Ensure that supplier has past audit reports.
Ensure that supplier has all recent corrective action requests for
non-conforming product.
Ensure that supplier has received the required documents. If not
received make sure that documents are re-sent and expedited.
Verify that required personnel will be available for the audit.
Determine if any changes need to be made for the final audit
agenda.
Email or fax final audit agenda to supplier with a complete list of
who will be part of the audit team.

Audit Reference Book

The Quality Audit Handbook, ASQ Quality
Audit Division, Second Edition.
Many audit references for specific industries and
industry specifications.

Practice Different Scenarios

Each

table has an audit scenario

The scenario includes the audit
objective
Assignment is to define planning
requirements for the scenario
Share planning outline with the entire
group

Use Table Scenario or Create Your Own!

1. The flaky heater face coating
2. Shear valve wrench
3. Flat plastic
4. ACME Distributors
5. Over the head with a 2 x 4
6. Raw rubber stock gone bad

Summary of Group Results

Thank You!