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Leading organizations not only recognize the value of their customers, but utilize ongoing checks and balances to ensure that their levels of satisfaction are always exemplary. This portion of the process auditing approach examines customer related processes within the underlying organization. Throughout the audit, requirements related to the products as well as customer communication should be examined. When you know what to look for, and what questions to ask, your audit results will provide more value to the underlying organization.
Determination of Requirements Related to the Product
As you consider requirements related to the company's end-products, factor the needs and expectations of the customers. What is the customer's understanding of the delivered product's specifications? What is the organization's current volume of sales? What is the average delivery time?
With regard to production, what national/international regulations or standards apply? How are the company's products currently manufactured? What capacity levels is the company currently operating?
Examples of acceptable evidence can include technology applications, work sharing agreements, catalog, standard and COTS parts as well as certification specifications.
Review of Requirements Related to the Product
As the organization plans to deliver products and services to their end customers, the following considerations should apply:
Established processes for product/service deliveryProcedures designed to facilitate and document deliveryRecords documenting that products and services meet required guidelinesDocumentation of ongoing risk reviewsSome of the areas that could contain this information include compliance matrices, records of contract reviews, risk analyses and notations from the individuals conducting ongoing reviews.
Customer Communication
An organization's custom er communication channels promote awareness of current customer feedback and satisfaction levels. Examination of these processes can provide useful information to the management team, in particular during their efforts to improve customer satisfaction levels.
When examining customer related processes, be sure to take time to consider recent customer feedback and documented complains as well as methods for communicating with the customer. Customer feedback and complaints can be located within complaint letters/emails, customer acknowledgements as well as internal complaint logs. When considering methods of communication with the customer, evaluate the ordering processes, design/development processes and product release processes.
Examples of objective evidence can include:
Customer inquiries, contracts and methods of order handlingEmail and general mail correspondenceDocumentation of customer deliveriesCustomer order forms/confirmation of orders placedTo imp rove your auditing skills, in addition to the tips outlined above, consider enrolling in an AS9100 lead auditor training course. Not only will your accuracy improve, but also your efficiency. Stay tuned for our next article in the Process Auditing series, Design and Development.
Understanding how AS9100 Lead Auditor Training can benefit you and your company is paramount to success in today's global market. AS9100 Auditor Training can be effectively employed cost-effectively to give you and your business the edge. Visit our website to learn more, and thanks for reading.