Would you like to learn how to audit suppliers? If so, several factors need to be considered when choosing the right course:
- Would you like to have a recognised qualification?
- Do you / does your company have a limited training budget?
- Will you need to audit against ISO Management System Standard(s)?
Why should I conduct a Supplier Audit?
There are typically four reasons for a company to conduct Supplier Audits:
- To assess a supplier before hiring them
- To fulfill customer expectations to audit suppliers
- To gain confidence that suppliers are performing well
- To check areas where the supplier has not been performing as expected.
Some companies expect their suppliers to have ISO Management System Standard certificates such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 27001, ISO 13485 etc… But is this enough, and under what circumstances might they choose to do a supplier audit as well? One possible scenario is that a new contract has been secured and the audit could follow a PQQ (pre-qualification questionnaire) to determine the suitability of a potential supplier.
If the company decides to audit a supplier that has ISO certification, they may choose to audit them against specific sections of the Standard that are deemed to be the most relevant. However, if the supplier is not familiar with the Standard, they might not do very well! In this situation, an approach might be to communicate requirements in an SLA (Service Level Agreement) and / or a briefing document which then becomes the audit criteria.
They may decide it is not necessary to audit suppliers with ISO certification against the Standard, knowing that the suppliers’ internal audit team and external certification body auditor do exactly that. In this scenario, the obvious criteria would be the SLA. Another scenario could be that a supplier has an ISO 9001 certificate but not an ISO 14001 certificate. Either the company requests or insists they acquire it, or conducts an EMS audit, maybe focusing on key topics – e.g. waste management.
Which Auditor course do I need?
Depending on your requirements, there are two courses to choose from when learning to audit suppliers; a Lead Auditor course and a Supplier Auditor course – let’s look at a comparison…
Lead Auditor Course
Pros
- Comprehensive learning with more course content
- An internationally recognised qualification
- Focus on an ISO Standard
Cons
- A more expensive course
- A longer course, more time away from work
- In-depth focus on ISO Standard may be unnecessary
- Confidence may instead be acquired with practice.
Supplier Auditor Course
Pros
- A specialised course, customised for supplier audits
- A short course, with less time away from work
- Course cost is cheaper
Cons
- Suppliers may request a Lead Auditor certificate
- May double up on learning, if attending a Lead Auditor course in the future
- Qualification is not globally recognised
- Suppliers may think audit lacks credibility.
Summary
If your auditing role is weighted heavily towards supplier audits, and in those audits, you will be auditing suppliers against an ISO Standard, then a Lead Auditor course would be very appropriate.
If you will be auditing suppliers against agreements, but not ISO Standards, a supplier auditor course may be adequate. A Lead Auditor certificate would also be suitable and may give you more confidence and creditability, as in effect, you would be operating as an external auditor.
