Internal audits are a powerful tool to improving processes within your organization. However, managing this process with your own team members can sometimes be problematic. Here are five reasons why your company should consider outsourcing internal audits rather than handling the heavy lifting on your own:
1. Better adherence to schedule. Outsourcing internal audits helps to reduce the chances of delays due to employee turnover or disruptions in production schedules. Having someone whose sole purpose is to manage internal audits will help you to keep this important process accurate and on-time.
2. More Experienced Auditor. The same turnover that wreaks havoc with your schedule can also undermine your internal expertise when it comes to internal auditing. The only thing more time-consuming than performing internal audits is having to train a new person to take them over. Having an outside and qualified IA resource provides both stability and redundancy in the process.
3. Objectivity: There is nothing worse than getting hit with a nonconformity from your registrar when that same process passed the internal audits without a single flag. There can be many reasons why something like this happens. However, more often than not, you can point to the fact that your Internal Auditors may have difficulty holding their coworkers accountable for the things they do or don’t do. This doesn’t mean your internal auditors are bad people… it simply means they’re human. Having an outsourced and objective internal auditor asking the hard questions and documenting defects can ensure the standards of your QMS system and at the same time, reduce employee friction.
4. Resource Constraints: Did you hire an employee to do internal audits or are they expected to complete other job duties? If the answer to that question is the latter, then outsourcing your Internal Auditor may be the right strategy. Keep your people doing what they do best …and what you hired them for. Leave the internal auditing to an expert that can perform these services with more accuracy and usually at a lower cost to you.
5. Newest and Best practices: Outsourced Internal Auditors are usually up-to-date on the latest standards, training and certifications related to internal auditing. In addition, an outsourced IA benefits from seeing process and process documentation from other companies. In short, this experience allows for the incorporation of best practices witnessed at other locations. Something your own Internal Auditor never has the opportunity to see.
Catalyst Connection has worked with manufacturers in all types of industries providing QMS consulting including audits, documentation, training and maintenance. To learn more about how Catalyst Connection can help with your Quality Management System, click here to listen to a brief radio segment featuring our Senior Quality/Process Improvement Consultant, Craig Wilson.