Getting Certified & Implementing Second Party Audits
Can you provide Second Party Audits for companies, businesses, organizations, and particulars? Absolutely.
But just like in any other business you decide to invest or focus on, you need to meet certain requirements and standards. In the case of audits, you will get quite familiar with ISO 9001 from now on. If you are wondering why, we want—and might need—to explain everything about ISO standards and why they will be part of your life from now on.
ISO standards are normative or requirements you need to meet in order to get certified in something specific. For example, companies that provide or fabricate components and parts for Automotive companies and industries, need to implement certain standards. Such as IATF 16949, which is a quality management system standard to guarantee high-quality parts and products.
In the case of auditing services, what guarantees your clients that you can conduct, plan, and manage an audit program without problems?
How do they know you will get the results they not only expect but need without any issues and missing information?
Well, if we go to the direct question or specific one, they can’t know it until they give you an opportunity and see what you are capable of. However, they can have some elements and aspects that tell them what your company is capable of, and these are the certifications or seals of approval you obtain from each standard you have implemented. Including ISO 9001.
Now, what does this ISO helps you with when it comes to Second Party Audits?
Overall, 9001 is a standard with all the requirements and guidelines for internal and external audits. You can learn how to conduct them, get the desired results, and be able to handle the entire process without problems. Is it completely necessary to get certified for this? Without a doubt.
Do companies or businesses that get audited for a second-party get certified?
Not at all.
This is a very important question, and we are happy when our clients or future ones decide to ask about it. You don’t get certified if a customer decided to conduct an audit to determine the level or degree of capability of your company to meet its requirements. And following this fact—and example—, the same goes for the rest of the suppliers you audit on behalf of the customer.
Keep in mind something from now on: Second Party Audits are between the supplier and the customer, even if you are in the middle of being part of it as the company that will conduct them. Therefore, there is no need or possibility for a supplier to get certified and even less in Second Party Audit when the only thing you are doing is to evaluate its ability and what it offers. This takes us to another part of this topic which is quite important to discuss.
These audits are conducted mostly because customers need to verify all the requirements and elements in a contract. And the reason why you also need to get certified in this is that ISO 9001 isn’t the only standard you will have to implement or work with. Conducting a second-party audit involves many standards depending on the supplier or company you are auditing.
An example of this: imagine that your client or the customer wants you to start auditing a company in the aerospace industry. How do you know this supplier is capable of providing the desired product or service if you know nothing about this industry?
Here’s our point, and your need for other standards. Some requirements and needs of the customer are not based on ISO 9001 only—or you won’t find them in the normative—. Instead, they are in other ISO standards. This is when getting certified in Second Party Audits becomes difficult because you have to keep your ISO needs and requirements in check.
Otherwise, you will be just a company that wants to provide them but is unable to do it properly. And this only leads customers to not choose your auditing services.
How do we help you to get certified?
By providing consulting, auditing, assistance, and implementation services. Our company, ISO Pros, is focused on helping and supporting companies and particulars to implement ISO standards according to their needs. This means that we are also validated to provide you with the corresponding certification once you have met all the requirements.
In simpler words, we are the organization and validated company that will get you certified. However, unlike other companies in this same industry and area of expertise, we don’t want you to live you to your luck. We know how difficult is to meet all the requirements from ISO 9001 alone, and when you add more standards to the process and needs, things only get more complicated.
Therefore, we provide support for your company to implement the previous standard and every single one that applies or is required. For this, you only need to contact us, and one—or several—of our experts will assist you. Once the process is done, we will conduct a final assessment or evaluation to determine if there is any nonconformity and provide you with the certification.
If we find one, we will help you to follow the guidelines again and implement corrective actions for these nonconformities. That being said, we have a long way to go for this. Also, you don’t have to access our auditing and consulting services to get certified.
If you are trying to obtain your certification only and have some evaluation to identify issues and nonconformities, we can stick to this. Just let us know your needs and what you expect from our company. You have a long way to go to get certified, but we assure you it won’t be as difficult as many people believe once you get used to everything.
And with our experts and qualified auditors, there is nothing to worry about from now on.