5 Reasons for outsourcing your supplier audits
It’s October 2018 and a lot of people now realize they will not be able to finalize their supplier audit program for this year. One of the main reasons for this is that supplier auditors who are employed by a company often have this task as part of another job.
Only the largest pharmaceutical companies can afford their own dedicated supplier auditing group and even they have difficulties in finishing the schedule due to the sheer number of audits that need to be performed.
The most obvious solution for your company is to hire more auditors. However, this is an expensive and inflexible solution as the number of audits may vary over the years.
A more economical and flexible solution is to outsource your supplier audits to a professional supplier auditor.
Here are our 5 reasons for outsourcing your supplier audits:
- It is cheaper:
Although the fee a professional supplier auditor may charge for performing an audit may seem like a lot of money, it is actually cheaper than having one of your own members of staff performing the audit.
Why: Performing an audit takes much more time and effort than just being on site at the supplier. You need to consider that there are preparation stages, including creating an agenda, obtaining and reviewing previous audit results, deviations, complaints, etc. Then there’s the travel to and from the audit location. And after the audit, don’t forget the reporting of the audit, the review of the response and CAPAs, follow-up, etc. During these activities, your valuable staff will not be able to tackle their regular challenges, which could create a backlog and increase work-related stress.
- It is faster:
Professional supplier auditors are able to perform audit related tasks much faster than people who are performing audits merely as an additional job task due to reasons such as work experience and the frequency in which they perform audits.
Why: We perform around 45 to 50 supplier audits annually, per auditor. The routine in reviewing documents, creating agendas and, most importantly, writing reports, ensures shorter timelines for your audits. As we are performing this number of audits, it is in everyone’s best interest to write the report immediately in order to prevent mistakes. We have clients that request the report within 3 working days and we always deliver. We have never spend more than 5 working days to deliver a report. This means that your supplier may receive the report within a week after the audit takes place. This all sends a strong signal to your supplier that you take him seriously and that you wish to maintain a serious working relationship. Such suppliers are more likely to provide quick and detailed responses and CAPA plans.
- It is more flexible:
The main advantage of hiring professional supplier auditors is the flexibility they provide
Why: When more audits are required, you can adapt easily without taking the risk that later, when less audits are needed, you have made commitments or hired additional staff, whereas you may not have sufficient work for them later on. This flexible approach ensures you will get exactly the resources you need, at the time you need them.
- It is more consistent:
As most supplier auditors within companies perform audits as an extra job task, the time they have to perform an audit and write a report can vary in combination with the other obligations they have. An auditor with little time will probably write a short, general report. Besides, the quality of the auditors may vary, based on experience and background. Performing 6 to 8 audits a year will keep them trained, but will not develop a routine.
Why: Professional supplier auditors are trained in providing the expected level and details as well as the consistency that you can expect from them. Moreover, they have the time available to deliver.
We always serve our clients in the best possible way, e.g. by providing very detailed reports (as complete and accurate as possible) that read as if they were there), and we deliver exactly what is expected. - It is more objective:
Since our auditors have started their careers in regular pharmaceutical companies, we are very aware of the pressures that can be experienced within organizations regarding obtaining ‘favorable’ audit outcomes .Think about pressure from the purchasing department for instance, as conducting business with a new supplier will result in significant savings. Of course, there may also be some pressure from manufacturing, however, since you cannot manufacture anything when certain parts are missing. In addition, don’t forget the possible pressure from a Quality Department as a bad audit result will create a lot of work in e.g. risk assessments, escalations, meetings, etc.
Auditors will sometimes create more work for themselves upon a bad result. It may be tempting to be lenient for they have already plenty of work to do.
Why: Professional supplier auditors do not have these problems. As there is no working relationship between an auditor and the departments mentioned above, there is no direct or indirect pressure.Professional supplier auditors observe what they encounter during an audit and report that. It is up to the company to decide what the consequences are and which internal actions to take. This does not mean we cannot provide recommendations, however, we are not decision makers.
As there are many arguments for outsourcing your supplier audits to professional supplier auditors, companies may feel reluctant in sending a ‘stranger’ to a supplier.
Our auditors are trained to behave as representatives of our clients and will always act in the client’s best interest. Concerning key suppliers, it is always an option to let a company auditor join a professional supplier auditor. In that way, the company ensures that it is represented by one of its own members of staff, but has the work done by a professional supplier auditor nevertheless.
Would you like your supplier audit program to be cheaper, faster, more flexible, more consistent and more objective? Contact us and ask how we can make you supplier auditing program better.