5 Different Kinds of Audits to Assess Your Supplier

Various types of audits serve several purposes. They assist you with ensuring compliance with the retailer demands, environmental laws, international labour, production capabilities and helps you evaluate the quality management system of the supplier auditors.

To help you know more about the different types of audits, here are five kinds that can help you judge your suppliers and reduce the risk of uncertainties in your supply chain.

5 Different Kinds of Audits to Assess Your Supplier

Social compliance audit

Social compliance audits are also known as ethical audits, social audits, or social liability audits. Importers depend on this kind of factory audits to assess and judge their supplier’s performance conditions for agreement with global labour measures. Social compliance audits additionally assist retailers. Furthermore, companies operate social compliance uncertainties that could affect their company’s reliability. Unethical labour systems and factory mishaps like collapses, fires, and explosions can lead to adverse publicity for businesses.

Quality system audit

A quality system audit is a popular kind of factory inspection process. Importers usually depend on quality audits to assess the production capabilities and internal quality controls of procurement subcontractors. Quality system audits are one of the most underrated tools for assuring optimum product condition and on-time performance. Importers can attend quality audits to estimate potential suppliers or evaluate existing suppliers’ production and development.

There are many kinds of quality system audits and examples like ISO 9001, AS9100 concerning the aerospace business and ISO 13485 for pharmaceutical devices. ISO 9001 quality system audits are most apparent for facilities producing global consumer stocks.

Good manufacturing practices (GMP) audit

Good manufacturing audits are a different type of quality audit similar to ISO 9001. However, this kind of quality audit applies to businesses of specific product standards, which incorporate:
  • Food and beverage products
  • Pharmaceuticals
  • Biologics
  • Veterinary products
  • Medical devices
  • Cosmetics
Good manufacturing practices (GMP) audit standards additionally concentrate on product type purely in association with product security and effectiveness. This varies from ISO 9001, which focuses on the experience of a supplier to suffice its customer’s demands.

And unlike the additional international audit structures, GMP regulations are implemented by national organisations and authorities. GMP agreement is obligatory in various markets, comprising the U.S., Canada, the EU and Australia.

Environmental audit

Environmental audits are often becoming common as customers drive retailers to reduce their environmental impact. These audits assure your supplier auditors are acquiescent with national and global environmental norms. An environmental audit structure typically judges the supplier’s pollution prevention, resource consumption, and emergency preparation.

C-TPAT security audit

A C-TPAT security audit is one of the least common types among these five various kinds of inspections. Some retailers and brands need this audit to be submissive by Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) organisations in the U.S. C-TPAT refer to a public-private area partnership program founded in November 2001 to enhance cargo safety. The partnership concentrates on identifying security gaps, protecting supply chains, and adding the best security norms for restricting terrorism. This audit determines the safety of the development site and identifies any hazards for actions of terrorism linked with the convenience.

These are the five common types of audits procurement subcontractors should know about. Follow the points as mentioned above, and you can understand the special inspections in detail.

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