Frequently Asked Questions

Why don’t I see QS-9000 or TE Supplement Registration on your website?

Due to the QS-9000 and QS-9000 TE Supplement expiring on December 14, 2006, ANAB no longer certifies us to audit these standards.

Do customers have access to your interpretation of the standards?

All customers have complete access to AQSR's interpretation of the applicable standard through our Project Management services.

How do you ensure consistency in your company's interpretation of the applicable standard? (i.e. from auditor to auditor, audit to audit)

All new AQSR auditors participate in a mentoring program with our senior auditors. They are also required to attend training specific to the standards and industries for which they will be auditing and are calibrated to AQSR's approach and standards interpretations.

Do you use the same lead auditor/auditors for each audit activity?

AQSR endeavors to use the same auditor(s) for each audit activity in order to provide for an enhanced level of auditor continuity. Your Lead Auditor will coordinate any interpretations of the standard with you and ensure that any such interpretations are communicated throughout the entire audit team to provide consistency of approach.

What criteria are used in measuring the performance of your auditors?

AQSR uses client surveys following each and every audit activity to evaluate the performance of our deliverables, in order to ensure that we continue to meet our client's needs. 

How do you handle pre-assessment audits? Do you recommend them? Are they mandatory?

As an option, AQSR offers a Pre-Audit that reviews the implementation of policies and procedures. This audit will use the processes identical to the Registration Assessment. The Pre-Audit can be a full or partial audit. This step is highly recommended and is an effective development tool - statistics show it will increase your chance of having a successful Registration Assessment.

Do you have a checklist we could use to assess our own system?

AQSR has a generic checklist that auditors have the ability to customize to individual organizations.

What is AQSR's philosophy about non-conformances vs. observations?

At AQSR, audit findings are typically broken down into two categories

• non-conformances
• opportunities for continuous improvement (sometimes called observations)

When lapses are found in the documentation, it means that the system does not meet the requirement of the standard. When lapses are found in the implementation of your system, it means that the documented system meets the requirements of the standard but is not being followed.
Such lapses are typically classified as non-conformances and would be categorized as minor or major depending on whether they are systemic in nature or simply an isolated occurrence.
Opportunities for continuous improvement on the other hand are just that! They are observations made by the auditor, which may have the potential to develop into non-conformances.

Describe how you determine major and minor nonconformances.

Minor non-conformances are defined as a deficiency in a procedure or work instruction or in the implementation (operation) of the organization's quality system. Major non-conformances are a total breakdown or absence of a procedure or work instruction, or in the operation of the organization's management system.

How do you handle a minor non-conformance? How long do we have to respond?

A minor non-conformance must be responded to within 60 days and the official closing of the non-conformance may occur at the next surveillance audit (for ISO 9001/2).

What is the frequency of surveillance audits?

AQSR conducts Surveillance Audits on both a semi-annual and annual basis. For those clients seeking semi-annual surveillance, AQSR will review approximately 25% (as a minimum) of your management system at each visit. For those choosing the annual option, AQSR will review approximately 50%(as a minimum) of your management system at each visit.

Do you give advance notice of surveillance audits?

AQSR will provide you with a three year planned suggested audit matrix, however, we will notify you approximately 30 days in advance of the proposed Surveillance Visit with final audit plan details. The Surveillance Visit will take broadly the same structure as the Registration Assessment, but on a smaller scale.

How do you distinguish between evidence of corrective action, preventive action, and continual improvement? What do you see as the distinguishing features of evidence of corrective action, preventive action, and continual improvement? Please provide an example of what type of evidence would be acceptable for each.

Corrective Action : an action to eliminate the cause of a detected non-conformity or other undesirable situation. 

Example of Corrective Action : Late deliveries (as a percentage of total deliveries) rise from 1% to 8% within one month. In response, you create a system to prevent late deliveries from occurring again in the future.

Preventive Action: an action to eliminate the cause of a potential non-conformance or other undesirable situation, before it occurs.

Example of Preventive Action: You are due to release a new product line in the upcoming month, and you determine that the existing delivery system would be unable to handle the added volume. An enhanced delivery system is implemented in time to effectively handle this added volume before any problem arises.

Continual Improvement: the aim of continual improvement of a management system is to increase the probability of enhancing the satisfaction of customers and other interested parties.

Actions for improvement include the following:

• analyzing and evaluating the existing situation to identify areas for improvement
• establishing the objectives for improvement
• searching for possible solutions to achieve the objectives
• evaluating these solutions and making a selection
• implementing the selected solution

Describe your philosophy of value-added auditing. Give an example of how your firm has put this philosophy into practice.

Value-added auditing is when the auditor provides information beyond the requirements of the Standards. This may occur in the form of highlighting areas of the management system which are not non-conforming but could cause negative or positive outcomes in the future.

Presently AQSR has a program of value-added auditing with one of our corporate clients. This is referred to as enhanced surveillance audits.

30 days Prior to surveillance audit:

• Customer to download "Customer Metrics Summary" from AQSR web site
• Completed form to be forwarded to AQSR
• Your auditor reviews customer metrics and adjusts audit plan (if needed) to focus audit.
• AQSR prepares and sends audit plan to customer.

In what areas of the ISO 9001:2000 standard do you find the most non-conformances?

Historically organizations experience the majority of non-conformances in relation to Control of Documents.

What areas of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are most critical to the effectiveness of a quality management system?

An approach to developing and implementing a successful quality management system consists of several steps including the following:

• Determining the needs and expectations of customers and other interested parties
• Establishing the quality policy and quality objectives of the organization
• Determining the processes and responsibilities necessary to attain the quality objectives
• Determining and providing the resources necessary to attain the quality objectives
• Establishing methods to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of each process
• Applying these measures to determine the effectiveness and efficiency of each process
• Determining means of preventing non-conformances and eliminating their causes
• Establishing and applying a process for continual improvement of the quality management system

Which elements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are audited at every surveillance audit?

As a minimum, AQSR must review at each visit:

• customer complaints and your response
• Corrective action and preventive action
• your internal audit records
• management review results and actions
• progress made towards continuous improvement targets.