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Featured Articles
Featured Articles
Process Interaction Diagrams—A Requirement (Not a Request)!
By Stephen M. Baysinger
Clause 4.0 of ISO 9001:2015 is chock-full of requirements; however, as a third-party auditor I’ve discovered that one of the most...
Three Common Mistakes that Rob You of the Opportunity to Improve
by Steven Severt
Producing nonconforming product is costly. Your organization has paid for labor to produce the nonconforming product and expended available equipment time and...
Document Control: More Than Adding a Number and Revision Level to Documents
by Steven Severt
When you think of your quality management system (QMS), do you instantly think of document control, as if the two terms are...
ISO 9001: More than Doing What You Say and Saying What You Do
by Steven Severt
The adage of “do what you say and say what you do” is tossed around so often when talking about ISO 9001 that many...
Auditable Requirements: Determining What to Audit
By Craig Cochran
Auditable requirements and objective evidence form the foundation of every audit. Indeed, one cannot function effectively as an auditor without a full...
Gathering Audit Evidence: Techniques for Success
By Craig Cochran
Gathering audit evidence involves a mix of techniques that are used interchangeably: visual observation, examination of records, and employee interviews. One moment...
Objective Evidence: An Auditor’s Secret Weapon
By Craig Cochran
Objective evidence is the proof that the organization did or did not meet its requirements. One of the primary objectives of an...
Successful Audits Start with Well-Planned Opening Meetings
by Craig Cochran
Have you ever felt anxious about something that was about to happen? Imagine if the “thing” was called an audit. Your anxiety...
Selecting and Training Internal Auditors
by Craig Cochran
Selecting and training internal auditors will have significant impact on the success of your audit program. After all, these people are the living...
Writing Nonconformities
by Craig Cochran
The term “nonconformity” inspires fear in many people. It shouldn’t. A nonconformity is simply an opportunity for the management system to improve....