Factory Audits: Ensuring Quality Management

When selecting a business partner or new supplier, you must verify the effectiveness of their Quality Management System (QMS) through a comprehensive factory audit. An organization’s QMS is crucial to its success and the quality of the products or services you will receive.

What is a Factory Audit?

Factory audits are specialized assessments designed to check the processes and procedures in place at a supplier’s organization.² These audits evaluate the organization against internationally accepted standards, such as the ISO 9001 series, which is based on seven key quality management principles:³

• Customer Focus
• Leadership
• Engagement of People
• Process Approach
• Improvement
• Evidence-Based Decision Making
• Relationship Management

BROOKTEX provides audit services to help you select the best vendors for partnership. Our auditors check the organization’s adherence to these ISO 9001 standards, making a supplier audit an essential step before entering any partnership.

Why is a Factory Audit Important?

A factory audit provides a clear indication of the level of quality a vendor maintains based on their established processes. Getting an audit done can greatly benefit your business by:

• Avoiding risks associated with scam or illegal factories.
• Ensuring partnership with vendors committed to the highest quality products and services.
• Saving time and money by establishing the right relationships from the start.
• uaranteeing high customer satisfaction and minimal post-delivery issues through an effective QMS system.

How BROOKTEX Conducts the Factory Audit

BROOKTEX’s specially trained QMS team will visit the vendor’s factory to audit them against the ISO 9001 series standards. The audit will comprehensively check the following aspects:

• The vendor’s procedures and commitment to a customer-focused approach.
• The supplier’s leadership and mindset as reflected in their QMS.
• How the organization effectively engages its people.
• The methodical approach to procedures (Process Approach).
• The will and capacity for continuous improvement.
• The model for evidence-based decision-making.
• How the vendor manages relationships with its partners.

BROOKTEX ensures our Factory ISO 9001 audits provide you with a true, unbiased picture of how the vendor operates, leading to a visible improvement in your supply chain reliability and customer satisfaction.