First GFSI Audit

Hey everyone!

This is my first time going through a full GFSI (SPS-BAP) audit as a QA Manager. My question for the forums is what should I really try to capture from this experience to make the most of it? I look forward to your responses/advice!

Cheers,

Shrimper

The experience of being audited?  I'd suggest one thing you will learn but might not want to.  You will make mistakes.  Your team will make mistakes.  The wider team will make mistakes.

But you know what?  Mistakes are part of learning.  

I once had an audit from an ethical standard and they sent me an email of documents to prepare in advance.  I missed that email and had only been in the business for 6 weeks by that point.  As it was a new audit to me, I'd asked others what was needed and believed their response which was "nothing".  But with only 6 weeks under my belt, I didn't know where anything was.  So I took the guy on a tour while my (then) Technical Director located the documentation I should have prepared.

I felt SO ashamed.  I went to him later, apologised and said "it won't happen again."

He said "no it won't" with no sense of humour nor forgiveness.

But I tell you what?  It taught me to be ready and to help others know how much they need to be prepared.  

So be reassured that if you have a difficult experience, we've all had one too.  Whether it's something like that or "oh crap there's a bird's nest in the factory" (really happened once) the guys here have probably seen it, done it and got the t-shirt.  And the scars from the mistakes make you into the old souls we all are.

If I am to share one learning though, I would say, don't be tempted to make anything up.  People like myself who have been in food for too long probably went through that early in our careers.  The being asked to fake paperwork to pass an audit BS.  Don't do it.  You will hate yourself for it and it won't move your factory on.  If you have a bad audit, so what?   Sometimes that's helpful to improve things.

Welcome to the hot seat!  Good luck to start, can't wish you enough of that.

Take solid notes on how your auditor responds to certain aspects.  Hopefully you'll have had the chance to move all of your binders and boxes of records into the meeting room to speed up collecting records to the auditor. 

I'd pay special attention to how your traceback exercise goes:  whom is involved when the auditor asks for a batch record, and who else could've been helpful to meet the time requirements better?

A well-fed auditor is a happy auditor.  A box of donuts is usually a happy addition to the room, maybe some bagels as there's always an auditor who wants to be slightly more health conscious.  

An auditor will say a lot of things that he doesn't put in his report. Make note of those things and consider whether it is something you should add to your next audit.

Create a checklist with all clauses that apply to your manufacturing, then send each process owner these clauses to collect the required documents, look for the gaps as in do an gap analysis. You will have NC's but all that matters is how you approach to these things post audit. 

All the best.

Don't try and look perfect, like I know the goal is not many NC's but, if your paperwork is too clean they're going to start digging. 

Don't be afraid to show them the docs that got corrected/ changed/ re-verified. Whatever. 

We used to do a huge paperwork review and it was such a huge time suck, and just stressed us all out. 

Do your best. That's all you can do. 

Be prepared, get a good night's sleep. Stop along the way to work and get some breakfast stuff like muffins, donuts, Danish coffee bucket abd bev service its a nice thing to have some coffee first in the getvto know you abd intro stage.

Next - be relaxed. Don't take over as in let the Auditor take the lead.

Ask them what they would like for lunch ( I liked working lunches - most folks got a variety from a Deli or Jersey Mike's etc

Auditor's won't think you are trying to bribe them as they will appreciate the nice touch.

Hopefully you have reviewed the audit format as its always a plus for an auditor to review docs when they are in sequence that matches the audit.

If you don't have something, say so - the biggest trap I ever saw were people that would tell me... well, we do that but don't document it or say something along the lines of, "to be honest with you."

I used to stop audits when that happened. Explain how it works and restart.

So, nice beverages and food. Follow the program, be honest and relax and as it was mentioned above we all make mistakes (so do Auditors).

Also. Don't be afraid to "nicely" challenge a finding that you don't agree on the spot - many will not because they want the "ordeal" over with, but you should as long as you know for a fact you are correct.

Most of all. Have fun!

I always look up the auditor to review their background, education, etc.  This usually gives a indication of what the auditors pet-peeves might be during the audit.  

Get some good sleep before, remember that the auditor is a person too, don't get too worked up or stressed, and have confidence that you've done all you can with your facility to get to this point.  

Best of luck!  

Enjoy the moment and be open with the auditor, especially if it's your first time.

This approach will help you understand how auditors operate and what their main points of interest are.

It's important not to give the auditor any reason to lose trust in you.

Build that trust from the beginning by staying calm and composed.

Be honest about any issues that might arise according to the requirements; this honesty can reassure the auditor and make them comfortable considering some non-conformities and offering constructive recommendations.

Finally, if possible, try to address some of the non-conformities during the audit process and encourage the auditor to verify these changes.

However, don't overdo it.

Enjoy the audit!

Emmanuel Sefordzi

QA Manager- Africa

Transmed Limited

Remain calm. Don't get flustered, especially since this is your first audit. If you don't understand what they are asking for, keep asking questions.

Listen to what the auditor is asking for, but use the agenda to help you figure out where you are in the audit and what they might be looking for.

Coffee, treats, a flexible lunch plan, and treating the auditor like a guest, not as a burden is a wonderful way to show you are open to improvement,

Best of Luck! 

Setana is right.  That's a super top tip.  I came into one company and found that about 40% of the non conformances on one audit which was still pending close out was simply "we didn't know where to look".  Even me as a newbie found them as I was able to interpret what it was they were after.  

So be clear.  Ask questions like "I'm sorry I'm a bit new to this type of audit, what kind of thing do you normally see and I'll ask the team."

And how could I forget... ALWAYS have two of you with the auditor and keep something in there with you.  An auditor hates "dead space".  So have files like internal auditing and pest management, training records or some of your documentation available so you can suggest as you're waiting for something else to arrive you can get on with the other things on their list.  The auditor will appreciate you for it as the last thing they want is to finish late.  

Lastly ask for a list at the end of each day "what is it you'd like to see tomorrow so we can make sure people are available" (aka make sure you have your night team digging out any paperwork if you need to...)