Successful supplier audit practices taking into account the risk-based approach

Building longterm relations with the supplier is one of the key elements in ensuring the high quality of products and the key to the further success of the enterprise. The time of manufacture and the quality of products depend on the work of suppliers. GOST R ISO 9001 - 2015 in No. 8.4 «Management of externally supplied processes, products and services» indicates that any organization regardless of the type of activity or size should define and apply criteria for evaluating, selecting, monitoring and reassessing external suppliers based on their ability to perform processes or deliver products and services as required» [1]. In order to comply fully with paragraph 8.4, the heads of organizations need to pay considerable attention to: development and implementation of a documented vendor evaluation procedure; developing, implementing and conducting ongoing supplier audits; optimization of the time and material input control procedure. These activities allow: to ensure stability of supply of raw materials, materials and components; ensure the quality of the products purchased; optimize input control (by improving the quality of delivered products by the supplier, increasing trust, transparency and openness in working with the supplier, ensuring timely delivery) and, as a consequence, minimize costs at this stage of the process; to organize a system of traceability of products, raw materials and materials supplied by the supplier; exchange information and work experience to develop new design solutions; identify and minimize potentially hazardous risks by working together to address them; maintain up to date information on the supplier, its business activities, management for management decision making. In this study data obtained during the in person audits from suppliers of raw materials and components for the enterprise - manufacturer of control and measuring devices and automatics CJSC «Electronic and mechanical measuring systems» were used. (Chelyabinsk Region). The study achieved the following objectives: assessment of the established external environment as extremely complex and unfavourable from the point of view of geopolitical and economic factors, characterized by multiple increase of various risks (technical, production, financial, innovative, etc.); the advantages and disadvantages of the remote audit of the supplier have been identified; the necessity of conducting a full time audit of suppliers in modern conditions has been substantiated; the use of the Deming-Shuhart cycle has been proposed, taking into account the risk oriented approach when planning the audit of suppliers. The key result of the work is the developed author’s method of conducting in person audits of suppliers in complex conditions of polycrisis, which has proven its effectiveness for three years.