Consulting Frequently Asked Questions

also Common Questions we ask our Customers
Does your company perform consulting services internationally?
Yes, on a case-by-case basis we do subject to our availability, and the requirements listed below:

  1.  All clients shall agree to a “Gap Analysis” by us before the project commencement preformed in “English.”
  2. All quality management processes that are established, defined and documented by us are provided in “English” and then localized for another language by the client.
  3. Availability of our staff requires 120 days lead time for all quality management system (QMS) projects to coordinate travel and accommodations and other sustenance concerns.
  4. We also require 50% deposit of the total project amount upon verification of the customer’s approved purchase order and accepted proposal.   
What is the address of the site seeking certification or implementation assistance?
Quite often, the Quality Director, Operations Manager or Quality Manager does not realize that in the initial stages of planning the quality management system, time onsite to prepare for an effectively implemented certification needs to include the adequate coverage of any ancillary sites or locations related to operations, production, customer support and design and development functions.

We need to know if you have a warehouse, service center or offsite hardware or software engineering staff. Sometimes, the client’s facility layout can also be a campus configuration which impacts our QMS preparation sequence and time onsite.

Why do we ask for your work and cell phone numbers?
Today, customers are busy! Most managers and executives are not always in their offices these days. Many of these busy folks use their smartphone as their main working device. We would like to be able to reach your project key point of contact to prepare your proposal and respond to your proposal questions if any, and support your project inquires to us in a timely manner.

We also want to be there for you when you have ongoing project questions. We respect our client’s time, and get to the point so things keep moving on your project. Please tell us two key points of contact responsible for your QMS project.

Which specific quality management scheme do you need help with?

We need to know which registration scheme you need help with, e.g., BRC, ISO 9001, AS 9100, ISO 14000, TL 9000 or ISO 45001. Along with this information, please tell us about the type of support your company needs such as Turnkey Consulting, Implementation Guidance or Documentation Support.

What is your understanding of the size and scope of the project today?
Quite often, a quality professional is told by their customer or executive team to “Get us AS9100, ISO 9001, TL 9000, or FSSC 22000 certified” by some specific mm/dd/yy before that professional has fully evaluated the QMS requirements and considered all planning aspects as they would like. We understand this!

So, perhaps our potential customer is not aware that with regard to, e.g., AS9100 preparation; time is needed to factor in such things as the proper structure of a suitable configuration management database. This database will support any newly prepared configuration management process we define and document for your company. We would like to know if such a commitment for certification by a specific date was agreed to with senior management, or communicated to a key customer.

We also need to know how many departments are anticipated within the scope of your intended certification, and the number of employees involved within those processes. An initial estimate will suffice. We will hone your numbers as we proceed further.

Does your organization have any formal or informal documentation?

Sometimes, this is where the registration cost savings can be found for the company. However, first the key contact person for the project needs to investigate this, and let us know if the majority of the organization’s documentation is formal or informal and how many departments have documentation. Some departments may have no formal documentation in place.

Is your Quality Management System (QMS) currently registered?
QMS certifications are monitored by your chosen registrar. As such, if you need assistance to modify or improve your existing quality management system, careful planning must be established to ensure that your registrar is not undertaking their surveillance or maintenance audit just as your organization is making significant or impactful modifications to your QMS. Why is this so important? Because you need to show objective evidence of the implementation of any changes made to your QMS.

Timelines on surveillance or maintenance audits can range between semi-annual and annual depending on the specific QMS scheme of certification and registrar of choice. We need to know who you are registered with, and when your next surveillance or maintenance audit is scheduled if you need our services.

What are the current QMS problems that your company is trying to prevent or resolve?
Sometimes, we are called when these things happen:

  • We want to obtain QMS certification, but we don’t have the resources internally.
  • One of our key customers just visited, and we have a number of issues. We need some help in further understanding the best practice for solving our issues, and providing root cause corrective and preventive action. Can your group help us?
  • A key customer has told us on multiple occasions to get certified. Can your group help us?
  • We tried to get certified once, and we failed; now our quality manager that led the project is gone. Can your group help us?
  • We had (2) of our auditors leave us. We haven’t done any internal quality audits. Can your group help us?