Four Key Insights on Carrying Out a Successful Remote Audit

Nearly 70% of participants hadn’t conducted a remote audit of their logistics partners’ transport or storage operations before COVID-19, according to a recent survey that World Courier conducted. Given the current climate, the respondents indicated that they are now much more likely to consider them. In mid-June, we hosted a webinar titled: ‘How to Carry out a Successful Remote Audit during COVID-19'.

Four key themes emerged from the session: 

1.  Recognize that providers make virtual audits easier – The live auditing process has been severely disrupted and the challenges to ensure supply chain conformance are major concerns in the industry. Audits need to be managed properly to ensure the qualification of vendors/facilities to mitigate any risks. At World Courier, we now facilitate virtual audits of any of our facilities - helping to evidence the quality standards of your supply chain.
   
   
2. A remote audit has advantages, but also recommended situations for use – These should be considered both now and post-pandemic. Remote audits were almost forgotten before the COVID situation. For a successful remote audit, it’s important to ensure that efficient online connectivity, confidentiality, security, and trust between the two parties is in place. Additionally, complex processes that can’t be audited online need to be mentioned in a post-audit report. Naturally, e-audits are less recommended as a first audit.
   
   
3. Work with a provider that makes a complete audit dossier available – This includes all GxP relevant documentation, ranging from licenses, facility layouts, qualification, calibration, mapping, and vendor management to SOPs, alongside anything else required to make a reliable assessment of the chosen warehouse. The success of achieving the audit objectives should also be mentioned in a post-audit report.
   
   
4. Use a TGA / EU GMP approach based on risk assessment - According to the ISO9001 guidance, the official definition for an e-audit is: “using electronic means to remotely obtain audit evidence and evaluate it objectively in order to determine the extent of conformity to the audit criteria.” Guidelines need to be considered to determine if the remote approach is the best option for an individual client.

Summary

A virtual audit solution will help partners minimize disruption to their quality processes during COVID-19 and can also be recommended post-pandemic for certain audit scenarios. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us in case of questions or to book an appointment for a virtual audit with our team of experts.