Quality audit as a driver for compliance to ISO 9001:2008 standards

Purpose – Quality certification to international standards is an obligatory requirement for automotive and truck industry suppliers of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The unique aspect of companies that had their foundation in research and development (R&D) and evolve to operations is that they require a different approach to implement and certify their quality management system. This paper aims to investigate this issue. Design/methodology/approach – The strategy was to plan an effective implementation of a quality system through the continual application of internal audits and supplier readiness reviews. The evaluation processes for departments and stakeholders had been in place since the first “Gap” audit when assessing the level of compliance against the international standard and the customer requirements. Findings – Seven aspects were part of the readiness reviews (Engineering, Operations, Supply Chain, Quality Assurance, Material Control, Supplier Control, and APQP). Each aspect was assessed independently up to its complete implementation. The level of engagement of the implementation team and the commitment of the top management were increased with each audit result. Practical implications – Creation and improvement of policies, procedures and forms were part of the strategy to ensure that the internal audit process remains objective de rigueur to assess the effective implementation of the system. Check‐lists and recurrent internal audits were performed on the brand‐new operations activities of the company. Originality/value – The introduction of the known maturity level of processes is a method of factorizing and setting priorities for the implementation.