What is quality? We’ve all heard many different definitions of quality: doing the right thing right, compliance to specifications or that quality is in the eye of the beholder, like beauty. But for an academic definition, as it relates to business, we might say that quality is a product or service that consistently has zero defects, conforms to particular specifications, and is satisfactorily receive by the customer. Which really means it is the thought process sought out by an organization to create an overall drive toward efficiency, the reduction of waste, and the continual creation of more streamline management processes.

For many years, and up to about 20 or 30 years ago, quality was considered to be the creator of quality. We have since learned that quality cannot be inspected or subsequent to the manufacturing process, be infused into the product. As Ron Atkinson, past president of the American Society for Quality so nicely put it, “now the whole concept is more ingrained into the culture of organizations. Quality is created by people performing the function, whether it be assembling a Bluetooth device or filling out an intake form at a medical clinic.”

In order for this concept to truly become ingrained within the organization, it must start with the leadership of the organization. The leadership must emphasize that the functional areas are responsible for quality, not just the manpower cost, etc. for producing the product. Each operator must be made to believe that the leadership of the organization holds them directly responsible for the quality of the product they produce. Once this is accomplished, the quality department can then become mentors in these areas, helping develop and assign the metrics, developing the measurement tools and helping to ensure the accuracy of the reported data. It’s this approach to quality that results in everyone taking responsibility for quality and therefore leading to better experience for the customer.

Can quality be outsourced?

There does not seem to be a trend in existence or even developing, for that matter, to outsource the entire quality function, but some organizations tend to outsource some portions of the quality function. Companies that wish to comply with or to benchmark ‘best practices’ may gain a competitive advantage through higher quality standards while even reducing their costs. The bottom line is always profit. Therefore, it is imperative that the organization considers the cost versus the value they expect to receive. It boils down to ‘return on investment.’

One area that organizations find possible and economically justifiable is the internal audit. Organizations flying the banner of ISO 9001 know that the Internal Audit is something we do by ourselves, to ourselves, and for ourselves. But training auditors is time consuming and costly; it takes valuable resources off the floor for hours at a time. And again, conducting the audit takes those same valuable resources off the floor preparing for the audit, conducting the audit and reporting the audit. Internal auditors may get the opportunity to audit once or twice a year and in many organizations they are rotated out of the internal audit pool after two years, so the quality of the internal audit is suspect at least.

Although we were told that the internal audit was a type one audit, auditing ourselves, from the stand point of the auditee the internal audit, is a type three audit - an audit done by a third party. Therefore, the use of outsourced internal auditors is within the principles of ISO 9001. An outside auditor can focus completely on the task at hand. Too often, many trained professionals within an organization deal with a multitude of job assignments and requirements, which often lead to an inability to put their auditing function first. Further, the outside auditors bring with them a fresh pair of eyes that often leads to an exchange of information.

The primary reason why you should consider outsourcing internal auditing is that it would be more cost-effective.