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Mixing Processes from Two Separate Quality Management Systems

Discussion in 'ISO 9001:2015 - Quality Management Systems' started by Kalum, Jul 21, 2022.

  1. Kalum

    Kalum New Member

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    Members - I work for a large company with several groups organized beneath the corporate structure. We do not have an overarching Quality Management System at the corporate level, rather the groups beneath each have their own. We have taken on work that encompasses requirements that will be handled across several groups. My question is, can processes from across the several QMSs be used without violating the several certifications? For example, can one group perform software development processes under QMS#1 while configuration management processes are handled under QMS#2? Is this just a matter of making sure the customer is aware?
     
    Kalum, Jul 21, 2022
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  2. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Kalum:

    Welcome. A great question. In principle, you can whatever the organization wishes - however, I'd suggest that there are a number of tools in the QMS which should be used to manage this situation - Management Review, Change Planning, Documentation, Competency and, of course, Internal Audits, to name but a few...

    Now, from a CB point of view, it's going to depend on a number of things, such as the scope of your certification for each of the organizations involved. Since each has its own QMS, how will you handle the interfaces? Outsources Processes? Can you produce the required evaluations of the various sister orgs? etc?

    Of course, you know your auditor(s) better than anyone - would they even know what was going on if they stumbled on it? ;)
     
    Andy Nichols, Jul 21, 2022
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    tony s likes this.
  3. Kalum

    Kalum New Member

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    Great point about knowing my auditors! Because I do know them, I'm not worried about them. My main concern is the customer coming in expecting to see one QMS process and discovering the processes used were actually a Frankenstein of separate programs.
    Thanks for the reply!
     
    Kalum, Jul 22, 2022
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  4. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    Good luck with customers audits…
     
    Andy Nichols, Jul 23, 2022
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