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Aegis Verity is still in its infancy but its credentials are good; it is an Industrial and Provident Society, it has many decades of professional QA experience, is a not for profit organisation, is registered with the Financial Services Authority and is accredited. It has a tremendous skills bank and has bought to the arena of ISO 9001 assessment and certification an exciting technical advancement backed with the security and probity of significant levels of overview. Set up with assistance from the European Social Fund and local development agencies the organisation has a strong customer focussed orientation because of the closeness to clients of its principle members. The auditors, as the guys at the sharp end, are also the members who have it within their control to shape the service and delivery as the customer wants. A much justified criticism of many current third party certifiers is their poor administration and customer un-friendliness. The founders of Aegis Verity noticed that regardless of the individuals employed by third party certification bodies, the output of the CBs themselves was often disappointing. It was mooted that if the individuals were responsible for the admin of the service as well as the technical aspects then service would improve. They saw that conventional audit reports from an assessment or surveillance visit were directed towards the needs of the CB and the accreditation function rather than to the needs of the organisation. It was mooted that if reports were customer facing rather than accreditation reactive, then customers may appreciate the output more. In addition they felt that auditor reports were mostly subjective text, complimented with a series of CB orientated forms and a report of all the things wrong or needing improvement (i.e. NCs and Observations). It was mooted that if reports provided a baseline from which a client could measure performance as well as the degree of implementation of his quality system, then the client would receive a more meaningful input than previously. It was therefore for the assessment and on-site audit that Aegis Verity developed some major technical advances: Aegis Verity uses objective and quantitative techniques to complement the practices of the past. In this respect they are way ahead of any other certification body in the marketplace in that their reports utilise a significant degree of metrication in order to arrive at a conclusion on suitability for registration. Assessments are two pronged in approach. Firstly there are the documentation and implementation compliance aspects of the 200 plus separate requirements within the standard. Secondly there is the assessment of process effectiveness of the key processes employed by the organisation. Assessment is made against the baseline of the eight quality principles. All methodology is based upon ISO 9004:2000 and is therefore sound in that it is based on existing standards, complies with the auditing standard, ISO 19011, and therefore meets the requirements for certification of management systems in accordance with EN 45012. One aspect of Aegis Verity is the practice of delivering audit a few days after completion of the audit and not on the final or same day. The reports are too detailed to be published without the consideration due to the clients' real needs. Aegis Verity assessments are summarised on the day with the auditor's written major findings and recommendations but the report is prepared and submitted a few days later, with no added surprises but with a more thorough and considered content. The quality certification industry is in the 'doldrums at the moment with customers being increasingly more vociferous about the lack of benefit, high cost, and demand upon resources of ISO 9001 (and similar) management systems certification. The market place is saying "I want more than that. I want benefits". Aegis Verity seems to have responded very well to the needs of the marketplace. They have addressed the important issue of impartiality by being (i) an Industrial and Provident Society set up ' for the benefit of the community', (ii) by having financial aspects overviewed by the Financial Services Authority, (iii) by having technical aspects accredited by ASCB(E), (iv) by having a technically very advanced audit methodology based solely upon the requirements of the management standards and by (v) having auditors that combine decades of conventional auditing and business management experience in direct contact with the people that really matter, their customers. The uptake for this organisation looks very promising and may be portentous of a seasonal change in this sector of the quality profession. QBSA wonder if the lumbering and expensive giants of certification bodies are about to find themselves out-manoeuvred by more customer focussed groups with a growing and loyal customer base? Are significant changes to the certification industry on the way? Some would say it has already happened! Time will tell how this organisation will pan out but the signs are good in that it has avoided the conflict of interest dilemma and at the same time provided a service radically different to established certification bodies but still in compliance with accreditation requirements. Is this a forerunner of what certification will be in the future? In the meantime, Aegis Verity are to be congratulated, their customer focus which has enabled a meaningful output from the assessment process that benchmarks client achievement and will leave conventional third party certifiers struggling to catch up. Further details at the Aegis Verity Web site
July 2004 |
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