At the beginning of November 2020, our annual external QM audit took place at the Magdeburg and Weimar sites. As a recertification audit, this was associated with an increased scope compared to previous years. As in recent years, it was carried out by DQS GmbH.
The external auditors were Mr. A. Kundi, whom we already knew from the previous year, and Mr. R. Schiffl, who had joined this year. Due to the current contact restrictions, it was very uncertain whether the audit could take place on site and, if so, in what form. But everyone kept their nerve and the deadline could be met.
Our organizational preparation was designed with the help of a hygiene concept to make the audit as safe as possible for all involved. This was achieved, among other things, by the fact that only two people were staying per room, with a maximum of three people in large consulting rooms at the same time, while others were connected by Teams. The interview with the Freiburg i. Br. office could be conducted as a remote audit, so that the travel effort was reduced. Thanks to the commitment of all internal participants and the good preparation, we were able to convince the auditors that quality management is lived with us – even if we do not always call it that in our daily work. The well-organized projects, the central data storage, the internal communication, the constant examination of the risks and the existing, purposefully used resources conveyed a picture of our strengths in a few hours. However, the cooperation was particularly well received by the auditors, which is a matter of course for us and often not worth mentioning. It was particularly clear from the constructive openness with which all participants, without exception, spoke about the projects or their tasks, the superiors, the employees and other areas. This, combined with a healthy level of criticism and self-criticism, is the basic prerequisite for maintaining a permanently good quality of our services, which will secure us new orders and jobs in the future.
In the meantime, we have received the new certificate valid for three years according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2015. We would also like to thank the auditors, who have shown some suggestions for potential for improvement. We will take them up and take them into account in the current modernisation of our QM system.
Holger Rosenkranz - Weimar