The significance of auditing as part of quality management development

Operating in accordance with good quality management principles is part of being a mipron. Continuous improvement is an essential part of our work culture, and the insights and ideas for improvement gained from internal and external audits guide and assist us. Mipro’s management system is certified according to ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015, and the improvement proposals and tips given by external auditors have contributed to raising the quality of our operations.

Operating under an internationally recognized and respected standard helps Mipro and other companies speak the same language of quality management and operate according to the same jointly agreed rules. An external evaluator perceives things in our operations differently from what we perceive ourselves in our daily work.

Based on the findings of the latest periodic audit, we have, among other things, developed our methods and metrics for measuring customer satisfaction and thus been able to utilise the results of satisfaction surveys in improving our operations. This also contributes to increasing customer satisfaction in our future projects and improving our operations towards achieving the desired result.

Many of our partners and customers also want to ensure the quality of the products and services we provide to them, and Mipro is subject to several external audits each year. Similarly, Mipro conducts audits of its own subcontractors and partners. During audit situations, both parties get to know each other’s operations more deeply and learn something new from each other. Thus, audits benefit both parties.

To ensure that Mipro’s management system remains intact and functional and serves us miprons in our work, we regularly conduct internal audits that cover all our management system processes. All our processes are reviewed within a three-year cycle. The processes live and develop all the time, even outside internal audits. Internal process audits improve the inter-functionality of processes and ensure that no part of the process is left unconnected, and that there are no redundancies. The results of internal audits are comprehensively reviewed in biannual management reviews. This allows us to comprehensively tackle the issues that have arisen during the process, and any possible changes can be quickly implemented at the company level.

As noted, audits are important to companies for many reasons. They help ensure that operations are in line with rules, regulations, and best practices. They also help us improve our operations and identify potential risks and issues before they cause harm. Additionally, they give our customers and stakeholders confidence in our operations and products.

We want to ensure that Mipro’s operations are safe, responsible, and efficient; therefore, external audits are extremely important. They help identify potential risks and improve the company’s processes and practices. This, in turn, leads to better results, higher quality project implementations, and more functional products in the long term.


AUTHOR

Piia Juhola

Quality Manager


Piia works as Mipro’s quality manager, responsible for the quality management and development. Piia joined Mipro in October 2022, and prior to her career with us, she has worked for over twenty years as a chemist and quality expert in various nuclear power plant projects.