SNECI supports the European leader of automotive batteries in the audit of its suppliers
In the context of a health crisis where travel has become complex over the last two years (quarantines, travel expenses, etc.), many manufacturers need to have their critical suppliers audited and do not always have the necessary resources in-house in terms of time, skills or human resources.
To overcome these various structural and economic obstacles, SNECI provides more than 450 experts throughout the world who can help improve industrial performance in the fields of project management, quality, training, sorting & reworking and supply chain (purchasing & logistics).
This is how one of the European leaders in sustainable automotive batteries committed to green mobility asked us to carry out various audits for its suppliers in Asia.
Mission :
Our mission was to audit 12 of its suppliers according to the criteria of the IAFT 16949 automotive standard: 8 in China, 3 in South Korea, and 1 in Japan.
Duration of the mission :
Our mission lasted 4 months.
Details of the mission :
In order to audit 12 suppliers in 4 months in Asia, SNECI and our local subsidiary set up 3 distinct phases for each audit:
- Preparation of the audit
- Carrying out the audit
- Feedback on the audit
A first phase on the preparation of the audit divided in the following way:
- Meeting minutes – Preparation meeting with supplier 3 weeks before the audit.
- Feedback on the supplier’s self-assessment 1 week before the audit
- Audit agenda 3 days before the audit
During this phase, our SNECI auditor attended the kick-off meeting with each of the suppliers and presented the IATF 16949 audit assessment form and other training material for the preparation of the self-assessment.
90-minute meetings with each supplier were held to present all the key points and then the suppliers were able to send the finalised self-assessment form to our auditor SNECI. The agenda and programme of the audit were confirmed by both parties.
Once this first preparation phase was completed, we entered the second phase, namely the audit:
- Carrying out the audit
- Audit grid according to IATF 16949 criteria
- Summary of the audit During the audit
The different audits were carried out on site and included a summary with the Top Management.
Finally, the 3rd phase was the client feedback phase:
- Feedback on the audit
- Final audit report shared with the client and the supplier 2 weeks after the audit
- Complete feedback & validation of the action plan proposed by the supplier, to the client 3 weeks after the audit
For each of the audits carried out, our SNECI auditor sent both the suppliers and our client’s manager the detailed reports of the audits carried out as well as the various action plans based on the results and the report of our audit.
What are the results for our client?
A considerable saving of time, as we carried out the 12 audits in 4 months, whereas our client would have taken much longer.
In addition to carrying out the audits, preparation and reporting, we enabled our client to avoid all the local constraints in terms of travel during the health crisis with quarantines, isolation, tests, etc.
Furthermore, by having experts on site in Asia within our subsidiaries, thanks to our more than 450 experts worldwide, we were able to respond to our client’s needs quickly in an agile, technical and efficient manner, thus avoiding travel costs (hotel, transport, etc.) and the mobilization of its internal resources.
Our client therefore made savings at all levels: time, money and resources.
Satisfied by our reactivity, the audits carried out on its suppliers and the savings made, our client also entrusted us with the upgrading of its suppliers on the basis of the audit reports that we carried out.
Why working with SNECI?
With 70 years of industrial experience, particularly in the automotive sector (a demanding and complex industry) and over 450 experts in 50 countries, we have already carried out over 4,000 hours of audits.
Our experts evaluate the quality systems and processes of our clients’ factories and those of their suppliers according to international standards (ISO, IATF, etc.), OEM standards (NSA, etc.) and also according to our SNECI standard called I.S.A.(c).
Our I.S.A.(c) Audit tool covers all the fields of a company:
- Research and Development : R&D resources, technology watch, process control and validation, process development, …
- Sustainable development : environmental management system and future plan, carbon footprint, etc.
- Corporate Social Responsibility : employee relations, human rights, business ethics, …
- Supply chain management : capacity, production planning, receiving, packaging, shipping, …
- Quality & Production : FMEA, control plan, work stations, …
- Financial analysis : profitability, leverage analysis, working capital, …
In addition to the audit aspect, our teams can also support you in the quality management of your products from the acquisition of the project to the serial life in the following fields
- Analysis of specifications and standards,
- Quality assurance files,
- Approval files,
- Quality control through to validation of initial samples,
- Problem solving and securing supplies.
Our experts work closely with your teams remotely, in your factory, your suppliers’ or your customers’ factories.
In addition to the audits we offer and our ISA.(c) framework, which enables a 360° audit to be made to measure, our support in improving industrial performance is based on 5 areas
- Industrial diagnosis & Industrial project management
- Definition of the action plan
- Assistance in implementing the action plan – audits
- Consolidation through training and coaching of teams
- Outsourcing of your support functions, purchasing and logistics
Our experts are specialized in engineering and project management with a technical DNA and a local approach to guarantee the results expected by our clients. If you would like SNECI’s engineers and experts to support you, contact us!
