Ensuring Your Supply Chain Meets Your Standards
Maintaining control over your supply chain is crucial for quality, consistency, and risk management. While third-party certifications (like ISO 9001) provide a baseline, you often have specific technical, quality, or ethical requirements that your suppliers must meet. Second-Party Supplier Audits are conducted by your organization (the "second party") or by an independent body like BQCIS on your behalf, specifically against your own criteria.
These audits provide direct verification that your suppliers are adhering to your contractual agreements, quality specifications, codes of conduct, or specific process requirements. They can range from a simple desktop review of documentation to comprehensive on-site assessments of manufacturing processes, quality controls, and social compliance practices.
BQCIS acts as your trusted partner, deploying experienced auditors with relevant industry expertise to conduct objective, thorough second-party audits anywhere in the world. We work according to your specific checklist or audit protocol, providing detailed reports that give you clear visibility into supplier performance and compliance, enabling informed sourcing decisions and effective supplier management.
Key Second-Party Audit Activities
Key Benefits of Second-Party Audits
Verify Your Specific Requirements
Go beyond generic standards to ensure suppliers meet your exact technical, quality, or ethical criteria.
Strengthen Supplier Risk Management
Gain direct insight into supplier capabilities and compliance, enabling proactive risk mitigation and supply assurance.
Drive Supplier Improvement
Audit findings provide a basis for corrective actions and continuous improvement initiatives with suppliers.
Ensure Independent Objectivity
Using BQCIS ensures an impartial assessment, free from internal bias, enhancing the credibility of audit results.
Success Story
Retailer Ensures Ethical Compliance with Second-Party Audits
A major apparel retailer needed to verify that its overseas garment suppliers were adhering to its strict Code of Conduct regarding labor practices, working hours, and safety.
BQCIS, acting on behalf of the retailer, conducted announced and semi-announced second-party social compliance audits at key supplier factories, using the retailer’s specific Code of Conduct as the audit criteria.
The audits identified several non-compliances related to overtime and safety equipment gaps. BQCIS provided detailed reports and corrective action guidance, ensuring the supplier network achieved ethical and operational alignment.