amfori Quality Management Initiative

WHAT IS AMFORI QUALITY MANAGEMENT INITIATIVE (QMI)?

Quality management is an essential part of every global supply chain and of paramount importance for organisations. amfori Quality Management Initiative (QMI) is an integrated strategic approach to build a responsible and sustainable supply chain for global buyers, brands and retailers.

Many companies invest a considerable amount of time and resources in verifying and evaluating the compliance of suppliers’ quality systems. However, complex processes, lost information and lack of visibility makes it hard to achieve in terms of sustainability and efficiency.

Many non-food retailers and organisations share similar quality requirements and have overlapping supplier bases. Most of them developed their own checklists and grading systems to audit their suppliers individually which led to duplication of efforts and resulting in waste of time and resources.

amfori QMI provides a new standardised approach to help companies in the non-food FMCG and retail industry improve their quality management capabilities – to facilitate streamlined and efficient quality audits. It covers four key aspects: Infrastructure, System and Environment; Product Design; Incoming Materials Quality Control; and Production Control.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO CONDUCT AMFORI QMI audit?

There are multiple benefits to conduct amfori QMI audit of your supply chain:

• Use this common standard to benchmark and identify sustainable producers
• Reduce the overall resources (efforts, time and money) towards suppliers’ assessment
• Strategic and multi-dimensional monitoring of multiple producers’ quality management capability
• Provides a single point of audit results – identify areas for improvement, compare data across the global supply chain and transform information into concrete insights and actions
• A comprehensive compliance program ensuring strict business integrity during the audit process

TÜV SÜD has the expertise to condut your amfori qmi audit

TÜV SÜD is accredited to conduct amfori QMI audit. We have a global network of specialists who provide multidisciplinary expertise on a wide range of auditing and certification services in key markets. We serve as a one-stop service provider for companies requiring auditing and certification against quality management system and social compliance programmes, and we can integrate your existing processes with other management systems such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, amfori BSCI, SMETA,  RBA, SA8000® and CoC.

As part of our commitment to unparalleled service quality, our inspectors and auditors are required to adhere to our strict Code of Conduct. This ensures the expert opinions they provide are professional, independent and impartial.

TÜV SÜD AMFORI QMI AUDIT PROCESS

As a third-party auditing body, TÜV SÜD conducts audits in accordance with amfori QMI. We offer worldwide support with competent and fully accredited local auditors. We use the following six-step process as part of our amfori QMI audit:

Six steps to amfori QMI Audit success:

1. Sign amfori QMI Terms of Implementation (TOI)
2. Request an audit with participant authorisation via the online amfori sustainability platform
3. Fill up the audit application to obtain a customised quote
4. Undergo an announced, semi-announced or unannounced audit visit
5. Complete a corrective action plan to improve compliance
6. If required, undergo a follow-up audit within designated time frame