Auditing and Qualifying Suppliers and Vendors

Who Should Attend

The course will be valuable for those in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device manufacturing who are responsible for, or involved in, supplier/vendor management, qualification, procurement or maintenance.  Development, R&D, Validation and QA/QC personnel will also benefit as the course details all the steps necessary to carefully document the process of vendor selection while working within the confines of a risk-based audit system. 

Third-parties looking to gain insight into how firms select their outside vendors will also find this course extremely useful.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this course, attendees will:

• Understand requirements from regulatory agencies and other standards in relation to suppliers and vendor approvals and qualifications, including procedure and documentation needs
• Be able to develop procedure and adequate documentation controls for the selection, approval and qualification (certification) of vendors and suppliers.  This includes the development of an audit program designed with different levels of formality depending on the criticality (risk based) of the material/component/service being provided
• Understand that controls are not limited to materials and components but also apply to contract service providers such as calibrations, laboratories, maintenance, contract manufacturing/packaging and others
• Be able to develop a quality agreement/contract with your suppliers/vendors that will define responsibilities and have adequate controls and documentation to maintain a business relationship based on trust and communication.  Special emphasis will be placed on areas such as change control and design controls for equipment and systems
• Be able to proactively protect the quality of your products and effectively handle any deviations and non-conformities

The course will use interactive workshops and discussions to enable delegates to exchange ideas and experiences, and to learn from each other.

Course Description

Regulatory agencies hold firms responsible for delivering high quality products that meet all established requirements and specifications.  Suppliers and vendors play a key role in accomplishing these mandates and it is the firm’s responsibility to make sure vendors/suppliers are meeting specifications for the supplied materials, components, equipment and/or services.

For many years, industry has implemented procedures for selection, approval and qualification of suppliers and vendors.  However, in many cases these protocols were not being implemented effectively or formally documented.  Making these programs part of a risk-based quality systems approach that the FDA and other regulatory agencies have come to expect from industry is critical.  The course  will include a process for selection, audit, approval and qualification of vendors/suppliers based on the material/equipment/service being delivered.  These decisions must be documented and must be based on the impact (risk) to the final product.

Initially, the course will discuss the regulatory expectations and other industrial references/standards that will impact your system and will include the general requirements of a vendor/supplier (outsourcing) control program followed by specific requirements for different types of supplied materials/equipment/services.  During these sections, attendees will establish the documentation requirements, applicable audits and the impact of the quality agreement/contract details.

In conclusion, participants will learn the maintenance aspects of such a program including handling of non-conformances, additional audits and change control.  During the course, several interactive exercises will be included to provide opportunities for discussion and sharing of experiences.