Gladhill Associates International

Lead Auditor Courses

Welcome to the Gladhill Associates International on-line and virtual classroom ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015and ISO 45001:2018 lead auditor courses. Our courses are Exemplar Global certified.

Due to the latest pandemic news the following is what Exemplar Global sent to their training providers:

“Virtual Training Is Acceptable as an Alternative to Classroom Training"

“Given the concern for public health in light of the global COVID-19 pandemic, it is understandable that many training organizations are canceling their public training courses. Many of these training organizations are replacing those public courses with virtual (online) training courses.

Exemplar Global has been asked if those virtual courses are acceptable under the RTP and TPECS training certification schemes. The answer is yes! Under the RTP and TPECS programs, training providers are free to design and deliver their courses as they see fit, so long as they continue to meet the requirements of the program their courses are certified to”.

There is no need to travel when you take a virtual or on-line course

Gladhill Associates International has the courses and content available in an on-line and virtual, easy-to-access format that can help you meet your career goals from the comfort of your own home or office.

You don't have to wait for classrooms to open back up either; with over 50 courses that cover topics across the quality domain, Gladhill Associates International’s virtual training helps you start or continue your improvement journey.

Lead Auditor Courses

Prepare yourself for real-life ISO 9001:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015 auditing situations and learn how to manage and complete the audit process.

Understand the requirements of ISO 9001:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015 and be able to conduct a successful audit. The course includes case studies, quizzes and scenarios to prepare you for real-life auditing situations. You’ll learn to manage the audit process and complete reporting in a collaborative and engaging environment.

This virtual, instructor-led course is comprised of three successive components delivered in convenient, 3 or 4 six to eight-hour days

Day 1 - Competency Unit-QM

Day 2 – Competency Unit-AU

Day 3 – Competency Unit TL

Many of Gladhill Associates International’s virtual and on-line courses provide electronic access to course materials for 30 to 90 days depending on the course. For virtual lead auditor courses the participant will be e-mailed the course materials, case studies, quizzes, scenarios as well as copies of the applicable standards.

Note: Refunds cannot be issued if course materials have been sent and/or accessed. Chrome and Edge browsers are recommended – Internet Explorer is not supported.

Virtual Format

An Internet-based, instructor led course utilizing web and teleconferencing technologies to allow participants to interact without traveling. Virtual and on-line courses offer interaction with instructor and participants using Internet capabilities.

Participants have access to interaction both with the instructor and other participants in an Internet-based learning environment (white board, Q&A tools, application sharing, and breakout rooms). Virtual and on-line courses are classroom-like experiences offered using the latest Internet tools.

Learning Objectives:

Describe the ISO 9001, AS 9100 and ISO 14001 Quality Management System (QMS)/Environmental Management System (EMS) - Requirements standard and development process;
Identify ISO 9000:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015 QMS terms;
Describe the intent and requirements of ISO 9000:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015;
Determine the evidence needed to demonstrate conformity to ISO 9000:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015;
Apply the process approach and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) methodology;
Evaluate documented information required by ISO 9000:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015 and the interrelationships between the quality/environmental processes, quality/environmental planning, policy, and objectives;
Apply the principles, processes, and methods of auditing;
Demonstrate the activities involved in preparing for an audit;
Determine an effective audit in the context of the auditee’s organizational situation;
Apply effective audit skills and practice personal behaviors necessary for an effective and efficient conduct of a management system audit;
Establish and plan the activities of an audit team;
Manage the audit process;
Prepare the audit report and perform an audit follow-up;

Lead Auditor Course Outline

Introduction to Quality, Environmental or Safety Management Systems

Analysis of ISO 9000:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015 (Introduction and Clauses 4-10)

Organizational Impact on Quality/Environmental Management System Auditing Quality, Environmental or Safety Management Systems

Management System Audits

Auditor Competence

Audit Program

Audit Techniques

Audit Cycle

Team Leader Roles and Responsibilities

Prepare for an Audit

Conduct an Audit

Prepare an Audit Report

Audit Completion and Follow-Up

Who Should Attend:

Those responsible for planning and scheduling an internal audit program for ISO 9001:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015.

Those who wish to become an Exemplar Global certified/registered auditor.

Those who must perform audits to ISO 9000:2015, AS 9100D and ISO 14001:2015. Manufacturing personnel, suppliers, managers, or anyone interested in conducting first-party, second-party, or third-party audits.

Internal Audit Courses

Objectives

Learn to design and install an internal audit program that will meet the requirements of the applicable standard.

Attendees

The courses are designed for personnel responsible for developing and conducting an internal audit program.

General Content

The courses assist the attendees with structured exercises to analyze the requirements in detail of the standard relating to the internal audit program.

Attendees learn how to design an internal audit program (program scope and schedule, auditor selection and training, audit resource allocation, audit documentation and records, etc.).

These interactive courses assist participants, using structured exercises, to analyze in detail the requirements of the standard relating to the internal audit program.

Participants learn how to design an internal audit program that includes program scope and schedule, auditor selection and training, audit resource allocation, internal audit documentation and records, etc. Participants take part in simulated internal audit exercises to:

Review the requirements of the standard.
Participate in simulated exercises where an auditor conducts an audit interview and examines related documents, work instructions and records.
Record their findings and prepare an audit report.

Courses:

AS 9100D Internal Audit Course

AS 9110C Internal Audit Course

AS 9120B Internal Auditing

IATF 16949:2016 Internal Auditing

ISO 13485:2016 Internal Audit Course

ISO 14001:2015 Internal Audit Course

ISO 17025:2017 Internal Audit Course

ISO 22000 Food Safety Internal Auditor Course

ISO 22000:2018 Internal Auditor Training

ISO 27001:2013 Internal Audit

ISO 45001:2018 Internal Audit Course

ISO 45003:2021 Internal Audit Course

ISO 9001:2015 Internal Audit Course

ISO 9001-ISO 14001-ISO 45001 Integrated Internal Audit Course

Free Courses

Introduction to CMMC

This course provides a high-level overview of the new CMMC framework and its key components.

It also answers the pressing question of what your company needs to do to comply with CMMC and, likewise, work with the DoD.

Next, fundamental cybersecurity principles and how they connect with CMMC are explained.

Introduction to AIMM

The Aerospace Improvement Maturity Model (AIMM) is provided by the IAQG to help organizations move beyond compliance to the 9100 standard and improve the maturity of their Quality Management System (QMS).

Using AIMM, an organization can evaluate its current level of maturity and set clear targets for improvement. AIMM can be successfully used by certified or non-certified organizations, either for the entire scope of a 9100 compliant QMS or specific areas of interest.

Go to "Courses" to register to these courses

Introduction to Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)

About Measurement Systems Analysis (MSA)

Learn more about:

What is measurement systems analysis (MSA)
What is a measurement system?
What is measurement system variation?

Transition Courses

ISO 9001:2015 Transition Course - ISO 14001:2015 Transition Course - ISO 19011:2015 Transition Course - AS 9100D Transition Course - AS 45001 Transition Course

Welcome to the Gladhill Associates International virtual classroom and on-line transition courses.

Transition Courses

The standards require process audits. These courses are designed for practicing auditors as well as organizations that want training on auditing to the new standards.

Learn how to meet these new requirements while gaining valuable skills. The changes from the previous standard to the new standard are considered significant. The principles upon which the revisions are based will require changes in audit practice among auditors.

Auditors will need to understand the significance and impact of the revisions.

Key Session Topics

Transitioning in the principles and practices of auditing the new requirements.

Review of process auditing techniques.

Auditing against the new requirements.

Differences between the previous version of the requirements.

Role and purpose of a QMS/EMS/SMS.

Seven quality management principles.

Revisions to the standards.

Requirements of the applicable standard.

Differences between the requirements.

Implications of revisions on auditing techniques.

These courses can also be an introduction to the new applicable standard

News - Stories - Ideas

This article appeared in Quality Digest on 12/23/2024

By: William A. Levinson

Combining value and balance to solve everything

A Single Quality Principle

The ongoing relevance of the quality profession requires evolution and adaptation to meet the needs of the 21st century. Remember, the quality profession originated with the need for inspection to prevent poor quality from reaching customers; this was before it evolved to include metrology, inspection by sampling, statistical process control, and other familiar quality management techniques. These are all necessary, but insufficient to meet the needs of modern industry.

This article’s message is intended to be to quality what the Theory of Everything is to physics (i.e., that one theory could explain every aspect of physics). We want a single and easily understood principle that can guide a supply chain’s every action, and also show how to stop economic inflation. This principle comprises value and balance, and all they imply.

If this goal sounds audacious, remember Sherlock Holmes’ words: “You see, but you do not observe.” There are numerous examples of very simple solutions with breakthrough potential that have been hidden in plain view, often in front of millions of people, for hundreds of years.

For instance, motion-efficient drills for loading and firing matchlock and flintlock muskets, and then breech-loading rifles, have been around for about 500 years, and the instructions resemble modern job breakdown sheets. Tens of millions of men served in armies that used them between 1500 and 1900, and innumerable drill sergeants were intimately familiar with them. When soldiers returned to civilian occupations, though, none appears to have brought with them what they learned in an army. Only in 1911 did Frank Gilbreth’s Motion Study contend that similar methods could be used to rid civilian enterprises of wasted motion.

And, of course, Henry Ford’s simple phrases and sentences held incalculable power to transform the entire world for the better.

Value and balance

The entire principle can be summarized with two words: value and balance. World-class economic performance and national affluence come from a society’s ability to generate value, and from nowhere else. Speculation in cryptocurrency may, for example, move money around and generate taxable income, but it produces no actual value or utility. Generating value is probably maximized (and it would be worthwhile to come up with an economic simulation or proof to this effect) when remuneration balances production perfectly. Imbalance results in suboptimization, in which some parties to the transaction receive too little and others too much—but all suffer in the long run.

The Society of American Value Engineers (SAVE International) defines value as “function performance divided by resources.” That is, what is the ratio of the utility of the product or service to the resources necessary to produce it? If the ratio is less than one, the missing fraction is waste, of which poor quality is but one of many sources. This is why definitions of quality such as Juran’s “fitness for use,” Deming’s “meeting or exceeding customer expectations,” and Crosby’s “conformance to requirements” are, while accurate, far from adequate to encompass what we must actually achieve.

A delivered item may be fit for use, exceed customer expectations, and conform to requirements, and still cost five or 10 times what it would cost in the absence of waste.

Balance, which relates directly to inflation, means that remuneration for a product or service must be consistent with its utility; ideally, no more and no less. If a vendor or laborer receives more money than their product or service is actually worth, the surplus money competes for genuine utility and drives up its price. If the supplier of materials or labor receives less money than its output is worth, it can’t buy as much output as it ideally should.

Let’s start with value.

The utility-to-resource ratio

The expenditure of any resource that doesn’t create utility is waste. This includes far more than the Toyota Production System’s Seven Wastes, of which poor quality is but one. Henry Ford defined resources as time, material, and energy; all seven TPS wastes can be quantified in these terms. It’s convenient for analytical purposes to expand these to four metrics.

1. Time of people
2. Time of things
3. Material
4. Energy

Inventory or work-in-process is, for example, proportional to cycle time and therefore a waste of time and things. The producer must meanwhile expend time, material, and/or energy to replace or rework nonconforming items. Eliyahu Goldratt’s Theory of Constraints (North River Press, 1999) adds that, if this happens in or after the capacity-constraining resource, the lost production can’t be made good because time lost at the constraint is lost forever.

Poorly designed jobs waste the time of workers. I recently saw some roofers carry heavy shingles up a ladder, as opposed to using conveyors that are made especially for this purpose. Shingles gain utility when they are nailed to the roof, but they add only costs when people carry them. The roof can be fit for use, meet or exceed customer expectations, and meet specifications, but it still costs more than it should while the workers get paid less than they should.

Jobs can also waste stock and consumables, which is a strong argument for using ISO 14001:2015 to address everything that is thrown away, as opposed to just environmental aspects. ISO 50001:2018 addresses wastes of energy.

Ford, in “My Life and Work” (published most recently by CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2013) adds that transportation is waste. “Why a steer raised in Texas should be brought to Chicago and then served in Boston is a question that cannot be answered as long as all the steers the city needs could be raised near Boston.” Shipment of the steer to Chicago, and then of the meat to Boston, expends resources but does nothing to enhance the utility of the steak. It was through simple statements of this nature that Ford taught entire concepts, often in less than a minute, to those willing to observe and learn.

In his book, Ford described elaborate corporate office buildings that were to somehow advertise the entity’s success and power (the emphasis is mine): “We will not put into our establishment anything that is useless. We will not put up elaborate buildings as monuments to our success. The interest on the investment and the cost of their upkeep only serve to add uselessly to the cost of what is produced—so these monuments of success are apt to end as tombs. A great administration building may be necessary. In me, it arouses a suspicion that perhaps there is too much administration.”

“We will not put up elaborate buildings as monuments to our success.”
—Henry Ford

Nonvalue-adding middlemen also consume resources but add no value. Ford wrote (again, emphasis is mine): “Capitalists who become such through trading in money are a temporarily necessary evil. They may not be evil at all if their money goes to production. If their money goes to complicating distribution—to raising barriers between the producer and the consumer—then they are evil capitalists and they will pass away when money is better adjusted to work....” Similar things can be said about car dealers who add costs, but no value, to every transaction.

This is not to say that all intermediaries add costs but no utility. Grocery stores, for example, reduce overall costs by eliminating the need for customers to spend hours going from farm to farm to get what they need, or farmers to bring their goods to market.

Unlike grocery stores, which rely on very rapid turnover on low-markup items to earn a profit, home improvement stores maintain huge stocks of items that might move much more slowly. This means customers must help cover inventory carrying costs, but the store adds genuine value by making immediately available items that might be needed for a project or a repair.

Ford would therefore probably define grocery, home improvement, and auto parts stores as necessary and valuable producers. The other extreme is, however, multilevel marketing (MLM), in which middlemen add costs but no value whatsoever. The Federal Trade Commission warns, “Most people who join legitimate MLMs make little or no money. Some of them lose money.” When one has a supply chain with a lot of middlemen, it starts to resemble MLM in terms of wasted money, even if it isn’t literally MLM.

These are but a handful of possible examples of how a supply chain may expend resources without producing any value. But Ford’s simple examples teach us pretty much everything we need to know. “If it consumes resources but does not add utility, it is waste.”

Balance

The other principle is that remuneration and value must balance. In Ford Ideals (most recently, Literary Licensing, 2014), Ford wrote of balance, “When the man gives more than he receives, or receives more than he gives—it is not long before serious dislocation will be manifest. Extend that condition throughout the country, and you have a complete upset of business.”

In Ford Ideals, he used potatoes to underscore the need for value to balance remuneration. “The demand of the disorderly element is practically that everybody be requested to raise fewer potatoes, and yet that everybody be given more potatoes.... If everybody does less work and everybody gets more of the product of work, how long can it last?”

It’s impossible for everybody to get more utility than an economy produces. But it’s possible for people and organizations to be paid for utilities they don’t produce. When this happened in Weimar Germany and Zimbabwe, they ended up with pieces of paper with numbers most conveniently expressed in scientific notation, but best suited for wallpaper, kindling, and personal hygiene purposes.

Suppose, for example, a closed system produces only potatoes. But they are magic potatoes that can turn into anything, like clothing, furniture, transportation, or medical care of equal utility. The workforce can produce 25 potatoes on its own, but with the aid of the investors’ plant and equipment, it can produce 100 potatoes. This contribution entitles the investors to a profit. The current price of potatoes is $1 each; the workforce gets $40 and can therefore afford 40 rather than 25 potatoes. If the workforce demands more pay but produces no more output, the price of the potatoes will by necessity go up, and real income will not increase; money that’s not backed up by utility is wastepaper.

On the other hand, suppose the investors decide to pay the workers as little as possible and reduce their pay to $25. The price of potatoes must go down, or else some of the output will remain unsold. Neither condition benefits the investors in the long run.

Ford and his associates made it clear that workers must be able to afford to buy the products of their labor; otherwise, there will be a much smaller market for the products.

Prior to the development of the moving assembly line, automobiles were so expensive that only the rich could afford them. That meant automakers couldn’t hire many people or make much money. The per-car profit may have been high, but the sales volume was very low. Ford’s methods reduced car prices enormously, to the point where the people who made them could buy them. Ford made more money, his workers received higher wages, and far more utility was produced for our society.

Instead of arguing over whose slice should be larger or smaller, the question is what allocation will maximize the size of the pie so all can have more.

There is probably an economic model that will maximize production of utility with a fair allocation of remuneration to labor and capital in proportion to each’s contribution to output, as well as price reductions to ensure demand for the increased output in question. Imagine a pie with three slices: one for customers, one for labor, and one for investors. Instead of arguing over whose slice should be larger or smaller, the question is what allocation will maximize the size of the pie so all can have more. Frederick Winslow Taylor’s Principles of Scientific Management (Dover Publications, 1997) cited models of this nature more than a century ago (emphasis is mine):

“We must assume, then, that the larger part of the gain which has come from his great increase in output will in the end go to the people in the form of cheaper pig-iron. And before deciding upon how the balance is to be divided between the workmen and the employer, as to what is just and fair compensation for the man who does the piling and what should be left for the company as profit, we must look at the matter from all sides.

“... The writer is one of those who believes that more and more will the third party (the whole people), as it becomes acquainted with the true facts, insist that justice shall be done to all three parties [customers, workers, and investors]. It will demand the largest efficiency from both employers and employees. It will no longer tolerate the type of employer who has his eye on dividends alone, who refuses to do his full share of the work and who merely cracks his whip over the heads of his workmen and attempts to drive them into harder work for low pay. No more will it tolerate tyranny on the part of labor which demands one increase after another in pay and shorter hours while at the same time it becomes less instead of more efficient.”

Ford, in Today and Tomorrow (most recently, Productivity Press, 1988), refers directly to balance:

“Buyer and seller must both be wealthier in some way as a result of a transaction, or else the balance is broken. Pile up these breaks long enough, and you upset the world.”

If remuneration does not balance production, at least in the long run and on a macroeconomic scale, our society will have less real wealth than it ought to have.

It’s the function of the quality profession to provide the value by maximizing the ratio of utility produced to resources consumed. It’s the function of business leaders and informed consumers to require at least a semblance of balance in every transaction. This will counteract inflation, and also promote fair compensation to all stakeholders or relevant interested parties.

Exemplar Global Recognized Training Provider Program (RTP)

Gladhill Associates International is now part of the Exemplar Global Recognized Training Provider (RTP) Program.

Many of our Internal Audit courses are certified as well as our TPECS Lead Auditor courses.

Extend your Learning

Graduate Certification

To help you get started and realize the full benefits that come with being a Gladhill Associates International and Exemplar Global Recognized Training Provider (RTP) student, we’ve compiled this guide for you.

Benefits for Students:

12 months of ongoing professional development and support through direct access to a series of tailored learning content Access to Exemplar LINK, a dedicated platform to help professionals build their career pathway and identify and capitalize on opportunities.

Access to an exclusive LinkedIn community to interact with other graduates and industry professionals to promote networking opportunities and skill sharing.

An Exemplar Global Graduate certificate in addition to the Gladhill Associates International certificate.

The Bigger Picture

Gladhill Associates International and Exemplar Global are passionate about supporting the auditing profession and the industry as a whole to grow and deliver strong outcomes for the community. The Recognized Training Provider (RTP) program is one of our efforts to achieve this goal.

Not only does the program foster and promote the best training providers around the world, but it supports those interested in the auditing profession, our students, to become the best professionals they can be. Therefore, improving the entire community as a whole.

Why should I choose a training provider that has been certified by Exemplar Global?

By choosing an Exemplar Global certified training provider you can be assured that you are attending a course of a higher standing that has been recognized by a third party.

Additionally, by taking a course from an Exemplar Global certified training provider, you can benefit from enhanced personal development and career pathway opportunities.

These include a self-coaching assessment, and access to a library of educational materials to help you to further your professional development.

How will completing an Gladhill Associates International RTP course enhance my career?

Completing a Gladhill Associates International RTP certified course demonstrates that you’ve completed a course that is relevant to the assurance industry and can assist you to advance along this career path.

You will also receive access to Exemplar Global’s library of continuing professional development, in addition to regular communications and resources to enhance your education. It will also allow you to take the next step and obtain Auditor Certification with Exemplar Global in the future.

Will I have access to the Exemplar Global community and networking opportunities through my certification?

You will receive access to Exemplar Global’s dedicated LinkedIn group which will allow you to access exclusive resources plus network with other course graduates and industry professionals. This is particularly valuable if you are interested to pursue a career in auditing or want to apply for Exemplar Global personnel certification in the future.

RTP Courses:

ISO 9001:2015 Internal Audit Course	ISO 14001:2015 Internal Audit Course
ISO 45001:2018 Internal Audit Course	ISO/IEC 17025:2017 Internal Audit Course
ISO 22000:2018 Internal Audit Course	ISO 13485:2016 Internal Audit Course
ISO 27001:2013 Internal Audit Course	ISO 9001 with Emphasis 0n IATF 16949:2016 Internal Audit Course

New Courses

New courses, Coming Attractions, Free Courses

We now have the ISO 45001:2018 Lead Auditor Course

Introduction to Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)

Introduction to SWOT - Strengths. Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (Free)

ISO 45003:2021 Internal Audit Course

Introduction to AIMM - Aerospace Independent Maturity Model - Free

AIMM User Guide - Free

Many Other On-Line and/or Virtual Courses

Process Mapping - Human Factors - Corrective/Preventive Actions - ISO 5001 - Risk Management - Templates - ISO 14001 Gap Analysis/Internal Audit Checklist (NEW) - ISO 9001: 2015 Gap Analysis/Internal Audit Checklist (NEW) - AS 9100 Gap Analysis/Internal Audit Checklist (NEW) - Introduction Courses, Six Sigma, Process Auditing and much more...

Our ISO/IEC 27001:2018 Internal Audit Course has been revised to ISO/IEC 27001:2022

Please click on “Courses” on our home page to view a complete list of our on-line courses.

Consulting - Auditing

Auditing and Consulting Available.

Consulting

Take advantage of our on-site advice and instruction for organizations developing their own quality systems.

For organizations with limited staff or time constraints, we complete the documentation, training, auditing and registrar selection in turn-key fashion.

We also provide on-line internet, interactive consulting at a reasonable price.

E-mail, call or fax us at any of our offices for a no obligation proposal.

Auditing

Gap Analysis

We provide experienced auditors to identify what improvement to your system will be required and recommendations for corrective actions.

Readiness Assessment

We conduct readiness assessment audits to provide companies with a measure of their readiness for the formal on-site assessment by the registrar. We also work with companies to correct nonconformances identified by the registrar during the assessment.

Internal Audits

Gladhill Associates International will do your internal audits. If you're having problems such as some listed below, contact us for details:

Not enough internal resources.

Not finding opportunities for improvement.

Want an outside, independent opinion on where you can improve.

Don't want to wait until you have time

Outsourcing your internal audit may be more cost effective than doing it yourself.