PECB Exam ISO-9001-Lead-Auditor Topic 5 Question 16 Discussion

ABC is a worldwide fast-food organisation. One of the branches, in downtown Cape Town, decided to

implement an ISO 9001 quality management system and you are the audit team leader (with two other

auditors) that will carry out the certification audits, Stage 2.

ABC receive the orders by phone or internet; some of the employees deliver the ordered food to indicated

addresses. The normal menu includes 15 different types of hamburgers; however, in the last two weeks,

due to a shortage of a special type of meat, they can only prepare six of the 15 varieties.

During the internal meeting of the audit team, you ask one of the auditors to describe what she has

observed. She audited the reception of orders from customers (via phone or internet) and the

communication of the orders to the kitchen. She noticed that the menu offering food on the website is still

the normal one, with 15 different hamburgers, and during a 30-minute period, she observed many

customers reluctantly accepting something other than the hamburger they preferred.

You, as audit team leader, inform the Quality Manager of your concern about the major nonconformity,

since you consider this a serious breach of the basic principles of quality that lasted two weeks without

action being taken.

Right at the beginning of the Closing meeting, you discuss the nonconformity with the General Manager.

She got quite upset and said she was going to make a complaint to the certification body and left the

room; the Quality Manager was the only member of ABC left with the audit team. The Quality Manager said the General Manager would not come back to the meeting.

What would you do? Choose the best from the following options: