RizePoint, a technology leader in the food safety, quality management, compliance, and social responsibility space, understands that technology is changing the quality auditing landscape, and is providing innovative tech solutions to help brands significantly boost safety, quality, accuracy, transparency, and compliance.
“Quality audits are an essential part of any business, but they can be time-consuming and costly. Traditional audit processes often involve paper-based forms and manual data entry, which can lead to errors and delays. But with the advent of Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions, as well as other cutting-edge technologies, the future of quality audits is looking much brighter,” said Paul Damaren, Executive Vice President, Business Development at RizePoint.
“Auditors are leveraging exciting technologies, including SaaS, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), and the cloud, to significantly improve the auditing process,” Damaren continued. “Auditors now must be well-versed in the most groundbreaking technologies that are driving and enhancing the auditing process. Manual processes no longer work – now it’s time to fully embrace the future of audits.”
According to Damaren, here are five important ways that technology is changing the auditing landscape:
1. SaaS is a Game-Changer
SaaS-based quality audit software is revolutionizing the way organizations conduct audits. It streamlines the process, reduces errors, and provides real-time visibility into the auditing process, enabling data-driven decisions and efficient collaboration between teams. Its flexibility and cloud-based accessibility also improve communication with suppliers and keep organizations ahead of the competition.
SaaS-based quality audit software streamlines the entire process, from data collection to reporting. It eliminates the need for manual data entry and provides real-time visibility into the audit process, enabling organizations to make data-driven decisions. SaaS solutions also offer a level of flexibility that traditional audit methods cannot match. With cloud-based software, organizations can access their quality data from anywhere, at any time.
2. Brands and auditors must look for expanded risks using predictive analytics
Auditors must continue look for safety and quality risks, of course, but now they should also look for “non-traditional” risks, including cybersecurity vulnerabilities, the impact of climate change, etc. Predictive analytics is becoming imperative to the auditing process, serving as a tech-driven “crystal ball” for predicting the future. Predictive analytics allow auditors to determine possible (and probable) outcomes, allowing organizations to identify and address potential threats before they even happen. Moving forward, this tech advancement will help auditors and companies predict (and prevent) an expanded list of possible risks. Auditors should be familiar with predictive analytics so they can leverage this innovative technology in their future audits.
3. The cloud will elevate audits and collaboration
The cloud has improved the way we work in numerous ways, including auditing. Cloud-based collaboration means that auditors and brands all have access to the same data for a single source of truth across an enterprise. As a result, global teams can work together in real-time, making it faster, easier, and more accurate to organize, manage, and analyze data. The cloud will boost efficiencies, reducing the time, money, and hassle spent in the auditing process. In addition, the cloud provides advanced security features, with data encryption, role-based access levels and other safeguards, to protect even the most sensitive data. The cloud has become a necessity in auditing, and companies that don’t embrace it will get left behind.
4. Data visualization is essential to identify trends and risks
Data visualization has become essential, allowing auditors to easily identify trends and risks. With tech tools, auditors can analyze broad data sets across an entire organization, which is challenging (or impossible) to achieve with manual methods. As an additional benefit, data visualizations can better communicate auditor findings to company leadership. Once leaders see and understand the data, they can use these insights to make more informed business decisions, address and resolve risks, correct noncompliance issues, adjust processes, boost key metrics, and drive positive change. In the future, data visualizations will evolve from “nice to have” to an absolute necessity in the auditing process.
5. Technology will continue to improve and evolve the way we audit
Not too long ago, it was common to conduct audits with paper checklists. Unfortunately, it’s impossible to get a holistic view of a brand’s data, especially across large, multi-location organizations, this way. It’s also challenging to analyze complex data in real-time when it’s stored in file cabinets or on Excel spreadsheets. Tech solutions, which have transformed the auditing process, will continue to evolve and improve the way we audit. Leveraging technology – including smart analytics, AI, blockchain, and cloud computing – provides data-driven insights to keep organizations safer, minimize risks, boost compliance, and make more informed decisions to maximize business successes. Savvy auditors (and brands) will utilize predictive analytics, AI, and other tech tools, to elevate audits and keep organizations (and their customers) safer and more compliant.
“There’s no doubt that technology is transforming audits, with cutting-edge tech solutions giving auditors more insights than ever before,” Damaren explained. “RizePoint is proud to provide innovative, user-friendly, affordable tech solutions to exponentially improve the way brands of all sizes audit.”
