Frequently Asked Questions

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Cornerstone Systems offers a range of services including:

• Audit support (both internal & 3rd party)
• Writing new and updated procedures
• Management review meetings
• Business analysis, KPIs & other process measures
• Training & mentoring
• Special projects including facility changes, equipment validations.
• Sounding board for strategic planning, project management, and organizational development.

Basically, think of us as if you had an extra full-time experienced QA Manager on staff. If it's a task you'd ask their help with, ask us! Also check out our Services menu on this website for more information.

We have experience working with clients in a variety of industries including aviation & aerospace, general manufacturing, the government SBIR program, and medical device. We support machine shops, special processors, product development companies, material distributors, aviation maintenance firms (repair stations), and metal scrap yards.

We have direct experience guiding clients through the standards below. If the standard you need to meet isn't listed here, reach out to us to see if we can help you with it.

•  AS9100 Aerospace Manufacturing
• AS9110 Aerospace Maintenance
• ISO9001 Quality Management Systems
• ISO13485 Medical Device
• AS13100 Aero Engine Design & Production
• AS6174 Counterfeit Materials
• AS9102 First Article Inspection
• FAA Repair Stations (14 CFR Part 145)
• PMA Manufacturing (14 CFR Part 21K)
• EASA Part 145 Repair Stations
• Nadcap Special Processing & Auditing (Composites)

We can and do help clients navigate this situation. We call it the Quality Bridge program. We can jump in and help keep your quality programs on track while the search for a full-time replacement happens. We will even help write your job posting, review resumes, and interview your candidates to make sure you get the best possible fit for your company.

We regularly support clients during their 3rd party audits. It's important that you can demonstrate to your registrar that you know your own systems and don't have to rely on a consultant to get through an audit, so we are careful to make sure our support of you is not interfering in the registrar's audit process. Some registrar auditors may voice a concern by having us present, but once they understand that we don't intend to interfere with the job they are there to do, the auditor is typically supportive of our presence. In fact, many auditors will interpret your partnership with us as evidence of your commitment to your quality program.

Much of our new business actually comes from recommendations of the registrar auditors. Once they see that our involvement in your company brings your compliance to another level, they quickly become fans and want to see those same positive changes in the other companies they visit.

We keep it simple. Using our QuickBooks software, we track our support hours and send you an invoice with payment terms, (usually Net 30). Our invoice will include descriptions of the services we have provided.

Absolutely. It is not a requirement that your internal auditor has to be a direct employee. (except for that pesky European EASA145) What is required is that your auditors are qualified, objective, and impartial. By using Cornerstone for your audits you are bringing in people that are also certified as lead auditors.

You've already begun just by being here. We can create a quality management system that is tailored to your company. We don't use templates. Templates might get you through an initial audit, but they will not fit your company, and it won't be long before having a system made from templates will begin to cause problems. We will take the time to sit with your people and document what they are already doing so that your system reflects that. Our goal is to take what they are already doing and close any gaps between your current practice and the standard. 

We can do both. A lot of project work can get done from our office. It's more efficient and saves you money. Having shared file folders or a secure VPN can really help make that happen. And of course, there times when you need us in your facility working face to face with your people.

We will be flexible and strike a balance that fits your needs.

Call us immediately with all the details you can provide. Let us know what the auditor saw, and what clause of the standard they believe it violates. This situation can go a few different ways:

• Auditors are human too and can make mistakes. If we believe they are misinterpreting the standard we will educate you on how to respond to them.
• The auditor may be basing the finding off of incomplete information and they just need to see additional evidence to realize that there isn't a nonconformance. We can help you with what else to present to the auditor to show that you are in compliance. If we are already familiar with your system this is even easier.
• The auditor may be correct. If we believe the finding is legitimate, we will tell you that and help you understand why. We can then also help you with investigating a root cause and planning the corrective action. 

Ultimately it does you or your company no good to get into a heated argument over an audit finding.  If the auditor isn't seeing things your way and it looks like they are wrong, there is an appeal process which we can help you use. We have successfully appealed audit findings in the past. That's the best way to handle the impasse if we can't get it settled during the audit.

See our Audit page for more information on how we can help support your 3rd party audits.

You may have heard the Latin phrase "caveat emptor" which means "let the buyer beware". All of our experience says unequivocally NO that will definitely not save you money or time. That will actually cost you a lot of both in the long run. You'll end up with a system that doesn't fit your company culture, your employees won't have any sense of ownership in it, and once the system is really put to the test, you'll learn that you made a big mistake because your system will just make the problems more convoluted. 

Often, the companies that are selling templates are the same consultants that will guarantee you certification in __ # of days. It's a promise they are making to try and get you on the hook, but if they don't even know who you are or what your goals are, it's a blind promise. Check out this article I posted on LinkedIn called 3 Signs of a Bad Quality Management Consultant that is related to this problem.

In the Bible, Jesus is identified as the Cornerstone.

We desire for our whole lives, including this business, to point to Christ and to give Him the glory.

Isaiah 28:16

therefore thus says the Lord God,
“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion,
a stone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’