icix Expands Audit Manager Product Line to Provide Greater Transparency Into the Supply Chain and Reduce Risk

News about another E. coli outbreak, labor abuses and unsafe factory conditions permeate today’s headlines. Consumers and the companies who make and sell products have cause for concern; in a vastly expanded global supply chain, it is increasingly difficult to monitor product safety, compliance and corporate social responsibility programs. To address this critical issue, icix, a leading supply chain risk management company, today announced an expansion of its Audit Manager Suite, a comprehensive set of applications to help companies automate and streamline their audit programs to provide more insight and verification of trading partners’ practices and facilities.

“No company wants to be on the front page of the news for making consumers sick or facing an inquiry on child labor allegations. That’s any CEO’s worst nightmare, but many companies are having a tough time monitoring the extended supply chain and keeping up with the growing number of product and food safety audit requirements. Their data collection practices are simply not up to the task,” said Matt Smith, founder and chief strategy officer, icix. “Conducting, managing and measuring industry standard and proprietary audit information is critical to the success of any risk management program. With our expanded Audit Manager Suite, companies can more easily manage supply chain compliance and better protect consumers and their brand’s reputation.”

The icix Audit Manager Suite includes:

• icix Audit Conduct. Introduced today, this new application automates the process of conducting and managing proprietary audits across trading partners in the extended supply chain. icix Audit Conduct enables companies to create custom audit forms and scoring methods that can easily be updated to meet changing requirements. Audit responses are entered directly into the application along with supporting documents to centralize audit information and access. Corrective actions are captured and tracked in the application to ensure key activities and deadlines for compliance are completed. icix Audit Conduct automates certification processes and enables robust analytic and reporting capabilities to provide transparency into trading partner relationships. The application can be leveraged for any type of audit. Common examples of proprietary audits include: trading partner qualification, social welfare, C-TPAT and factory/facility audits.
• icix Audit Collect. The anchor product in the icix Audit Manager Suite, this popular icix application is being used by major retailers and manufacturers of food and non-food products to gather validated third-party audits and certification information on their trading partners. The application centralizes data access, providing greater visibility and insight in order to more effectively manage risk. The application provides an integrated and central way for companies to easily collect, authenticate and maintain information directly from third-party scheme owners and certification bodies, including: GFSI Certifications, GMP Certifications, Organic Certifications and Kosher Certifications.

About icix

Global brands trust icix to manage risk throughout their extended supply chain. The icix business network and risk management applications enable trading partners to connect and collaborate in order to verify and monitor business-critical information on products, trading partners and facilities. Its cloud-based SaaS platform brings unparalleled visibility and efficiency to the extended supply chain for regulatory compliance, product safety and corporate social responsibility. Over 20,000 businesses are active members of the icix network, including leading retailers, the top 100 food processors and over 50 testing and inspection companies, certification bodies and testing laboratories.

For more information about the company and its portfolio of products, visit icix.com.