How GG-CERT Ddigitalised Audit Processes as a Certification Body
With around 80 audits per year, GG-CERT needed a digital alternative to Excel, email and folder structures. Audit planning, documentation, report generation and follow-up needed to come together in one end-to-end audit process.
Why auditors, certification bodies and QM teams
switch to kameon Audit
Structured processes, less effort and more control - kameon Audit standardizes both simple and complex multi-site audits and replaces Excel, media disruptions and manual rework. The focus remains on technical expertise.
No more Audit planning in Excel planning
Nonconformities no longer get lost
No more email and file chaos
- The company About GG-CERT: The certification body that has digitalised its audit processes
- The challenge Where media disruptions made the audit processes more difficult
- The solution How GG-CERT restructured its audit process
- Why GG-CERT chose kameon AUDIT Certification to digitalise its audit processes
- From manual process to digital audit process - without a big bang
- Results What changed in day-to-day work
About GG-CERT: The certification body that has digitalised its audit processes
GG-CERT GmbH is a DAkkS-accredited certification body based in Cologne and carries out around 80 audits a year.
The team works with internal employees and a network of external auditors and supports management systems in accordance with ISO 9001, 14001, 50001 and 45001 (ISO 27001 in preparation).
As audit volume increased and additional standards were added, the lack of structure became a real risk. Overview, follow-up and clean documentation could no longer be reliably ensured with the existing tools.
Audit planning, documentation and communication were handled using Excel, email and distributed folder structures — without a central overview, with high manual effort and increasing questions around data protection and access rights for external auditors.
Without kameon AUDIT
With kameon AUDIT
Without kameon AUDIT
With kameon AUDIT
Audit planning in Excel
Master data by e-mail
Documents in folder structures
Manual access rights
Reports in Word
Deviations in Excel
Digitalized audit planning
Central document management
Structured master data
Regulated access for auditors
Integrated reporting
Systematic deviation tracking
Automatic resubmission in the follow-up audit
With kameon AUDIT
With kameon AUDIT
Audit planning in Excel
Master data by email
Documents in folder structures
Manual access rights
Reports in Word
Nonconformities in Excel
Central audit planning
Structured master data
Central document management
Controlled access for external auditors
Integrated report generation
Systematic nonconformity tracking
Automatic follow-up in the next audit
Audit planning in Excel
Master data by e-mail
Documents in Teams folders
Access for external auditors
Reports in Word
Deviations in Excel tables
Central audit planning
Structured master data
Central document storage
Regulated auditor access
Integrated reporting
Systematic deviation tracking
Automatic resubmission in the follow-up audit
GG-CERT is a DAkkS-accredited certification body with a focus on management systems and works with internal and external auditors.
Location
Cologne, Germany
Team
8 employees, 12 external auditors
Standards
ISO 9001, 14001, 50001, 45001, CSC
ISO 27001 in planning
Products used
kameon AUDIT Certification
For certification bodies that need to manage multiple audits, external auditors and deviations across audit cycles, kameon AUDIT Certification is designed as audit management software for certification bodies.
Where media disruptions made the audit processes more difficult
As complexity increased, it became clear that the existing tools could no longer reliably map the audit process. Information was scattered, coordination was time-consuming, and central requirements such as follow-up, data protection and transparency for external auditors were difficult to control.
This became particularly clear when new standards were added and the market for qualified auditors became tighter. A largely manual way of working with Excel and email no longer felt either modern or attractive.
Four points were especially critical.
Lack of overview of audits and resources
Nonconformities were not tracked systematically
High manual effort in day-to-day operations
Increasing complexity and a tight auditor market
New standards and a strained auditor market made working with Excel, email and drive structures increasingly difficult.
"It was precisely at this point that it became clear that an isolated tool landscape was no longer sufficient and that an end-to-end process was required."
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
“At exactly this point, it became clear that an isolated tool landscape was no longer enough — what we needed was an end-to-end process.”
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
How GG-CERT restructured its audit process
With kameon AUDIT, the audit process was not only digitalised, but fundamentally restructured. Planning, audit execution and follow-up now run in one end-to-end system instead of separate tools.
Audits, client data, nonconformities and reports are managed in a shared data model. External auditors access the system through clearly defined permissions, while clients use a portal for secure document exchange.
Planning
Audits are organised centrally, resources are visible and the current status is traceable at any time, including time-critical cases and auditor capacity.
Audit execution
Auditors work on a consistent data basis with structured information and clear workflows. Standard wording is available as text modules, and reports can be created faster and more consistently.
Follow-up
Nonconformities are recorded directly in the system, responsibilities are assigned and issues are automatically picked up again in the next audit. The history remains traceable across audit cycles for clients, internal reviews and DAkkS accreditation assessments.
Why GG-CERT chose kameon AUDIT Certification to digitalise its audit process
The decision in favour of kameon was less the result of a long tool comparison and more a combination of product fit and pragmatic collaboration. Several providers had approached the certification body, but in direct comparison, other systems appeared significantly more rigid and less adaptable to GG-CERT’s specific workflows.
kameon was particularly convincing because of its willingness to address industry-specific requirements and because of a licence model that fits the size of the organisation. Instead of high fixed costs, kameon uses a pay-per-audit model: the certification body only pays for the audits actually processed through the system.
"The competition was much more expensive, we would have paid that if necessary. But the system was very rigid. With kameon, we had the feeling right from the start that they listened, understood our situation and were willing to work with us."
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
“The competition was significantly more expensive; we would have paid that if necessary. But the system was very rigid. With kameon, we had the feeling from the beginning: they listen, they understand our situation and they are willing to work with us.”
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
From manual process to digital audit process - without a big bang
For smaller certification bodies, traditional enterprise solutions with high one-off investments and long implementation projects are often difficult to justify. GG-CERT deliberately chose a different path: the start with kameon was gradual — with a preconfigured access setup in which client names, the logo and initial structures were already stored.
During a transition phase, particularly complex audit combinations were initially managed in parallel in the existing structures until the corresponding functions became available in kameon. This allowed the team to get started without a big-bang project and gain experience in live operation.
"We don't have a fixed contract, we buy what we need. This is ideal for us small certification bodies in particular. We didn't have to make a big bang for the digitalization of our audit processes, but were able to change over gradually."
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
“We do not have a rigid contract; we buy what we need. Especially for small certification bodies like us, that is ideal. We did not have to do a big bang, but were able to switch over step by step.”
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
What changed in day-to-day work
With the introduction of kameon, GG-CERT did not just improve one individual process. The entire day-to-day work of the audit business changed. Audits are now part of an end-to-end system with clear responsibilities, centralised data and traceable workflows.
Audit planning no longer takes place in Excel, but centrally in kameon. All audits, auditors and appointments are visible at a glance, including time-critical cases and capacity. This reduces manual list maintenance and creates a reliable basis for growth in audit volume.
Nonconformities are documented systematically in the system, responsibilities and due dates are assigned, and they are automatically displayed again in the follow-up audit. This ensures that corrective actions are tracked across multiple cycles — a clear advantage for internal reviews and when dealing with accreditation bodies.
For report generation, GG-CERT now uses text modules stored directly in kameon. This reduces writing effort for auditors and leads to more consistent, professional reports. At the same time, the client portal strengthens the certification body’s position on data protection: client data and documents are managed centrally and traceably instead of being exchanged by email and distributed folders.
"If an audit software is not comprehensible, does not keep up with deviations over the years and does not give me an overview, I can stay with Excel. kameon goes far beyond that"
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
“If audit software is not traceable, does not carry nonconformities forward over the years and does not give me an overview, I might as well stay with Excel. kameon goes far beyond that.”
Nadine Bukaddor
Deputy Head of Certification Body for Management Systems
Experience audit processes without system breaks in your own scenario
In an initial meeting, we review your audit processes, requirements and relevant use cases. We then prepare a demo tailored to your specific scenario and show how audit planning, execution, documentation and follow-up can be mapped in kameon AUDIT Certification.
The initial consultation and demo are free of charge and non-binding.