Process Maps - Necessary!!
If you're not using Process Maps, you're missing the boat. The easiest way to audit and implement a Management Operating System based on ISO/TS 16949 is to:
1) Identify your key processes
2) Create a Key Processes Map that represents the sequence and interaction of these processes - Most companies have about 12 key processes. (It's a invaluable representation which gives all employees a shared vision of the management operating system and an understanding of how to navigate through it). Most people in the company don't "share" a vision. They have individual, limited perceptions of the system.
3) Map out your key processes using flow charts. You have to audit by the process approach, and it's 100% easier when you have the process mapped out in a flow chart. I've yet to see a narrative-style procedure which captures all the answers to decisions/choices that have to be made in the course of implementing a process.
I have attached a sample (partial) flow chart for Internal Auditing. It identifies the person responsible for the activity (Blue Text) and associated Procedures, Work Instructions or Forms are in Red Text. The inputs are on the left and the outputs on the right. The reference standards are in the colored boxes (this aspect is not mandatory, but very helpful for internal auditors). This was created for a facility who's system complied with ISO/TS 16949 (yellow rectangles), ISO 14001(Green) and Customer-specifics (Red). The associated metrics that monitor if this process is effective and efficient are managed through a Metrics database which I have developed.
Process Maps do require some skill and discipline, and a clear understanding of the process at hand. Once completed, people are more inclined to read them, because they're like a picture, and the sequence of activities is clear. You can go backwards and forwards with relative ease.
I have created 12 "Maps" of the Key processes of most organizations. If you are interested in knowing more about them let me know. These maps will literally save you hundreds of hours of work. My copyrighted Key Processes Map can be adapted to any organization, and I have an animated version which clearly demonstrates how the system is built and interacts and is a dynamic & effective training tool.
The processes I have built have been implemented and audited extensively, and praised as "benchmark" work.
It's true, you can get certified with a lot less and with the old "narrative versions" of procedures, but I'd rather be managing a system that I can be proud of and that people understand and of which they are willing to take ownership. It helps if you have a Management Team that is proactive. If your company's operating system still resides in the Quality Department, your company is in the Middle Ages of Business/ManagementOperating Systems. ISO/TS 16949 is not about Quality alone and needs to belong to Management.
I hope this provides some insight and guidance to those of you just starting out.
Good Luck,
Beamer