was skipping around this thread reading some (not all) comments and thought I would add a summary of what I was thinking.......
1st.....who sets out/collects the papers?
Whoever is responsible for determining the scope of the audit, and has the time. In most of my companies its the "Audit coordinator" (lead auditor/mgt rep etc...) that either lists or even sometimes gets the applicable documents.
2nd .......opposition.
Get the loudest opposers/auditees on the audit team, even as a support person, but even better when fully trained by an Outside Source (its all in their heads, but it works). Best approach I have used was to have all element/process owners trained as auditors.........they automatically become better auditees, and in most cases they audit their own areas before you get there as part of GMP...and therefore adds their own opportunity for Improvement to the Quality System.....not to mention ownership. Preventive Action instead of Corrective,,,if you will.....
3rd....scheduling
Plan an audit sweep day each Quarter....set up for lunch, invite all auditors, element owners...have all documents available, working papers, CA forms etc......You can plan as teams over morning coffee........It all gets done at once, you can even assign a team to follow up on last round CA closures. A consultant can be used here to help/lead/support the teams if resources are an issue...have a closing meeting at the end of the day to distribute/discuss reports (use lunch for "inprocess general discussion") Everywhere I use this has awesome success with it........and the registrars, DoD, FDA auditors love it.