MY thoughts on “process-based” auditing
There has been a lot of talk about process approached auditing and to be honest I have searched up and down and still really have not found any defined answers.
So I will go the reverse, I will give you my thoughts on it and you can let me know if I am totally wrong or at least maybe heading in the right direction (this is one of the major’s I have to address right off the bat).
So I am thinking pretty much all along (with the 1994 standard) that we actually have been auditing process even to the old element based standard. After all, if I audited a the assembly area for example, I was not just going through the list of elements and just happened to find myself in the assembly area. No, I would purposely set out to audit the assembly “process” and see if that process itself was conforming to the elements that effected it. So was I not auditing the “process?”
I think the BIG difference is going to come in the way things are approached and the way things are documented.
So here is what I am thinking, everything is a process now, H.R., Quoting, Quality, Manufacturing, ect. because in fact all of these have an input and an output.
And even the individual machines and stations in the plant are processes within processes (manufacturing being the main process).
So to try and satisfy this I am going to do a few things
1. All the auditors need training to the new standard anyway, so during the training everything will be referred to as processes and no mention of elements in the training at all.
2. Audit schedules will solely be based on the processes that are being audited (like Purchasing, Quoting, Production) again no elements will be referenced either on the schedule or on the matrix.
3. All reports will list the process and the findings.
4. Employees that are being audited will be questioned more about their own process and how they fit into the entire manufacturing process, and if their process breaks down how does it affect the process as a whole. And also what could they be doing to improve their process for themselves and for processes down the line. And also is there something that could improve their process that happens earlier in the chain.
To me this seems like it might be all they are looking for.
Not a complete overhaul or drastic changes in the way audits are performed, but more of a way that they are approached and that the mindset of the company should be about the process and less about elements.
Could this be the simple tweak that will fix this?
It has been before that in this new standard that’s audits were not being affected, that they will be conducted in the same manner as before basically.
So I think maybe just changing the mindset and the focus could be the answer.
If not then I would really like to know (in more detail) what the answer is that they are looking for.
So am I all confused and totally going down the wrong road?
All comments are more than welcome!
G.
There has been a lot of talk about process approached auditing and to be honest I have searched up and down and still really have not found any defined answers.
So I will go the reverse, I will give you my thoughts on it and you can let me know if I am totally wrong or at least maybe heading in the right direction (this is one of the major’s I have to address right off the bat).
So I am thinking pretty much all along (with the 1994 standard) that we actually have been auditing process even to the old element based standard. After all, if I audited a the assembly area for example, I was not just going through the list of elements and just happened to find myself in the assembly area. No, I would purposely set out to audit the assembly “process” and see if that process itself was conforming to the elements that effected it. So was I not auditing the “process?”
I think the BIG difference is going to come in the way things are approached and the way things are documented.
So here is what I am thinking, everything is a process now, H.R., Quoting, Quality, Manufacturing, ect. because in fact all of these have an input and an output.
And even the individual machines and stations in the plant are processes within processes (manufacturing being the main process).
So to try and satisfy this I am going to do a few things
1. All the auditors need training to the new standard anyway, so during the training everything will be referred to as processes and no mention of elements in the training at all.
2. Audit schedules will solely be based on the processes that are being audited (like Purchasing, Quoting, Production) again no elements will be referenced either on the schedule or on the matrix.
3. All reports will list the process and the findings.
4. Employees that are being audited will be questioned more about their own process and how they fit into the entire manufacturing process, and if their process breaks down how does it affect the process as a whole. And also what could they be doing to improve their process for themselves and for processes down the line. And also is there something that could improve their process that happens earlier in the chain.
To me this seems like it might be all they are looking for.
Not a complete overhaul or drastic changes in the way audits are performed, but more of a way that they are approached and that the mindset of the company should be about the process and less about elements.
Could this be the simple tweak that will fix this?
It has been before that in this new standard that’s audits were not being affected, that they will be conducted in the same manner as before basically.
So I think maybe just changing the mindset and the focus could be the answer.
If not then I would really like to know (in more detail) what the answer is that they are looking for.
So am I all confused and totally going down the wrong road?
All comments are more than welcome!
G.