Warehouse Internal Audit - Seeking Tips and Advice

[AndyU]

I am due to audit my companies warehouse. Can anyone offer good checklists or websites to get some pointers.
This is my list sofar. Please feel free to comment.

 

[ralphsulser]

Some sample questions
How do you know how to do your job
How were you trained
Documentation of training competence
What is quality policy
What does it mean to how you do your job
What do you do when things go wrong
Show the job instructions
Is there any documentation of results from your job

 

[Jen Kirley]

A couple I like to ask are,

"How do you offer suggestions for improvement or report problems that could affect the quality of what you do?

"What measurements do you have that you use to show how well your process is going?"

 

[Randy]

Here's a unique concept, which I may slammed for, but what the heck.

Why not find out what the requirements are for the operation and then verify whether or not they are being met?

 

[Greg B]

Randy has beaten me to it. We can only offer generic questions from a distance. You need to audit YOUR PROCESS

The questions you posted are all fine and dandy but will they help you improve the business? Will it acertain the effectivness and efficiency of the business?

Why does the 'goods inward' have to separate from the main warehouse? what does that achive? Is it an imperative?

I tend to follow a product from the inwards phase thru to the customer. It shows me how the operation (process) flows. Bottom line...if you have a process/prceodure/work instruction then audit THAT!!!

 

[AndyU]

That's the problem, there are at the moment no procedures or procedures so old they should be written in stone. All the warehouse staff have done the job for many yearsa and therefore fell no need for written procedures etc. I'm looking for ideas of areas to look.

 

[Randy]

Then ASK

What do you do?

Why do you do it that way?

Does it work?

Could there be a better way?

What should we look for?

 

[gpainter]

A good auditor will know the answer before they ask it. "what does your system require of you?"

 

[Coury Ferguson]

That's the problem, there are at the moment no procedures or procedures so old they should be written in stone. All the warehouse staff have done the job for many yearsa and therefore fell no need for written procedures etc. I'm looking for ideas of areas to look.

Follow your processes from the beginning. Meaning, start at the front door of the organization, walk through all the steps.

1. Receptionist (customer service)
2. Sales
3. Order taking
4. Order entry
5. Human resources
6. Manufacturing
7. Product testing (internal auditing, final testing and so forth)
8. Packaging
9. Shipping
10. Customer follow-up

These are only a few steps (not absolute) that could be used, since I really don't know anything about your organization.

 

[RoxaneB]

Okay, maybe I'm blind, but what requirements are being audited against here? Other than the requirements of the process? Is there a standard involved? This could influence the questions asked.