posted 26 February 2001 04:50 PM               

So much discussion is taking place about the different types of audits that I find myself looking for a clear definition of the differences between System Audits and Process Audits.

In this company, we conduct two different types of audits. One type (system?) will select one of the 20 ISO sections and focus on those requirements, although any of the other 19 sections may be cited when non-compliances are recognized. I'll continue to do some of this under the revised standard.

The other type of audit (process?) is what we call an 'audit trail.' For this we generally pick a product from the shipping dock and trace it backwards through the system. In fact, as a guide, I give my auditors a generic flowchart of the manufacturing process and turn it upside down.

My feeling has always been that between the two types of audits we're pretty well covered, but I want to make sure I'm not missing something really important. So my question is (if I'm not making a molehill out of a mountain): How is a process audit conducted?

Thank you for helping me get this straight.