The Quality Life

I have been extremely busy lately with quality system audits. Not only have we been going through the basic ISO 9000 audits, which I have been intimately familiar with for over 20 years, we’ve also welcomed auditors who focused on the TS 16949 automotive standard, and the German VDA automotive standard.

Some of the lessons I’ve learned about auditing over the years include:

1. Try to anticipate the auditors’ questions. If neing audited to the ISO/TS standard, understand the questions implicit in the clause being audited. If it’s to the VDA standard, or something similar, the questions are spelled out.  Plan your explanation of what you do to meet the standard in such a way that your presentation of the facts follows the logic of the questions.
2. Have all of the relevant information readily at hand. If you’re using a database, have the screen up and running before you start. If you have processes or procedures to reference, have them open or readily available.
3. Plan the information. As much as possible, you want to be in control of the audit, so know ahead of time what you’re planning to show, and make sure you inderstand the information completely.
4. Don’t raise more questions than you answer. If, in showing information, you have holes in the data or if the data shows unexpected results, be prepared to address the results before the auditor can question it!
5. Run through your part of the audit with your internal team several days ahead of time, so that they can spot holes or concerns.

I like to see audits flow in a basic pattern:

1. Describe the process or activity — flow charts work well
2. If the process results in a metric of some kind, show the trend for the metric, and what your action plans are to address negative trends or points.
3. Have evidence ready for actions, records, etc.
4. Show how you are continually improving your activity.

We have another VDA audit next week…I’ll let you know how it goes!