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Answer Upon - Energizing Your Internal Audit Program
For professionals today, long gone are the days of gold watches and lifetime employment. The employment market will remain highly competitive and professionals will migrate between businesses at regular intervals. In such an environment, professionals have to be equipped to advance their broad personal goals by being proactive, adaptive and agile in their career management. They have to be equipped with career strategies that they can execute for success.Today’s professional is in the “services” business – providing services to many businesses over their career lifetime. Every successful business needs a business plan and an executable strategy.Your Career is Your Own Personal BusinessAs baby boomers retire, clearly we have leaders leaving traditional leadership roles. Now that we are living longer, many of these executives are wondering what they are going to do…they still have something to give. This group is going to introduce options of hiring proven talent for less money and time without having to pay benefits. These trends are changing the landscape of traditional search firms and showing great popularity in companies that house “consultants” for client needs. Regardless of the professional’s discipline, these folks have to learn how to sell themselves like never before. They need to practice personal business development and ride the rollercoaster of BD while producing for client(s). This, coupled with already fierce competition for good jobs, shows even more need for all employees to position themselves with a career strategy that separates from the competition! A strategy that communicates the value differentiator against a diverse pool of talent.Customer ServiceSometimes it is hard to locate your value differentiators. Those traits and skills that make you different and stand out in the minds of others. It does not matter what you do for a living, customer service is always a way to get noticed. Sounds easy enough!
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be ma
You are a small business owner and you think that investing in getting a professional logo design for your company would be a waste of your limited budget. We at Logo Design Works believe that could be a costly mistake.In this modern day and age, there are 1000s of companies in any given market. All these companies are competing to capture the attention of the target audience and gain the all important sale.On the other side of the coin, individuals or potential customers are exposed to a bewlidering array of "brand noise" day in and dau out. From the time they get up in the moring, till they go to bed they come in contact with 100s of brand identities. To cope with this "brand noise", people have now evolved to effectively filter it out. This means that you need to have an identity that stands out from the rest and goes beyong just "noise".The starting point of any core identity is a good visual image of your company in the form of your company logo. This visual image or logo is like you hand shake to the world. You might have 4 seconds to grab your potential customers attention and your company logo is the first point of contact. It can either create a positive or a negative impression on your customer.Investing a little now in getting a decent professional company logo design would always more than pay for itself. Ignore it and you could be kicking yourself down the line.
The key to an effective, thorough and value added internal audit is in the preparation. If internal auditors are spending one to two hours preparing for an internal audit, it is not enough time. To properly prepare for an audit, it should take twice to three times that. If the actual audit time will take an hour, there should be at between two and three hours spent in preparation. A good rule of thumb to spend about two and half times as much time in preparation as the audit will take. Often times, auditors plan for a two hour internal audit and spend 1 hour preparing which leads to them running out of questions about 30 minutes into the audit. I can’t stress this enough if you want to be a successful internal auditor or manage a successful internal audit program then make certain you spend adequate time in preparation for the audit.
This sounds easy, but it is actually very difficult. The major obstacles to allocating enough time for preparation are time restrictions placed on the internal auditors. Chances are they have other responsibilities aside from internal auditing that compete for their precious time. One method to help remove that obstacle is to have as many trained internal auditors as possible to spread the work load.
Effective planning for an internal audit requires following a few simple steps that are listed below.
1. Learn the process (turtle diagram)
2. Identify the interfaces with the standard
3. Document review (compliance to standard)
4. Identify process interfaces
5. Identify potential process failure modes (pFMEA)
6. Value stream map process to breakdown activities
7. Review old audits
8. Develop audit questions
9. Develop audit plan.
1. Learn the process
Before you can audit a process you must become familiar with it. You need to learn how it is supposed to work, what it supposed to do, what are the inputs, outputs, activities, resources and controls. The first step would be to create a turtle diagram of the process (This may have already been done by the organization as part of their documentation, or in previous audits). A turtle diagram looks at the suppliers, inputs, activities, controls, resources, outputs, and customers. A turtle diagram is laid out such that the process activity is a box in the middle, the inputs come in from the left and outputs exit from the right of the box. The supplier is listed in the upper left hand corner and the customer is listed in the upper right hand corner. The controls are above the process activity and the resources are below the process activity. The feedback loop is an arrow from the output to the input. Let’s do an example of a turtle diagram for a process. For this example, the process will be one that applies to about every business in some way and that’s purchasing.
Inputs:
This is what the process needs for the activity. It can be in the form of information or a product. For this example the inputs are: Demand (what is driving the purchase), Quantity, Type, Specifications and Requirements, Due date and Budget (how much can be spent).
Supplier:
This is who is supplying the inputs to the process. The supplier can supply information or a material product. For our example the supplier would be whoever is specifying what to purchase, when to purchase and how many to purchase.
Process Activity:
This is the process. There are a number of associated tasks contributing to the process. For our example the process activity is purchasing
Outputs:
This is the result of the process. It can be information, energy or material. In our example the output of the purchasing process is the desired product or service delivered when needed. For our example it could be a product like a computer or piece of test equipment. It could be information such as a failure analysis, training materials, book or manual. It could also be a service such as mowing the grass, doing the laundry or processing payroll.
Controls:
These are the items that regulate the rate at which inputs are converted to outputs. Without controls, the process would operate continuously generating the output. The controls for our example could be the material requirements planning software, the purchase requisition approval process and inventory analysis.
Resources:
These are the items used or consumed in the process activity. It could be people’s time, machine time or money. For our example, the resources would be the buyer or purchasing agent, money, the representative for the company supplying the product or service and possibly other support functions who have input for the purchase. Additional resources are in the form of computers, material planning software, phones, fax, office space, etc.
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be ma
Here is a question my clients pose regularly:I’ve been in business for several months and things are moving in the right direction; however, I want more business. I’ve thought about advertising but it seems so expensive. Do you have any advice on where to advertise and how much to spend?Many design professionals equate advertising with marketing. This is not, in fact, the case. While advertising may be a component of an effective marketing strategy, the terms “advertising” and “marketing” are NOT synonymous.Advertising is, in most cases, expensive and – without repeated ad appearances – fails to provide the new business you hoped for. As a result, I highly recommend focusing your efforts on other marketing strategies that are more effective, such as speaking and writing.But, to the extent your budget is large enough to support an advertising campaign (as opposed to haphazard occasional placement of “an ad here and another ad there” – otherwise known as “shotgun advertising” which is NOT at all effective), I have a few things you should keep in mind:• Advertising budget. The Small Business Administration suggests that 5% of your gross sales should be budgeted for advertising. As an example, if you project $50,000 in gross revenues, the SBA recommends that your annual advertising budget be $2,500 (or just over $200/month). While you can use this as a “rule of thumb,” don’t fret if your available funds do not support this kind of expenditure. Instead of investing hundreds of DOLLARS per month in traditional advertising, spend your TIME & EFFORTS seeking to “get in front of” your target market as much as possible (by, for example, speaking, writing or networking).• Before placing an ad, do your homework. Contact the publication to ascertain demographics related to their subscribers and readers. Indeed, you need to confirm that your target market reads the publication you seek to advertise in.• There is no correlatio
3. Document review (compliance to standard)
4. Identify process interfaces
5. Identify potential process failure modes (pFMEA)
6. Value stream map process to breakdown activities
7. Review old audits
8. Develop audit questions
9. Develop audit plan.
1. Learn the process
Before you can audit a process you must become familiar with it. You need to learn how it is supposed to work, what it supposed to do, what are the inputs, outputs, activities, resources and controls. The first step would be to create a turtle diagram of the process (This may have already been done by the organization as part of their documentation, or in previous audits). A turtle diagram looks at the suppliers, inputs, activities, controls, resources, outputs, and customers. A turtle diagram is laid out such that the process activity is a box in the middle, the inputs come in from the left and outputs exit from the right of the box. The supplier is listed in the upper left hand corner and the customer is listed in the upper right hand corner. The controls are above the process activity and the resources are below the process activity. The feedback loop is an arrow from the output to the input. Let’s do an example of a turtle diagram for a process. For this example, the process will be one that applies to about every business in some way and that’s purchasing.
Inputs:
This is what the process needs for the activity. It can be in the form of information or a product. For this example the inputs are: Demand (what is driving the purchase), Quantity, Type, Specifications and Requirements, Due date and Budget (how much can be spent).
Supplier:
This is who is supplying the inputs to the process. The supplier can supply information or a material product. For our example the supplier would be whoever is specifying what to purchase, when to purchase and how many to purchase.
Process Activity:
This is the process. There are a number of associated tasks contributing to the process. For our example the process activity is purchasing
Outputs:
This is the result of the process. It can be information, energy or material. In our example the output of the purchasing process is the desired product or service delivered when needed. For our example it could be a product like a computer or piece of test equipment. It could be information such as a failure analysis, training materials, book or manual. It could also be a service such as mowing the grass, doing the laundry or processing payroll.
Controls:
These are the items that regulate the rate at which inputs are converted to outputs. Without controls, the process would operate continuously generating the output. The controls for our example could be the material requirements planning software, the purchase requisition approval process and inventory analysis.
Resources:
These are the items used or consumed in the process activity. It could be people’s time, machine time or money. For our example, the resources would be the buyer or purchasing agent, money, the representative for the company supplying the product or service and possibly other support functions who have input for the purchase. Additional resources are in the form of computers, material planning software, phones, fax, office space, etc.
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be ma
It’s the first day of the week and time to evaluate your current Yellow Page ad. You should realize that this ad has a variety of elements that can determine whether it attracts the right customer or, for that matter, any at all. Each has a specific function that can work on it’s on or support a cohesive theme. But let’s concentrate on the first item that more consumers will see and therefore, the most salient piece of the marketing puzzle.It all begins with the headline. Now, depending on several things, you have already decided that it will be your name because (a) you love it, (b) it’s a recognized company or brand name like Honda or Singer, (c) you’re a company that’s been around for ages, or (d) you can’t think of anything else to say. For whatever reason, if you want to use your name as the headline, consider this. It’s most often the first thing seen and therefore sets the tone for the entire ad. So be careful what you wish for, as the saying goes.If you’re a new business or one that has a generic name, think about a headline that is (a) provocative, (b) informative, (c) descriptive, or (d) humorous. Say you’re a plumber. An example of each might be: “Learn the 5 Mistakes a Do-It-Yourselfer Makes.” Or “We’ll Teach You Preventative Maintenance.” Or “Do You Know What’s Inside Your Pipes?” Or finally, “Do You Have Pipe-dreams or Pipe-nightmares?”This then becomes the lead-in to the subtitle or text that explains the headline. Now, isn’t that more interesting than, “J.T. Smith Plumbing,” or “Low-Cost Professional Plumbing,” which just about every book in every city proclaims? Take your time in brainstorming an idea that will get the viewer to read on. Then you can still end with your name, address, and phone number.You can also be more cryptic like, “We Don’t Do Plumbing!” and then explain that you are troubleshooters or solution providers. Or try, “There are no Plumbing Experts,” which implies that you know everything, and that instead, you
Supplier:
This is who is supplying the inputs to the process. The supplier can supply information or a material product. For our example the supplier would be whoever is specifying what to purchase, when to purchase and how many to purchase.
Process Activity:
This is the process. There are a number of associated tasks contributing to the process. For our example the process activity is purchasing
Outputs:
This is the result of the process. It can be information, energy or material. In our example the output of the purchasing process is the desired product or service delivered when needed. For our example it could be a product like a computer or piece of test equipment. It could be information such as a failure analysis, training materials, book or manual. It could also be a service such as mowing the grass, doing the laundry or processing payroll.
Controls:
These are the items that regulate the rate at which inputs are converted to outputs. Without controls, the process would operate continuously generating the output. The controls for our example could be the material requirements planning software, the purchase requisition approval process and inventory analysis.
Resources:
These are the items used or consumed in the process activity. It could be people’s time, machine time or money. For our example, the resources would be the buyer or purchasing agent, money, the representative for the company supplying the product or service and possibly other support functions who have input for the purchase. Additional resources are in the form of computers, material planning software, phones, fax, office space, etc.
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be ma
Did you know that you should always create a process map for every procedure or system of procedures that you develop? And did you know that, like a table of contents, this will create stronger communication and better understanding in your organization?How do you do this?Identify Core ProcessesLast time, we followed the money trail and identified your business’ core processes. We discussed where to best start a change in one of those core processes. And we introduced the technique of producing a process map. So this week, let’s take a further look at how to create a process map – and see how it creates knowledge to benefit you and your organization.Use Process Map as Communication ToolA process map is a flow diagram of the primary processes within an organization. It very specifically shows you both who and what is involved in a process, as well as the requirements for that process to be effective. The primary goal is to use the map as a communication tool. It is to show the sequence of interactions of the elements involved in the process. And so process maps are drawn and used by organizations to achieve several benefits:• Increase process understanding• Clarify process boundaries, ownership and effectiveness measures• Identify process sequences• Isolate core processes, bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement• Clarify the interaction of Customer, Supplier, Management and Operations processes• Provide a tool for training and discussionIn other words, a process map details what happens first, second and third in a process. It shows what happens in each step along the way. And this is drawn in graphical form for easier communication and understanding.This type of map shows the “big picture” of 10-20 core processes within an organization. The map also shows the critical elements within each section and its importance within the whole system. And these sect
Customer:
The customer is the group that takes the output and uses it. It is most likely used as an input to another process or as a resource.
Feedback Loop:
This is the mechanism used to monitor the process. What metric is used to tell the process owner how the process is performing and when action needs to be taken to correct it. For a purchasing process it could be supplier performance, dollars spent, on-time delivery or receiving inspection information.
2. Identify the Interfaces to the Standard
The interfaces are the points where the process intersects the standard. In simple terms it is where the requirements of the ISO 9001:2000 standard are applicable to the process being audited. The easiest way to accomplish this is to use a matrix with the elements of the standard on one axis and the process name on the other.
To better discern the interfaces of the process to the standard you could break the elements down into the sub elements. For example, 7.2 Customer Related Processes is comprised of 7.2.1 Determination of requirements related to the product, 7.2.2 Review of requirements related to the product and 7.2.3 Customer communication. The left side of the matrix would become larger, but you would have a more definitive intersection of the process and standard. This activity provides you with the understanding of what areas of the standard apply to the process. You will be developing questions to ensure compliance to the standard and this tells you what areas of the standard to focus on.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be ma
Not many are aware that as of the 23rd of May, Ebay has introduced a new seller policy that all international cross sellers. (i.e sellers who are registered at one country but also list their items in another country) can no longer list their items in any other country other than their registered country unless they have a verified paypal account.Now Ebay's reason for doing this is to claim it is to prevent fraud, but one may ask how about those sellers who do not use paypal, who only accept cheques or bank wire? A service acknowledged by the banks themselves as extremely safe for both parties, as a trace can be placed on the bank account in the case of any irregularities or seller non performance. Ebay is still adamant that such sellers, still must have a verified paypal account inorder to cross sell.Of course what many seller's suspect is this is not about preventing fraud at all (if that is the case, then should not all sellers, regardless of location have verified paypal accounts? Some already fear that this is what this is eventually leading to, that inorder to trade on Ebay you must use Ebay's own payment brand, and may be forced to submit your credit card details to paypal (as part of it's verification process, the ramifications of these in the long run are well known to sellers who have had to deal with fraudulent chargebacks) ) Some sellers suspect this is just another tactic to enforce it's monopoly on the auction market, by trying to force everybody to use paypal, as many are already aware Ebay owns paypal, and gets a substantial percentage of payments made via paypal, so on potentially three fronts Ebay would receive payments from sellers, it gets a listing fee, a final value fee, and if the seller accepts paypal, a percentage of that payment as well.
3. Document Review
The document review section requires reading and understanding the associated documentation for the process you are auditing. Start with the level 1 document, the quality manual. The quality manual should provide an overview of the process and should describe how the process fits into the overall quality system. The quality manual will explain what processes feed the process you are auditing and what processes are supported by it. It will describe the interaction and interrelationship of processes within the quality system.
The main output from the review of the quality manual will be an understanding of all the processes that make up the quality system and how they interact. The quality manual should provide a good description of how the processes work.
Next, review the level 2 documentation or procedures. Procedures should describe the process in more detail than the quality manual. There could be many procedures outlining the quality system, or there could be the minimum required by the ISO 9001:2000 standard, six. The six required procedures are:
Control of documents
Control of records
Internal Audits
Control of nonconforming product
Corrective action
Preventive action
Since the ISO 9001:2000 standard requires less documentation than previous versions of ISO 9000, there may not be as many procedures to evaluate. In this case the document review portion will be reduced. During the document review of the manual and procedures your are trying to understand the process and the system and ensure the requirements of the standard are met.
4. Identify Process Interfaces
Process interfaces are the “hand off” points from one process to another. This is where the previous process in providing an input to the audited process and the audited process is providing input to another process. How are process interfaces different from inputs and outputs? An input is the deliverable the process uses and the process interface describes how and when the deliverable is achieved. For example, an input into the purchasing process is the requirements of the purchased item. Looking at the process interface we want to understand how are the requirements delivered to the purchasing process, when are they delivered and by whom? In essence we are not looking at do the requirements exist, but are they clearly defined and understood by the process using them. We want to investigate are the requirements delivered on time and are they accurate?
On the output side, we will look at those things the purchasing process provides to other processes. Clearly one output is the purchased item on time, to specification and in the correct quantity. Another consideration is how is it moved from purchasing to receiving and inventory. There are other outputs of the purchasing process used by other processes. One could be supplier selection for the item purchased. Engineering or Quality may need to interface with the supplier and if the selection process is delayed, it could affect the design, or ability to qualify the product.
Understanding the process interfaces can lead to some audit questions concerning how smooth the hand off is between processes.
5. Identify Potential Process Failure Modes
Another tool we want to utilize is the pFMEA, which stands for “process failure modes and effects analysis. You may have some background in FMEA’s and you may not. Either way is alright because we are not going in depth in the FMEA process. An pFMEA is a method to identify potential problems with a process before the process is implemented. It is a preventive measure that aims to resolve problems before they occur. For our purposes we will be concerned with the process function, the failure mode and the cause of the failure mode. Below is an example of an pFMEA for the purchasing process:
Process Function Failure Mode Potential Cause
get good product bad product requirements not understood
supplier is not capable
not inspected enough
product on time product is late lack of capacity
ordered late
supplier out of product
low total cost too costly excessive rework
excessive freight
excessive testing
pFMEA’s are an exhaustive approach that generates a large quantity of potential audit directions. By evaluating the prospective problems associated with a process, you can develop audit questions and an audit approach to ensure the potential problems are addressed. This can lead to some findings that can have positive impact on the quality management system.
6. Value Stream Map the Process
If you really want to energize the efficiency factor of your internal audits, then conduct a value stream map. Value stream mapping is a lean manufacturing tool that aids in finding the activities in the process that are non value added. Similar to the pFMEA example we will approach this tool in an overview so it can be used but we won’t go into great detail and explicit flowcharting that a lean project might require. Lean initiatives would include takt time, inventory, etc, we will not include those for this use of the tool. For this purpose you will flowchart the process activities and look for steps that could be eliminated or reduced.
7. Review Old Audits
A key source of information to develop your audit strategy is to review old audits. Review both internal and external audits if available. Look for areas of weakness or where findings were noted and see if action has been taken and if it’s still effective. In reviewing an old audit of purchasing you find that there was a nonconformity written for the buyer not conveying to the supplier all of the requirements of the product. Based on this you may want to gear some of the audit to see how effective the process is now at conveying the requirements to the supplier.
8. Develop Audit Questions
What we want to do now in the planning process is develop some questions based on the excercises listed above.
Turtle Diagram generated questions
How are the requirements for the purchased item documented and communicated?
Who specifies a budget and who monitors it to ensure it is not exceeded?
What training has the purchasing agent received and what is scheduled?
How is inventory monitored to ensure correct purchases at the right time?
What is the measure of the process?
Who monitors it?
What are the planned results and what happens when they are not achieved?
Interface with the Standard generated questions
Is there a procedure or work instructions describing the process?
Is the purchasing process covered in the quality manual?
Does the current process reflect what i
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