Converting an internal audit into a positive process

Abstract

Auditing is not new. Audits have been conducted for many years and consist of several different types — financial audits, tax audits, Total Quality audits and quality system audits, for example. Recent emphasis on both ISO 9000 and its automotive counterpart QS-9000 has generated a frenzy of quality system audit experiences. Each of the three types of audits associated with quality system auditing — customer audits, third party audits and internal audits — serves a different purpose. A customer audit is conducted by a customer on a supplier or potential supplier to assess the supplier’s quality system in order to evaluate the supplier’s ability to meet the product quality requirements of the customer. A third party audit is conducted by an independent auditor licensed as a Registrar by a national accreditation body (such as the Standards Council of Canada or the UKAS). The purpose of a third party audit is to evaluate a supplier and then grant a certificate to the supplier to demonstrate that the supplier’s quality system meets a particular Quality System Standard such as ISO 9000 or QS-9000. An internal audit is conducted by a company on itself to determine if its quality system is in place and is effective. Opportunities for improvement should be identified during this process and then plans put in place to implement these changes. Documented internal audits are required of both ISO 9000 and QS-9000 quality systems.