Quality, objectives, and standards: each one indispensable for a successful factory. Audits greatly help in gaining insight into these aspects so you know where your factory stands. Both for internal and external matters, the results of an audit are of great importance. This leaves just one question: What exactly are audits?
What is an audit?
In simple terms, an audit is a check in the form of a systematic and independent investigation. An audit is conducted by an auditor who examines whether the company meets the set criteria, standards, and goals. To determine this, audits look at checklists, processes, and how these processes are followed by employees. Documents and records are also crucial pieces of information to present during audit checks. Based on all the information, findings and advice are formulated and processed into an audit report. Such a complete audit can be conducted for the entire organization, but also for a specific department or process. Audits often relate to quality, safety, or the environment. This means that there are also special ISO audits, for example.
Why are audits important in a factory?
As a factory, you want to be able to demonstrate that you meet the required standards. The objective evidence gathered during audits can lead to the necessary certificates and proven growth if the outcome is positive. Conducting audits is also a form of assurance that you, as a factory, can offer to third parties to show that you are a reliable partner to do business with. For the organization itself, conducting audits is no less important. These audit checks help you to identify and address inefficiencies, risks, and potential problems early on. Consequently, audits immediately contribute to continuous improvement within the factory, increase productivity, and reduce costs and downtime. Therefore, there is all the more reason not to shy away from audits but to embrace them as an excellent opportunity to make your factory even more successful.
What types of audits are there?
Since an audit can have many purposes for different parts of the organization, we like to keep an overview. We distinguish between two types of audits: internal audits and external audits. We explain how both types of audits work and provide some examples.
Internal audit
In an internal audit, the execution is carried out by employees who are themselves employed by the factory. The investigation is not outsourced to an external party. An internal audit is often used as a management tool to gain more control over operational or strategic improvement points. Additionally, an internal audit highlights the cost and quality aspects, giving customers and other stakeholders the impression that you are serious about continuous improvement. Examples of internal audits include a quality audit, a process audit, a safety audit, or an environmental audit. All these types of audits can be considered internal audits.
External audit
An external audit, on the other hand, is conducted by an external organization. This could be a certification body, a customer, or a party interested in a company takeover. An external audit typically focuses on the entire organization or on the processes specifically related to production. This could very well be a supplier audit. Other possible external audits include certification audits, regulatory audits, and customer audits. While an internal audit looks for potential improvements, an external audit serves as a quality management tool, allowing you as a factory to demonstrate that you deliver high quality.
How do you conduct an audit?
Would you also like to conduct audits yourself? Here is a step-by-step plan to help you get started:
- Planning: Determine the goal, scope, and criteria of the audit. Then assemble an audit team and create a schedule that you can follow closely.
- Preparation: Gather and study all relevant documentation. This includes writing about procedures, standards, and previous audit reports. Develop an audit plan with detailed checklists based on this information to ensure you do not miss any steps.
- Execution: Start with an opening meeting to discuss the goal and approach. Assign people with specific skills to the corresponding tasks so responsibilities are well-distributed. Then conduct the audit by collecting observations, interviews, and document reviews. Compare this evidence to verify whether it all complies with the standards.
- Analysis: Assess the collected data, identify deviations, and determine risks. Analyze the causes and impacts of the findings to prioritize them.
- Reporting: Prepare an audit report with findings, conclusions, and recommendations. Discuss this report in a closing meeting with all internal stakeholders.
- Follow-up: Implement all corrective actions and assess their effectiveness to ensure future improvements. Make sure the process does not stop after implementing the measures.
Preparing and conducting audits yourself with the EZ-GO platform
The EZ-GO platform makes preparing and conducting audits much easier. By using templates that fit the standards and goals of the audits, you can also use checklists that work towards the objective. During the audit, you can consult real-time data collection to identify deviations and improvement points. Since findings and recommendations can be directly processed into the audit report, you can revisit them later – especially useful when discussing the best corrective measures with the team. All information is thus available on one platform before, during, and after the audit. Curious to see how this might look for your factory? A demo will give you a realistic picture of the many options!