No matter what type of business you are in, quality should always be a top priority. After all, poor-quality products or services will quickly turn customers away. This is where quality audits come in. By regularly assessing your organization’s processes and procedures, you can ensure that you are always meeting (or even exceeding) customer expectations.
But what exactly is a quality audit?
And how can you go about conducting one?
Read on to find out!
What is a Quality Audit?
Quality audits provide assurance that an organization’s products and/or processes are at par with recognized industry standards and compliant with regulations.
A quality audit is conducted by a team of internal or external auditors, passing a quality audit provides assurance that an organization’s products or procedures are in accordance with relevant laws, regulations, and established industry policies.
Quality audits are invaluable tools that can be used to understand how well an organization meets its legal and statistical standards. They enable companies to improve the way they do business, which ultimately improves customer service and boosts profits.
How to Perform Quality Audits: The Complete Quality Audit Process
The audit process involves a systematic method of determining an organization’s alignment with industry standards. This can vary greatly depending on the company, though it is typically structured as a series of 5 phases:
Preparation
Preparation is the key to success. It is important that you and your team understand the auditing process in order to prepare for audits. This can be done by identifying what an auditor would like to see from a client’s point of view if any, as well as planning out the audit checklists because preparation gives you an edge over a competitor who may be preparing for an audit already.
Audit Execution
Audit execution is done at the end of the application and quality audit phases, it is a stage of the project where necessary audit procedures are implemented for checking whether the delivered solution /product meets its requirements or not.
To help organizations execute and perform quality audits, we have developed an easy-to-use quality audit app for organizations to streamline quality auditing processes. The app helps manufacturers to identify key improvement areas.
Companies can achieve complete control over their compliance and quality audit processes using this app.
Enterprise-grade Quality Audit App to Ensure Quality Standards!
Audit Report
Auditing is a process that can be used by businesses and individuals to assess or verify the quality or completeness of the data necessary in order to make acceptable decisions.
In most cases, the audit report shows findings and recommendations, as well as how audit firms are able to make relevant recommendations for improving the organization’s performance.
We can Automate Quality Audit Reporting for your organization!
Corrective Action
The purpose of corrective action is to correct deficiencies, poor performance, or deviations from requirements. This type of control is usually initiated by the auditee when it identifies a problem that requires attention. It may be necessary to send letters regarding corrective actions when you identify particular problems with an audit finding.
Follow-Up
Following up is an important stage of the audit process. This is usually conducted at the end of an audit cycle and is intended to determine if corrective actions have been implemented by the auditee, or if there are areas of noncompliance.
Know About These Common Failures in Quality Audit
Quality audits are conducted to discover failures or opportunities to improve in order to meet quality standards. Below are some of the most common problems that can arise during a quality audit.
Technical
When conducting a quality audit it is imperative that the inspectors gather sufficient documentation as well as see the production floor itself. A lack of efficient equipment and improper layout can both lead to a poor quality product or piece of equipment. Following one of these issues into production can lead to significant effects on profitability, employee morale, and customer satisfaction.
Social
Failure is any workplace hazard caused by non-compliance with acceptable working conditions. Since this type of hazard does not involve victim behavior, it can be difficult to see in audits.
However, poor safety practices are an underlying cause of social failure. One example of this failure is the use of subcontractors on some jobs, leading to substandard PPE and environmental health risks on construction sites. Axonators’ Safety audit app can be the solution for all these problems. You can conduct weekly and monthly audits to maintain safety standards across your organization.
Environment
Environmental audit failures can occur when environmental control policies and procedures are not properly documented, implemented, and enforced. A company may have internal procedures in place to minimize the environmental impacts they produce, but these controls are not enforced by managers. The lack of adequate quality controls is often due to a lack of awareness or understanding of how to implement important environmental controls within an organization.
What are 3 Types of Quality Audits?
There are 3 types of quality audits: process audit, product audit, and system audit.
Process Audits
Process audits are used to evaluate a process or system’s effectiveness. The auditor will observe the processes in place and document any irregularities or issues that may arise. These can include measurement systems, documentation procedures, and training requirements. They will also determine if the process is capable of providing required outputs on a consistent basis.
Product Audits
Product audits evaluate products or products of service for conformity with standards or specifications. Product auditors compare the best-in-class products to those produced by your company or organization and document any discrepancies between them. If a product is defective, it should be repaired or replaced with a better quality product as soon as possible so as not to create consumer dissatisfaction with your brand name.
System Audits
System auditors use specific methods such as statistical sampling and data analytics to determine whether each system meets its intended purpose effectively.
5 Things Quality Audit Must-Haves
A quality audit is a systematic and independent examination to determine whether quality activities and related results comply with planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable for achieving objectives.
There are many different types of quality audits, but all audits share some common elements. Here are some of the must-haves for any quality audit:
1. A clear audit scope
The scope should define what will be covered in the audit and what will be excluded.
2. A well-defined auditing process
The process should be designed to ensure that all relevant aspects of the organization’s activities are covered.
3. A schedule of audits
The schedule should be designed to ensure that all areas of the organization are audited on a regular basis.
4. Qualified auditors
The auditors should have the necessary skills and experience to conduct the audit effectively.
5. A report of findings
The report should identify any non-conformities with the organization’s quality management system and make recommendations for corrective action.
Audit Checklists: The Most Reliable Way to Conduct Quality Audits for Your Organization
Audit checklists are the most reliable way for your organization to have a successful quality audit. Checklists ensure that all of the necessary components are covered during the audit. Depending on the size and complexity of your organization, the checklist may vary. However, there are some items that should always be included:
- A review of the organization’s quality policy and objectives.
- A review of the quality management system.
- A review of applicable laws and regulations.
- A review of customer requirements.
- An evaluation of the effectiveness of the quality management system.
- An evaluation of the effectiveness of quality control procedures.
- An evaluation of the effectiveness of quality assurance procedures.
- Recommendations for improvement.
How to Digitize Quality Audit Checklists?
As the world goes digital, more and more businesses are turning to digital methods for conducting quality audits. Checklists are one area where digitization can make a big difference.
With digital quality audit checklists, there is no need to search through mountains of paperwork to find the proper document or list. Everything is right at your fingertips, making it easy to start your quality audit effortlessly.
If you’re looking for a solution to digitize quality audit operations, we have developed one app that can help.
Here are some examples:
Quality Inspection App Keep Your Product Audits on A breeze!
Axonator for Performing Quality Audits
Quality control is one stepping stone to success that has been around for decades, leading companies on their road to success with innovations and best practices every year.
At Axonator, we help transform your manufacturing processes with enterprise-grade solutions developed on the unique no-code platform to match your business needs.
Explore some of the topic-notch enterprise-grade software solutions and digital checklists.
Top 5 Quality Audits Mobile & Tablet Apps to Get Started
- Free Quality Audit Templates
- Free Compliance Audit Checklists
- Free CAPA Report Templates
- Free Check Sheet Templates
- Free Visual Inspection Checklists
Why Axonator?
- Axonator is a no-code mobile app builder platform.
- World’s first mobile-focused & Highly customizable no-code architecture to support real-world scenarios.
- Deploy enterprise-grade solutions rapidly as per unique requirements.
- Generate reports automatically and automated data collection for trends and analytics.
- Streamline processes and implement a fully automated system within weeks using Axonator’s MicroApp strategy.
Available on Android, iOS, and the web, Axonator is a highly customizable no-code field workflow automation platform mainly used to transform your paper and spreadsheet-based manual processes and maintain ISO 13485 Certification Plan in numerous industries.
Axonator offers several simple and ready-to-use enterprise-grade apps for field workflows like inspections, audits, safety, asset management, and work orders that can be used by organizations to replace paper, spreadsheet & cumbersome desktop-based manual processes with mobile & tablet apps.
Schedule a quick demo with our professional services team.
