8 Questions to Include in your Process Audit Checklist

Introduction

Companies that adopt a process audit system, which seek to act on prevention rather than correction, must answer a wide variety of questions. Example: Which areas of the process will be audited? How often will you audit? What do these process audits aim to cover? How will you act when you detect non-conformities?

It is the questions you include in your Audit Checklist that will lead to the conclusion (or not) that the activities inherent to the processes are being done correctly. In this article, I propose 8 topics that should be broken down into questions and which should be part of your list of process verification (Checklist):

• Security
• Materials
• Movements
• Workstation layout and location
• Problem Log
• Process Documentation
• Follow-up
• Efficiency

1. SECURITY

While companies tend to separate safety and quality, any expert will tell you that one influences the other directly. It's because This is why the checklist must include verification that ensures that the equipment is safe, that workers operate it correctly and that follow safety protocol. Example questions like:

Employees wear personal protective equipment (PPE), such as hearing protection, helmet, safety glasses and gloves?

Are machine guards in place and functioning correctly? You Machine guards are protective devices that cover parts furniture that could pose a danger to workers. The pieces of the mobile machine pose a danger to machine operators and flying debris can affect anyone in the vicinity of a machine. As a result, industrial machines are required by law to have machine storage.

Operators and employees follow safety procedures pattern, making correct movements that reduce risks ergonomic?

The ends of the clothes that are loose are folded and the hair Is the long one tied (attached)?

Safety equipment, such as fire extinguishers and eye wash stations, are easily accessible and are working?

2. MATERIALS

The process of manufacturing quality products begins with placing of the materials in order. This is a very important area to cover by your Process Audit Checklist. The questions you will do should include the following:

Does the workstation have the right materials and in the right quantities?

Are operators using materials in the correct order?

Do operators receive materials late? There are excess materials that contribute to waste and inefficiency?

3. MOVEMENTS

Worker movements can affect efficiency, quality and safety inside factories. Therefore, it is recommended that lists of process audit check (checklist) covers the questions related to movement, for example:

Do employees follow each step of standard work instructions?

Are operators moving in the most efficient way, or is there a best way to perform the task?

Assembly operations are uniform, or there are noises (problems) that are interrupting the normal flow of the process?

How do people move materials? There are other ways that Can they eliminate unnecessary movements or reduce them?

4. WORKSTATION LAYOUT AND LOCATION

Process audit checklists should include questions to assess whether workplaces are adequate in terms of safety and security. efficiency. I recommend that as you develop your checklist quality audit, consider questions such as:

This is the best place in the plant to achieve the objective of activities of this job?

The workstation is allocated appropriately and is perfectly fitted into your process in terms of transportation, receipt and security?

The workstation has the appropriate equipment (or equipment) and the accessories to perform the task?

Error-proofing devices are available (poka-yokes) and are it is working correctly? Do operators always use it?

5. PROBLEM LOG

A robust process for reporting issues is critical to creating of a quality culture. Because if you don't act quickly on issues that have been reported to them, people tend not to report or to speak up when they see problems. Set an example!

The process audit checklist questions for this step can be:

What reports are available to employees to describe quality, safety and efficiency issues? They know use them and are aware of their importance?

Do operators have free access to production engineers to provide feedback on work instructions?

Are reported issues documented and fixed quickly, or are there delay?

Can operators suggest improvements? How is this process carried out?

6. PROCESS DOCUMENTATION

Documentation, in particular the standard work instruction, is the cornerstone cornerstone for an effective quality process. The questions on the list verification of the quality audit related to the document must consider questions such as:

What is the standard working documentation used in the process of manufacturing?

Do operators have access to the latest work instructions? In If so, are they reviewing them regularly and do they really Do they understand the process and instructions?

What is the procedure for changing or modifying documentation and Work instructions? Do operators regularly review changes? Can they explain them?

7. FOLLOW-UP

Your Process Audit Checklist needs to cover the follow-up and actions implemented to ensure that all non-conformities are handled appropriately. The focus of this stage are:

What are the proposed changes for this position or this process?

How will you monitor and evaluate? How will the follow-up be carried out?

What new verification items should you include in your Checklist in future audits based on customer complaints or actions corrective measures implemented?

If you don't use an automated platform, how do you update your Process audit checklist, to ensure that all auditors have the updated version of the checklists?

You can solve the problem on the spot, or you will need to focus in containment until root cause analysis and corrective actions are they complete?

8. EFFECTIVENESS

Your process audit checklist must address topics related problems found in the previous audit and corrective actions that they were taken. Here you can apply the following questions:

Have the problems found in the previous audit been corrected? What was made?

Were the actions implemented effective or does the problem continue to occur? If it continues, then it was not effective.

Actions implemented to correct problems affected instructions work and/or documentation? If it affected, the documentation was updated?

Process Audit performance

At the end of each process audit carried out, it is recommended present the results of the audit to the entire organization, making a comparison with the previous audit. Have we improved? Does Are we getting worse? What are our weaknesses? etc. See the example below.

The types of questions described in this article cover some of the categories most common questions addressed in process audits. But it's list is not comprehensive, nor will every category appear in every list of verification.

The key would be to use your own internal process failure modes and effects analysis forms (such as PFMEA for example) to identify high-risk processes and design issues around them.

Required Tools

At this stage you must decide how you will record the measurements. Whether in spreadsheets, emails, printed or electronic forms, etc.

There are tools on the market with ready-made models that facilitate the implementation and execution of quality improvement plans.

To carry out a 5s inspection with Infocapta , simply select the ready-made model, which has the 5 senses with all related indicators and distributed between the sections.

The ready-made model already has an initial section where you can record the date of the inspection, the manager and also the departments in your company where you intend to carry out the verification. The departments, as well as the indicators and scores, are customizable and you can also create your own model, suited to your needs.

You will be able to mark whether the items are in compliance, take photos of conflicting items as proof and make observations of details that you observe. Everything will be recorded in the departmental 5s report. Still as a plus , the tool allows different analyses, tabulation of results, presentation in graphs and visualization of audited units on geographic maps.

More than a simple 5s questionnaire, Infocapta provides the possibility of creating several checklists necessary in the checking and evaluating phases of PDCA results. It also opens up the opportunity to replace printed forms in all areas of the organization, bringing tasks that were previously performed with paper and pen to the palm of their hands, on employees' devices.

Tool Highlights

• Organizational Structure and Departments;
• Customizable electronic checklist ;
• Records photographic evidence;
• Register comments and pending issues;
• Action Plans;
• Collect electronic signature;
• Issues report with photos, observations and compliance;
• Analytical Artificial Intelligence;
• Graphs and reports;
• Spreadsheets;
• Activity in Offline mode;

The tool helps managers monitor PDCA cycles, automatically sending checklists to auditors, transforming PDCA cycle checking tasks into a continuous process.

The auditor can customize several checklist approaches , with data types ranging from simple text to multiple-choice answers. The answers have weights, which in turn generate audit scores. The results are transformed into indicators that can feed the planning and checking processes in the PDCA cycles.

The auditor can also collect evidence of problems through photos that make up the audit report and everything will be recorded for later analysis and comparison.

In addition to these features that are so important in quality processes, it includes the convenience of analyzing indicators in graphs and even viewing them on geographic maps, a very useful feature for organizations that have units distributed in different cities, states or regions.

To use the application, you must create an account and install the compatible app on your cell phone or tablet . There are accounts suitable for the size of your company and you can do a tasting, without obligation.

You can learn more about the benefits of Infocapta here

Conclusion

With discipline and continuous verification of critical processes, your list of process audit checklist can help you improve significantly improve the quality of your organization. An audit of robust process, which goes beyond checking only matters inherent to the quality, must be the top priority for leaders and the organization as a whole.