With digital checklists, you can streamline your quality auditing process, review measurable results, and track quality trends. Learn a little bit more about the history of quality control, its types, and its processes and procedures. Lumiform will show you five easy ways to improve your business operations to get the best results out of your product or service.
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A quality management audit consists of a two-part process where products, services, business operations, or systems used for production are examined for defects and inconsistencies. The audit aims to identify and optimize any problems that arise during each step of the process to ensure the product meets industry standards and complies with the rules and regulations of the trade before a product is introduced to consumers.
Quality management, whether it has always gone by that name or not, has been traced as far back as the medieval guilds in Europe. It’s human nature to double-check that the product or service they are receiving in exchange for their product or service meets their expectations. After all, no one wants to get swindled! So in all actuality, quality assurance has most likely been going on since humans began using the trade and barter system which would put us somewhere around 6,000 B.C.E, an age that saw the rise of the first human civilization in Mesopotamia. Nowadays, the quality management system has been adapted to fit the supply and demands of a globalized economy.
A quality audit template helps quality managers to implement a solid quality management system (QMS) and to meet the requirements of ISO 9001.In this article, you’ll learn more about the different types of audits used in the field, how to create your own questionnaire to fit the particulars of your company or organization, and discover common problems and solutions that have been known to pop up during audits.
1. The 3 types of audits in quality management
2. The 4 steps to create a questionnaire: First-party audit.
3. Challenges and solutions for quality audits
Audits are regularly used in quality management in almost every industry that comprises our economy. These audits are then divided into three categories, depending on what part of the manufacturing process is being audited. The below section gives a brief overview of what each audit is designed to address:
Quality managers or other persons familiar with the inspection of products or business processes use a template as a tool for internal audits. The questionnaire's aim is to identify underlying problems and to evaluate the performance of the processes. The regular performance of quality audits helps to increase the efficiency of the company and continuously improve business strategies.
The following is a list of 4 steps that are vital to the creation of a catalogue of questions:
1. Planning
1.1. Define the main points of the audit
1.2. Create a schedule
2. Preparatory phase
2.1. Prepare an audit guide
2.2. Check the quality management documentation
2.3. Assemble an audit team
2.4. Communicate within the team for common goals
3. Implementation
3.1. Observe individual processes
3.2. Schedule interviews with selected pool of employees
3.3. Review quality management documentation
3.4. Note and discuss deviations from the desired target state
3.5. Jointly derive first improvement measures
4. Follow-up
4.1. Prepare a meaningful audit report
4.2. Create a detailed action plan
By using a digital checklist, you can easily conduct internal and external audits via tablet or smartphone - online or offline. With the desktop version, you can generate suitable checklists or digitize your existing paper lists. The tool guides you step by step through your audits and enables you to achieve excellent quality management.
After an audit, all collected data is processed in a clear and concise report. This allows you to see weaknesses and problems at a glance and to efficiently take care of targeted tasks.
