Your

In 50 Words Or Less
Effective audits must be properly planned and executed. The process of developing an audit checklist helps ensure that audit planning is conducted and that the auditor knows what questions to ask. A well-designed audit checklist can signicantly improve process awareness, audit structure and documentation.

Sha

32

AUDITING

rpen

AUDITING

SKILLS
Here are three ways an audit checklist helps an auditor: viewed during the audit.

by Joe Kausek

Use checklists to guide planning, execution and documentation

EFFECTIVE AUDITS REQUIRE effective audit planning. One of the best
tools to help guide both the planning and execution of an audit is the audit checklist. All too often, auditors rush through the development of an audit checklist or skip it altogether. Then they wonder why their audit didnt seem to go as well as they would have liked. 1. Process awareness: The rst benet of checklist preparation is that it exposes the auditor to the procedures, instructions, practices and recent performance that will be re-

February 2008 QP 33

Auditors cant build checklists unless they know what questions to ask. Those questions relate to the requirements, inputs, outputs and practices reected in process documentationnot just documentation required for conformance to the standard in question. Developing a checklist forces an auditor to review this documentation.

2. Structure. One of the greatest benets of a checklist is that it can help structure the audit. An audit plan provides a macrostructure by identifying the broad areas to be examined and allocating time for each area. A good audit checklist should provide a structure for each individual area or process to be examined. It does this by including questions related to requirements that need to be veried in

Audit planning checklist page

Process audited: Date of audit: Audit team leader: Applicable standard: ISO 9001 Using process documentation, SIPOC diagrams and/or process ow diagrams, identify and list the key inputs and key outputs for each process included in the scope of the audit: Key inputs: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Key outputs: 1. 2. 3. 4. Recent corrective action requests and/or audit ndings to verify during this audit: No. 1. 2. 3. 4. Item Audit no. Auditor: ISO 14001 18001 Process owner:

/ FIGURE 1

the approximate order in which they will be asked. I say approximate because the auditor might need to jump ahead or back a little

Auditor: Other:

on the checklist to adjust the audit ow to the auditee or the natural process. A good audit checklist can help auditors ensure they havent missed anything important if they need to jump around a little during an audit. 3. Documentation. The best audit checklists not only include the questions to ask and space to document the ndings, but they also provide areas for comments and information about the samples selected and documents reviewed. In fact, a well-constructed checklist will also guide the auditor through how to verify the response by providing dened areas for the objective evidence to be examined. A good checklist will also allow a subsequent auditor to see what was not evaluated, as well as what was reviewed. Managers and auditors should ask themselves whether the checklists used in their audit programs provide the benets cited. If not, they might want to consider changing the checklist format.

List the documents that provide instruction on the processes to be audited and that will be included in the audit: Name 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. No. Revision

Consider the following information relating to the processes to be examined. Check those that were examined: Previous audit results of this process. Current process metrics relating to this process (list below). Any open or recent corrective actions relating to this process. History of returned product, returned product analysis and customer feedback related to this process. Quality, or environment, health and safety objectives relating to this process. Recent lessons learned. Auditee management. Other (list):

Audit checklist development

Fortunately, developing an audit checklist is not difcult, assuming the auditor has taken the time to review the procedures and understand the audit areas assigned. Keep in mind that while developing a checklist is not difcult, it takes some practice. Ive never met anyone who felt entirely comfortable on the rst try. A checklist is a somewhat personal tool.

Other items to review:

List the core process metrics relating to this process: Metric Performance Good Poor Good Poor Objectives and targets to review: Trend

34 QP www.qualityprogress.com

AUDITING

Auditors cant build checklists unless they know what questions to ask.
It should be seen as a guide and aid to the auditor, not as instruction. An auditor who has gone through a few audits will understand what information needs to be on future checklists. The rst page of every audit checklist should be used as a planning tool. An example is shown in Figure 1. This page, which can be standardized, is especially helpful to new auditors and can be used by audit program managers as a mechanism to ensure consistent audit planning is conducted. There are three steps in checklist preparation: Step 1: Review the procedures, suppliers, inputs, process, outputs and customers (SIPOC) diagrams and other information. Preparing the checklist begins with reviewing the procedures, standards and other requirements that will serve as the basis of the audit. Print a copy of the procedure and mark it up to show the items that need to be examined. This is especially helpful for new auditors. The auditor can annotate the procedure to add comments and questions identied during initial research. The markup becomes a rough initial draft for the checklist. An example of a marked up procedure is shown in Figure 2. Remember, auditors must be selective. They normally dont have time to verify everything. One of the reasons for looking over the items listed on the planning page is to provide a perspective on what is important in a process and how it is performing. Use this knowledge to focus on the key attributes of the process. Also note key inputs, resources and controls essential to the proper operation of the process, along with the primary outputs of the process and where the outputs go next. If they are not identied in the pro3.0 Contract award, review and order entry 3.1 Orders and releases against a previously agreed-to contract are not required to go through the business development steps (described in section 2.0 above). if their core requirements have already been approved through an existing contract or agreement. These requests enter the order generation process here, after the award announcement.

cedure, create a simple SIPOC diagram. Remember, most problems occur at the interface between processes and their related inputs. It is important that the auditor verify these key inputs, resources and outputs. At this point, some auditors stop. They simply use

Marked up procedure excerpt

/ FIGURE 2

Verify evidence of review.

3.2 After a contract has been awarded, a review must be conducted to ensure that the award is the same as what was quoted. Any differences from the quotation must be analyzed to ensure WeSupplyIt (WSI) can perform to the modied requirements and that it still meets WSI business objectives. In addition, EDIs, releases or other orders such as those described in section 3.1 above must be reviewed to ensure the right part numbers, quantities and delivery dates or methods are specied in accordance with contract agreements.

Ask salesperson about this role.

3.3 The WSI-Orlando sales department serves as the negotiator between the production department and the customer for signicant contract issues. Any additions or modications to the original request for quotation (RFQ) shall be documented with the customer and the sales department. A revised or modied RFQ from the customer shall be led as an addendum or a replacement to the original RFQ.

Verify records of modications maintained.

3.4 The sales department shall notify a customer in writing if the exceptions are not properly documented in the contract. Acceptance of the contract/purchase order/ letter of intent without any exception letter will mean that differences are resolved.

Have sales walk you through how info entered. What info is required? Can it be changed? Do all salespeople have same understanding? Interview several. * Key input! 3.5 Normal contract review consists of completing the blanket or lump sum checklist in the contract tracking database. A partial Spend some contract will be acceptable if all checklist items are answered time reviewing yes. Should an item not be checked (is no), the account database! manager/sales engineer must complete corrective action for
the item. This must be done for each item not checked yes.

February 2008 QP 35

Developing an audit checklist is not difcult, assuming the auditor has taken the time to review the procedures and understand the audit areas assigned.
their annotated copies of the procedures as their checklist. While very experienced auditors might be able to get away with this, I do not suggest it and would absolutely not recommend it for new or part-time auditors. The annotated procedure simply is not a good vehicle for structuring the ow of questions during an audit. In addition, it does not provide any space for the documentation of such factors as objective evidence and samples pulled during the audit. A well-constructed checklist can structure the ow of questions and provide space for documentationand much more. Step 2: Populate the checklist. Once initial reviews are completed, the procedures are examined and the areas that need to be evaluated during the audit are identied, the auditor is ready to construct a checklist. The process of developing the checklist is not difcult if the guidelines presented so far have been followed. Start with a blank checklist template. I favor the two-column format, but other formats are acceptable. The audit program manager should use whatever format his or her auditors nd most comfortable. Auditors should consider each requirement or topic they want to verify and put the requirement on the checklist in the form of a questionjust as they would ask it. Continue to add questions to the checklist based on areas that need to be veried. Figure 3 shows a sample of a checklist, along with how it was generated using the marked up process procedure. Step 3: Add space for objective evidence. Next, auditors should consider what records, lists or other objective evidence they will want to see to verify the requirement is being met. Put elds in the right column of the checklist to serve as reminders of what to look for and as documentation of the audit. An example of a completed checklist is shown in Figure 4. The auditors process of listing the ob-

Populating the audit checklist

Procedure excerpt

/ FIGURE 3

jective evidence he or she will need to see on the audit checklist also helps ensure some thought is given to how to verify the auditees response. Many new auditors focus only on the questions they want to ask. When they get into the audit, they sometimes panic and either skip verication altogether or ask the auditee to provide some examples. Focusing only on the questions to ask provides little assurance the process is being maintained, while skipping verication or asking the auditee for examples violates

2.1 The salesperson has the responsibility to determine all customer requirements necessary for an accurate quotation. Customer drawings, sketches, functional specications or the inquiry or request for quotation are all sources of primary information. The salesperson shall contact the customer to obtain additional information when needed to fully understand the customers expectations or as needed to complete the quotation. Volumes, delivery dates and critical milestone dates are important and must be clearly dened to quote a job.

Verify this info reected in each quotationwhere it came from.

Inquiry review, presentation and proposal generation How are customer requirements determined? What are the sources of information we use? Verify as minimum the following reected: Volumes Delivery and/or critical milestone dates Audit checklist

one of the most basic rules of auditing: Never let the auditee pick the samples. Putting the verication strategy on the checklist helps avoid these situations and can lead to signicant improvements in the effectiveness of the audit. If the auditor cant come up with a verication

36 QP www.qualityprogress.com

AUDITING

Completed checklist
When would it be appropriate to ask the manufacturing plant for cost information? Increase sample set to include any circumstances the auditee states would necessitate getting cost info, if necessary. Verify information obtained. Who reviews the nal quotation? What do they look for? Verify evidence of review by salesperson and next level manager. Also, verify use of review checklist. How do we track our outstanding quotations? Do we use this information for anything else? How effective is our quotation process? Verify quotation log is being maintained and updated. Verify that information is being analyzed/trended. How do we track proposal backlog? Have we set any criteria for the backlog? How are we doing? Verify backlog is being tracked. Review backlog trend. If backlog is signicant or getting worse, ask whats being done.

/ FIGURE 4

Overall evaluation: Did not check. Did not apply. Conforms. No deciencies identied. Opportunity for improvement. Detail below. Area of strength. Detail below. Be specic. Nonconformity. Provide details below. Reference the specic requirement violated. Projects/contract examined Quotation reviewed? 1. 2. 3. 4. Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No Quotation tracked? Yes No Yes No Yes No Yes No

CALL FOR ARTICLES

Write an article for the top publication in the quality eld. Go to www.qualityprogress. com. Click on Author Guidelines at the bottom of the page and youll nd QPs 2008 editorial planner. There are also submission guidelines and contact information. Here are some of the topics QP plans to feature in the second half of 2008:

June
Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

Quotation process effectiveness Period Percentage won Backlog (no.) 1 ___ ___ 2 ___ ___ 3 ___ ___ 4 ___ ___ 5 ___ ___

July
Cost of Quality (Economic Case for Quality)

August
method during his or her planning (and this sometimes happens), its probably time to get some help from the audit program manager.
NOTE

never conned to only asking questions from the checklist. The checklist is a tool, not procedure. Make it a tool that works.

Quality Around the Globe

Improve the entire process

An audit checklist can be used to improve the entire audit process, from planning to execution and through post-audit documentation. Be creative and develop an audit checklist format that meets the needs of both the auditor and the audit program. Finally, always remember an auditor is

The author adapted this article from chapter ve of his book The Management System Auditors Handbook (ASQ Quality Press, 2006). JOE KAUSEK is president of Joe Kausek & Associates, Mobile, AL. He earned a masters degree from Point Park College in Pittsburgh. Kausek is a senior member of ASQ and a certied Six Sigma Black Belt. His most recent ASQ Quality Press book is Environmental Management Quick and Easy.

September
Innovation & Technology

October
Standards & Auditing

November
Quality Culture/Change Management

SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE

If you have any auditing best practices to share with colleagues, please post them on the Quality Progress Discussion Board at www.qualityprogress.com, or e-mail them to editor@asq.org.

February 2008 QP 37