Factory audits and process audits are important positions in consignment production (starting up new production). There are three points to consider when conducting a factory audit.

How To Conduct A Successful Factory Audits Efficiently?

Factory audit and process audits actually visit partner factories to check the status and documents of the site, but effective audits have not always been carried out, and various problems have arisen since mass production began. Recently, due to corona, it may be difficult to visit factories and conduct audits, and there have been cases where accurate audits cannot be conducted. Let’s take a closer look at the key points of factory auditing.

Point 1: Clarify the Purpose of Factory Audit

Factory audits and process audits vary greatly depending on the purpose. So, follow these steps to prepare.

(1) Categorized by Audit Purpose

I want to check the management status because I want to develop new cooperating companies

Is the manufacturing process suitable for the launch of new products, etc.?

Confirm measures to prevent recurrence in the event of a defect

After mass production starts, check the factory environment, work method and quality

(2) Classification by Audit Method

  • Audits in accordance with iso-9000 management systems
  • Audit of manufacturing processes in accordance with product standards and manufacturing procedures
  • Audits in accordance with standards and laws for factory equipment, machinery, etc.
  • Audit whether the agreement between the two companies complies with the terms of the agreement
  • Audits in line with original audit items
  • And so on.

As a clerical street, a uniform audit doesn’t make much sense. We will clarify the purpose and narrow down the points of the audit. Once you have clarified your purpose, create an audit check sheet. Check sheets can be sent to the person you are auditing in advance and prepared to save time. In actual audits, we review the site, regulations, procedures, and records for each audit item. Make sure that the rules match the actual site and records.

(3) Know the Limits of Process Audits

The audit item is mainly to check whether the QCD can be secured for 4M items such as work orders, inspection standards, and worker education of production processes.

What’s particularly important is that

  • Are there enough measures to prevent work mistakes in important processes?
  • Is it visualized so that abnormalities and defects can be immediately understood?
  • If an abnormality is found in the process or product, who will process it and how?

However, these are difficult to distinguish, is the quality really guaranteed? We don’t know. When you start production, various problems arise.

Point 2: Clearly Convey the Required Level of Quality Control

So how can you do plant diagnostics and process audits more effectively? Even if you go on that day without prior knowledge and try to audit and make a diagnosis on that day, it is difficult even for auditors who have stepped on a considerable number of places.

Therefore, when conducting an audit, it is necessary to clearly communicate the quality level required of the supplier in advance. It is not a fundamental solution just by not conveying this and sticking to the problem in the near term. In other words, it’s about showing the specific level of quality you want and getting them to do so.

As a system of management, what are the necessary regulations such as education and training, QC process diagrams, periodic inspections of equipment and machinery, quality judgment standards, corrective actions, 4M (Man, Method, Machine, Material) change reports, etc., and what records should be stored.

We will clarify the requirements for these requirements, clearly notify you when you should achieve this level, and conduct a confirmation audit to see if the required level has been achieved when the deadline is reached.

Point 3: View Activity Records

(1) Don’t get caught up in the visible part

When conducting process audits, is the 5S well delivered? Are work standards properly posted in the process? Is the equipment maintained? Along the confirmation items prepared in advance, such as, we will check with your eyes.

In other words, is daily management properly influencing quality directly? and see with your own eyes.

However, if the factory has been in advance foretold to conduct an audit, the factory often cleans the factory, develops work standards for audits, and responds in advance.

(2) What is the true form of the factory?

At that moment, it is important to see, but it is necessary to confirm the true appearance of the factory. For example, by checking the “record of daily activities” in chronological order, the deception of temporary use does not work.

What is a record of my activity? For example,

  • Investigation of the cause of the failure, record of countermeasures
  • Multi-skilled worker’s education plan and its achievements
  • Details and results of initiatives to increase productivity
  • Initiatives and progress or results of inventory reduction　
  • Other: Plan and its progress or results

Even if it is not neatly organized, this factory passes if such activities are continuously carried out, PDCA can be confirmed to be circoting, and if you can see traces of effort. If the explanation only of the mouth is not accompanied by execution at all from beginning to end, you may judge that it is a failure.

(3) Are human resources growing at the factory?

And whether managers are giving them an environment where human resources can grow.

In order to continuously improve the factory, rather than temporarily, we need good human resources. It is whether the management understands it and develops human resources. This is also obvious if you look at the record of the activity.

Process audits audit places that are not apparently known. A good company trusted by customers should have built its current position by emphasizing software over hardware, rather than being a company that is building up know-how in an invisible place, rather than a company that implements high-performance machines.

Among the economic activities of coexisting with corona, there is a limit to the audit of local and on-site confirmationism. As mentioned above, there are many items that can be confirmed remotely, such as activity performance records. With three points in mind, we ask that you consider how to conduct more effective and efficient factory audits.