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Home | Resources | Auditingpapers | Auditingcontinualimprovement

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Auditingcontinualimprovement

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TheAuditingPracticeGroupexplainshowmuchimprovementis'enough'

Technicalnotes
INform

Itshouldbeemphasizedthatthe
requirementinISO9001isfor
continualimprovementofthe
effectivenessofthequality
managementsystem.
Continualimprovementemanates
fromtheobjectivessetbytop
management,whichshould(atleast)
address:theimprovementofinternal
efficiency(fortheorganizationto
remaineconomicallycompetitive),
individualcustomerneedsandthe
levelofperformancethatthemarket
normallyexpects.

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Forexample,intheaeronauticalsector,the'acceptablerate'ofnonconformingdelivered
productis0%,soitwouldnotbeusefulfortheorganizationtosetobjectivesforan
'improvement'inthisrate.However,itwouldbeusefulfortheorganizationtohaveobjectives
aimedatimprovingitsinternalefficiencyanditscompetitiveness,forexample,through
innovation.
Theauditorshouldseektodetermineiftheauditeehasattemptedtosetobjectivesthat
establishthecorrelationbetweenthethreefactorsof:corporateobjectives,customerneeds,
andmarketexpectations.Thereafter,itisuptotheorganizationtobalancetheneedfor
improvinginternalefficiencyandtheneedtoprogresswithexternalperformance(although
thetwoareveryoftencloselyrelated).Noonefactorinisolationcanbeconsidered'enough'
or'notenough'.
Oneareawhichcanbeproblematicfortheauditoristodeterminewhatareasonablemarket
benchmarkmightbe.Continuingwiththeaboveaeronauticalexample,iftheorganization
announcedthatithadimprovedfromalevelof50%nonconformingproductdeliveredto
40%,thiswoulddemonstratecontinualimprovement,butwouldhardlybeacceptable,given
theindustrysector's0%normalrate.However,ifitannouncedthatithadsetanobjectiveto
improveitsperformancefrom0.50%to0.40%,thiswouldbemuchnearerthemarketnorm.
Theonlyrealsolutionfortheauditoristoverifyhowtheorganizationhasdeterminedthis
proposedrateofimprovement,howithasevaluatedtheassociatedrisks,andhowthis
relatestocustomerrequirementsandthemonitoringoffeedbackoncustomersatisfaction.It
wouldbealmostimpossibletoissueanonconformancereportstating:Therewasnot
enoughcontinualimprovement.

Therightinformation
Theauditorhastoverifyhowtheoverallcorporateobjectiveshavebeentranslatedinto
internalrequirementsthroughouttheappropriateprocesses,andhowtheserequirements
arecommunicatedandmonitored.So,theauditorshouldlookforevidencethatthe
organizationisanalyzingdatafromprocessmonitoringandisthentakingtheresultsforward
forevaluatingprocessefficiencyand/orimprovingprocessoutput.Onepointthatshouldbe
specificallyexaminedisconsistencyofthewayinwhichtheimprovementofanyone
processcontributestomeetingtheoverallobjectives,inordertoensurethatthiswillnot
causeconflictinachievingtheotherobjectives.
ISO9001listsanumberofareasthatanauditorcanassesstoobtainevidenceofboth
planningandactualimplementationofimprovement.Examplesofareaswherethequality
managementsystemcanbeimprovedinclude,butarenotlimitedto:
Internalcommunications
Followupactivities
Documentedprocedures
Theeffectivenessofmanagementreviewmeetings
Customerfeedbacksystems
Trainingprogrammes,e.g.formanagementorforinternalauditors
Thetypeofinformationthatanauditorneedstolookforisevidenceofhowthecorporate
objectivesaretranslatedintospecificQMSobjectives.Forexample,anorganizationcould
setanobjectivetoreducecustomercomplaintsby30%.Thetopmanagementanalysis
showsthat50%ofcomplaintsconcernoverduedeliveries.Theauditorshouldthenlookfor

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evidencethattheorganizationismonitoringandanalyzingkeyaspectsofitsschedulingand
planningactivities,throughoutitsprocessesandtheprocessinterfaces,toreducedelays.

ImprovementoftheQMS
Itisimportanttounderstandthatcontinualimprovementdoesntnecessarilyjustmean
continualimprovementofproductorprocess,butcanandshouldalsoapplytothequality
managementsystemitself.
Anauditorshouldrememberthatitwouldbeunrealistictoexpectanorganizationtomake
progressonallpotentialimprovementssimultaneously.Continualimprovementshouldbe
interpretedasarecurring(stepbystep)activity.Whatthismeansisthatwhenopportunities
forimprovementareidentifiedandwhensuchimprovementsarejustified,anorganization
needstodecidehowtheyaretobeimplemented,basedontheavailableresources.
Eachimprovementwillrequirethecommitmentofresources,whichmayneedprioritization
bytopmanagement,especiallywhereinvestmentsareneeded.Instead,theauditorshould
seektoensurethattheimprovementobjectivesareconsistentoverall,andarecoherentwith
thetrilogyoffactorsmentionedabove.
However,anorganizationthatdoesnothaveapolicyandobjectivesrelatingtocontinual
improvementisclearlynotcomplyingwiththestandard.Similarly,theabsenceofany
evidenceofimprovementonatleastoneoftheseaspectswouldmeanthatan
organizationsqualitypolicyisnotinlinewithISO9001.
Onewordofwarning:thereisnorequirementthattheorganizationshouldsetobjectivesfor
improvementofallitsprocessesatanyonetime.Asintheaboveexampleonreducing
customercomplaints,someprocessesmaynotbedeemedbytopmanagementtocontribute
significantlytothereductionofdelays,sonaturallytheorganizationwouldnotconcentrate
ontheseareas.
Ifseniormanagementhassetarealisticobjectiveforaprocess,andthereisnoevidenceof
improvement,thisinformationmustbefedbackintothemanagementreviewsothatsenior
managementcandecidewhattypeofactionisappropriateforexample,readjustingthe
objectiveorprovidingothermeanstoimpactontheprocess.
Abouttheauthor
TheISO9001AuditingPracticesGroupisaninformalgroupofqualitymanagementsystemexperts,
auditorsandpractitionersdrawnfromtheISOtechnicalcommittee176qualitymanagementandquality
assurance(ISOTC176),andtheInternationalAccreditationForum.Ithasdevelopedanumberof
guidancepapersandpresentationsthatcontainexplanationsabouttheauditingofqualitymanagement
systems.Thesereflecttheprocessbasedapproachthatisessentialforauditingtherequirementsof
ISO9001.

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