A Revamp of the Internal Quality Auditing Process

Abstract

In this paper, the researchers have described the development program used for the internal quality auditors of Company A. This program was developed to increase the competency of the auditors so that they could effectively conduct both internal and external audits. The competency of the auditors was an important requirement according to the various management standards like the ISO 14001:2015, ISO9001:2015, IATF 16949:2016, ISO45001:2018 and IECQ QC 0800000. Furthermore, this program exposed all the auditors to the internal audits according to the requirements of the ISO 9001 standards and the in-process quality audits, which were divided into 6 areas for 8 months. For ensuring the success of the program, 15% of the auditors’ Key Responsibility Areas (KRA) were attributed to their performance and their contribution to the general internal auditing program. The different Subject Matter Experts (SME) trained the auditors based on the requirements of the managing standards and their auditing skills. A monitoring technique was established for assessing the competency level of the auditors. The auditors, who showed a good performance in these programs, were recommended to partake in the Lead Assessors program and were asked to audit local or internal- external suppliers.

QMS external quality auditors’ education framework: findings from an iterative Delphi study

“…The performance of EQAs has been debated by quality academics, practitioners and client organisations alike, with auditor competence being explicitly linked to the success of both the audit itself, and the organisation and supply chain being audited (Rahmat et al , 2020; Sari and Susanto, 2018). It has long been argued by these commentators that the QMS audit should not only be about compliance checking, but its results should help contribute to the improvement of the system and the auditee organisation and that this applies to external (3rd party) as well as internal (1st party) auditing (Abdolshah et al , 2006; Alič and Rusjan, 2010; Arvanitoyannis et al , 2016; Chatzoglou et al , 2015; Chiarini, 2017; Dalgleish, 2006).…”

“…Rahmat et al (2020) provide a “revamped” internal quality audit process to increase audit effectiveness within an organisation in Malaysia. They provide a list of requirements at each skill level from 1 to 5, representing a hierarchy of competence for auditors.…”

“…In addition to specialist knowledge, auditors must, of course, also possess formal knowledge of underlying quality principles, relevant standards and general audit practice. Rahmat et al (2020) provide a "revamped" internal quality audit process to increase audit effectiveness within an organisation in Malaysia. They provide a list of requirements at each skill level from 1 to 5, representing a hierarchy of competence for auditors.…”