Process Driven Comprehensive Auditing Using PDCA to Train Internal Auditors By: Paul C. Palmes, CMQ/OE Process Driven Comprehensive Auditing is an entirely new approach to internal auditing. It was designed for the novice internal auditor to provide an easy way to understand methods for conducting a highly effective internal process audit. Today, the quality community is confused about the proper approach to "process auditing," and auditor training hasn't yet discovered a simple technique to educate and train new auditors. Instead, most auditor training programs are still little more than a continuation of past programs that were bewildering and often irrelevant to students, most of whom are rank and file workers in their organizations. Plant workers, maintenance staff and occasional office members make up the average list of internal auditors in most companies. Typically not drawn from the quality department, they begin their experience as new auditors by trying to grapple with the details and subtleties of their quality management system, or "QMS." In fact, most 16 hour internal auditor training programs spend the greater part of the first day explaining and examining the QMS, much to the confusion and frustration of students who are not normally accustomed to quickly digesting such concentrated and detailed information. Adding insult to injury, the second day is often a role playing exercise in which the new student is somehow transformed into a qualified auditor, ready to face the real world of internal auditing. Unfortunately, this approach does not work satisfactorily and is often quite counterproductive because: Traditional auditor training is devoted to compliance, not process auditing techniques. Until now, an easy to understand process auditing model has been a remote and difficult concept to teach. Auditor training that concentrates first on the elements of the ISO 9001:2000 Standard is destined to intimidate, not empower, the novice auditor. Faced with a mountain of carefully worded and technical sounding information, the thrill of volunteering is quickly replaced by other less-expansive emotions, namely fatigue, helplessness and frustration. Non of these feelings are conducive to learning. Auditors are typically chosen from the most inquisitive, bright and responsible people within the organization. They deserve an approach that appeals to these positive traits rather than forcing them to essentially memorize a bewildering amount of information before they can apply any of it as auditors. Worst of all is training that essentially convinces them that they will never grasp the foundational information followed by meaningless exercises that are only marginally representative of real life conditions. Process Driven Comprehensive Auditing training takes a new approach, one that affirms a student's willingness to learn and contribute to their company as internal auditors by simplifying a complex series of actions. It does this through examination and guided application of Shewhart's "PDCA Cycle." PDCA, the acronym for Plan, Do, Check and Act; is a foundation stone of the ISO 9001:2000 Standard, but until now, it has has been relegated to second tier status as a basic auditing approach. However, the power of PDCA is first and foremost its ability to be easily understood and, when harnessed to the task of training new auditors, PDCA provides an easy to follow and consistent model for true process auditing. By combining a series of general questions drawn from many elements of the ISO 9001:2000 Standard with a cross reference guide to particular elements such as Purchasing, Design, Production Control and Calibration; the methods presented in this two-day class offer a practical and uncomplicated starting point for the first-time auditor. Those who have already adopted this approach overwhelmingly find it to be superior to past methods not only for the simplicity of its design, but because the auditor is not focused first and foremost on compliance to the ISO 9001:2000 Standard. Instead, the new auditor begins his examination of process performance by asking a simple question from which all others eventually follow. The lack of real value in many internal auditing programs has been an alarming and unfortunate outgrowth of the obsession to adhere to the letter rather than the substance and intent of an organization's QMS. Whether a particular dot is dotted, or all purchase orders are signed, has marginal value compared to the discovery of major improvement as a result of a meaningful audit. Evidence of plans and activities that simply parallel elements of the ISO 9001:2000 Standard have their place, but evidence of those same elements at work within the organization coupled to analysis and improvement planning has for more significance to top management and lasting sustainability. The process driven comprehensive auditing approach is designed to find and report process excellence as well as weaknesses to accomplish this objective. PDCA was chosen by the authors of the ISO 9001:2000 Standard because it offers a roadmap to continuous improvement. Little wonder that it is also a roadmap to conducting a readily understood and continuously improving internal audit program. First-time auditors need all the help they can get. This class is designed to provide them and the companies they work for an opportunity to realize success quickly, regardless of their prior experience as auditors or knowledge of their particular QMS. If you are interested in learning more about Process Driven Comprehensive Auditing, you can find this course at www.qcinspect.com/coursedesc_pdca.htm. Paul C. Palms, CMQ/OE Quality Assurance Director Northern Pipe Products, Inc. About the Author Mr. Palmes is currently employed as Quality Assurance Director with Northern Pipe Products, Inc. in Fargo, North Dakota. Paul received his B.S. in Education from Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio and his M.A. in Administration from Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. He is a member of the American Society of Quality and is a Certified Manager of Quality/Organizational Excellence. Paul was recently chosen to represent the United States as lead expert concerning the economics of quality and is working to revise and upgrade this international guidance standard (ISO 10014) as a member of the national delegation. Paul's recent publications include an upcoming book, "Process Driven Comprehensive Auditing," will be published by the ASQ Quality Press in the fall of 2004; and he wrote an October 2003 article in Quality Progress Magazine concerning Sarbanes Oxley compliance and the importance of quality and environmental audits. Comment on this article