Customer Audits in Manufacturing Industry and How to Handle Them

In this article, I will talk about "Customer Audits in the Manufacturing Industry and How to Handle Them". As production engineer in the business-to-business manufacturing industry, we are frequently subjected to customer audits and site visits. In this article, I will provide an overview of how to handle such audits.

【contents】

What is customer audit in the manufacturing industry?
Overview of customer audits in the manufacturing industry
Audits and things to consider on production line
Preparing for audit and common mistakes

What is customer audit in the manufacturing industry?

Being audited means that someone outside the company evaluates your work performance. It's a good opportunity to judge whether it's functioning properly. (* Conversely, a closed work space that is not audited by outside parties can have a negative effect.)

There are different types of audits, such as factory audits and system audits that are performed before new business, and audits called Production Part Approval Process (PPAP) when a new product is produced on new production line. If you're in the purchasing or quality assurance department, you perform similar audits on your own component suppliers.
If you are production engineer, you will be in a position to be audited by customers on the production line.

Overview of customer audits in the manufacturing industry

A general factory audit can be outlined as follows.
It's about the material flow and what they check in each department.

How to receive parts and inventory control (FIFO) in the warehouse
Incoming inspection method of parts, quality control items, inspection frequency, and handling of abnormalities
Audit on the production line (*more on later)
Equipment maintenance system (skills, spare parts inventory management, maintenance plans, downtime trend checks and activities)
Outgoing inspection (inspection items, frequency, handling of abnormalities)

In some cases, the audit may be completed in one day. Normally, the audit will take 2-3 days to complete. To perform a reliable audit, the auditor must be well qualified, so the best auditor will come to your company. The respondent will be at the level of the department director.

Project managers, sales personnel and quality assurance personnel will escort the auditors. When it's your department's turn, the people in each department will attend.

Audits and things to consider on production line

Audit items on the production line will include followings. Production engineer or line supervisor will attend to the auditor.

The control plan details
Consistency of equipment parameters and control plans
Consistency of production documents
Records and checks
Masterwork confirmation (calibration registration and due date)
Masterwork actual operation check
Operator training records (process understanding and quality judgment)
skills matrix
Certification Method for Special Process Operators
KPI(status of improvement activities, such as monitoring productivity and defect rates)

The audit is guided by the field documents. In the case of production floor, the control plan is the upper level document and the production documents (operation manuals and check sheets) are the lower level documents. Each item in the control plan is checked to ensure that it is properly managed and aligned as documented.

Therefore, you should review your control plan over and over again. If there is even one inconsistency with the field operation, not only will it be difficult to explain during the audit, but also the reliability of the production floor will be questioned. And content of the audit will become more severe.

The auditor also asks questions directly to line operators. Whether they understand the operation correctly, the criteria for determining quality, how to handle abnormalities, and whether they understand the impact of anomalous products on the market, and so on.

In some cases, these detailed questions can be avoided. For example, if the country where the factory is located is different from the nationality of the auditor.
However, when they perform an audit, they bring someone who can speak the local language or leave it to someone from their local office. For this reason, it is necessary to ensure a thorough management system at the production floor, including not only documentation but also operator training, on a regular basis.

Preparing for audit and common mistakes

Finally, based on my experience with audits, here are some of the most common mistakes that production engineering engineers make.

The quality of preparation varies greatly depending on the level of the person in charge. When a new production line is installed, debugging the equipment can be difficult and the status of production line is not good.
The priorities required for production line start-up and audit preparation are different, so the following examples are frequently seen.

It's not enough for the equipment to operate properly.
Equipment parameters are loose (the control range is wider than it should be, to reduce errors).
Poka-yoke is not working (poka-yoke function that was supposed to be included is off).
Production document and control plans are inconsistent.
No registration numbers and calibration deadlines for masterworks and instruments
No evidence of parameter verification of special processes, or no immediate answer
Lack of transparency in internal release procedures (e.g., management reviews, etc., not conducted or understood)

The only way to get through an audit successfully is to go through it again and again to understand the point. After a number of experiences, you will find that the auditors are asking the same questions.

If you can afford it, you should buy and study ISO and IATF books. There are standards for audit items, and auditors perform audits based on those standards. If you don't have a lot of time to prepare, you should conduct a number of internal audits to improve the errors and practice the audit before real audit day.

Less than a few audit findings are the target.
If you're getting dozens of findings, you should review your normal workflow.

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Customer Audits in Manufacturing Industry and How to Handle Them

What is customer audit in the manufacturing industry?

Overview of customer audits in the manufacturing industry

Audits and things to consider on production line

Preparing for audit and common mistakes

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