The Key Steps Of The Internal Audit Process Of As 9100

By Author: Smith
Total Articles: 140
Comment this article

The AS9100 standard is a set of guidelines for implementing a Quality Management System for use by aviation, space, and defense organizations (often referred to as the aerospace industry). The AS9100 standard is formed by the International Aerospace Quality Group, which are representatives of aerospace companies worldwide. Though, AS9100 is not maintained by the International Organization for Standardization. Instead, it builds on the requirements for a Quality Management System as defined in the ISO 9001 Quality Management System requirements.

While ISO 9001 is widely accepted across many industries, AS9100 is specially designed for aerospace businesses and includes some legal criteria. The AS9100 Revision D standard was developed by the IAQG by taking the entirety of the ISO 9001:2015 requirements and adding specific aerospace Quality Management System requirements while leaving all other requirements intact. These additions are highlighted in bold and italics throughout the document.

The internal audit process is a methodical way to assess if the processes are producing the results that were anticipated. ...
... By doing this, an organization can check that its processes are proceeding as intended and are thus properly implemented, and also can evaluate how effective the current procedures are. Here are some of the AS9100 Rev D standard say about the six stages required to execute internal audits in clause 9.2.2.

1. Audit program – Planning and establishing the audit program is the first step.

• Who is in charge of the audits?
• What are the procedures that need to be audited, when will they be audited, and how frequently?
• How will the organization present the audit results for evaluation to the auditees and management? This first step can take some time since it considers the significance of the processes, upcoming organizational changes, and findings from earlier audits.

2. Audit criteria and scope – the organization must specify the scope of each audit as well as the results that can be anticipated from the procedure. For example, if the purchasing department follows a certain purchasing procedure, the actions of the department would be the scope and the specific purchasing procedure would be the audit criteria. Also, without a documented method, Organization will need to specify the requirements for procedures.

3. Select auditors & perform an audit – How will the audits be carried out? Also, how will organizations make sure their audits are unbiased? as well as what qualifications are internal auditors must have? Then, the auditor will carry out the audits by looking through AS 9100 documents, watching auditees in action, or speaking with people about the procedures. Objective evidence will be used to support audit observations, and these auditors may also spot audit non-conformances and areas for improvement.

4. Report audit results – The audit is useless if there is no audit reporting. The immediate management of the process sometimes referred to as the process owner, must be aware of the audit's findings. This enables them to determine whether their process is working as it should, whether improvement efforts are effective, and whether a problem arises. To apply suitable resources, the top management review must also include a report on audit findings.

5. Correction and corrective action – Problems need to be fixed right away when they arise. If the issue is systematic, a proper investigation into corrective action must be conducted to identify and eliminate the root cause to prevent future occurrences of the same or comparable issues. Even though the internal audit process is designed to check for compliance with the process criteria, if a fault is discovered it must be fixed for the process to resume performing its intended function.

6. Maintain audit records – For the audit program to work, audit reports are a requirement. The audit record contains a record of how prior audits were considered in step 1's audit plans. Keep in mind that the internal audit process needs to be audited by the organization or the certification body, just like any other procedure. Also, Organization must prove both the effectiveness of the procedure and its compliance with the specified outcomes using these records. It is challenging to audit the audit process without records.