Post-Audit Post

The follow-up audit went down Wednesday morning.

This was a big deal, as the original audit (before my time) did not go so well. It has been a spectre looming over my tenure here like a scary boogie man. It has been a career -ender for some.

Two higher-ups from the home office came in to town for this audit, just to make sure everything was going to go OK.

The auditor arrived mid-morning and after a brief meeting we went out to the plant to follow our process flow from beginning to end.

The months of hammering on the quality system really paid off.

I was able to provide objective evidence to answer his questions. This is a very good thing during an audit.

By 11:30 the whole thing was over.

The auditor said that based on his findings he would revise the results of the previous audit to reflect all the corrective actions he found in place since his last visit. (The revised scorecard is expected at week's end.)

To coin a phrase, "WHEW!"

I received some "atta boys" from the various managers.

The fact of the matter is, that no ONE person can make a quality system work within a plant.

EVERYBODY needs to participate. People have to be trained. Work instructions have to be followed. Documentation has to be maintained.

If a company expects one lone Quality Engineer to run around like Jimminy Cricket and nag people into compliance that company (and that Quality Engineer) is doomed.

I rode out the rest of the day on a professional state of bliss.

Of course the next email, the next phone call or the next problem on the floor is all it took to drag me back down to reality.

But, gosh, it was so nice to get that audit out of the way!

Thanks for everyone's prayers, encouragement and good vibes.