Originally Posted By: Kestas
Originally Posted By: BHopkins
Argh! I hate audits!
I work for an automotive Tier 1 / Tier 2 supplier, so we go through all kinds of audits. We go through a TS 14001 environmental audit once a year I think. But it is the easiest of the audits we deal with. No stress at all, except for one or two people in the facility. We go through an IATF audit, which replaced the TS16949, which replaced the ISO 9001 audit, which was supposed have been the all encompassing replacement for all audits from the big 3. Yea, never happened. We still go through audits from GM and others. And each auto manufacturer still issues requirements above and beyond IATF that each supplier has to conform to.
Additionally, our company has a Quality Systems group which conducts internal audits to the IATF standards, to help us prepare for the annual external audit. Then our production lines have to go through a number of audits. Management and Engineering performs what we call Layered Process Audits. And 5S audits. There is no end to audits.
I'm getting close enough to retirement that I can now count the number of external audits I have to endure. If I weren't, I think I would change careers to find a job where the audits aren't such a PITA.
This mirrors my experience as well. I try to steer college hopefuls away from this type of working environment.
that doesn't make much sense to me. Audits are a pain, but they serve important purposes, and at least in my industry (Pharmaceuticals), they are critically important to ensure patience safety, and efficacy. And these industries also usually pay quite well for the engineering, and quality jobs.