As with any other process, auditing requires planning, definition, consistent implementation and control to be effective. Without these features, auditing is a resource-draining waste of time.

Internal auditing is one of the elements that makes your quality management system (QMS) complete. It fits snugly into the "check" component of your plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. Internal auditing isn't a haphazard or optional occurrence that you tolerate to maintain certification. It's an assessment tool that provides a reliable indicator of the integrity of your organization's system and processes and their capacity to support your goals.

Audits help you to identify problems, risks, good practices and opportunities to better serve your customers. The information garnered from well-conducted audits is a company asset that far outweighs the modest investment in time and training. The manner in which the organization values and uses this asset is partially dependent on how audits are performed.

 …