It’s been my experience as an auditor and as a consultant that the overwhelming majority of corrective actions originate from customer returns. The good news is that the corrective action request (CAR) process is being utilized to address the cause of these problems. Unfortunately, CARs that arise from audit findings still don’t get the attention they deserve, and which would make them an effective element of a quality management system.Findings resulting from audits conducted by your own internal auditors, regulatory agencies, customers or registrars should all be viewed as opportunities to address the causes of problems and to experience improvement. Because the focus of these audits is to assess conformance to an imposed requirement, the findings are often perceived as intrusions on the real business of the organization, handed down by entities serving their own best interests. Sadly, in some organizations, this perception extends to internal auditors whose work is still viewed strictly as “ISO stuff.” Instead of giving thoughtful consideration to the evidence that has prompted the finding, many companies focus on just putting together a quick plan of action to make the nonconformance disappear from the auditors’ radar. The goal is to “close them out.” Often times, the corrective actions that ensue are little more than lukewarm responses devised to appease the auditor.

 …