Feature By Lee A.

Pielaet

Quality Auditing vs. Inspection

A look at the changing role of CWIs

The role of a Certified Welding In-

spector (CWI) is cut and dry. After an
inspection is completed, they must de-
termine if the work is compliant, and
if it’s not, they must determine what
needs to be done to get the part or
workpiece into compliance. As CWIs,
this may be the majority of what they
do. Enter the Quality Management
System (QMS).
CWIs, as quality professionals, may
be asked to perform or assist the inter-
nal audit of their companies’ QMS or a
second-party supplier audit. They may
be taken outside their comfort zone and
asked to look into areas that are inde-
pendent of their normal functions. Just Fig. 1 — What are the key things to review? What are the criteria used to measure against?
like a welding operator not doing a final
inspection of their work, so it is for the
internal auditor.
An internal auditor should be inde-
pendent of the function they are au-
diting. Typically, the findings of quali-
ty control inspectors do not lead to
writing a corrective action request on
processes involving executive manage-
ment. Auditors, on the other hand,
will write corrective action requests if
an audit finding requires it.
Companies that use ISO 9001,
Quality Management Systems —
Requirements, or American Institute of
Steel Construction, AISC 207-16, Cer-
tification Standard for Steel Fabrication
and Erection, and Manufacturing of Met-
al Components for certification, for ex- Fig. 2 — Inspect, review, collect information, and obtain evidence. (Photo courtesy of Acero
ample, list particular procedures re- Estrella.)
quired for each certification. It must
be considered that processes in manu-
facturing and fabrication start well be- party audits for a registrar, or perhaps auditors are, and if someone in the
fore they ever hit the average Quality audits for a certification body — Fig. 1. group is a subject-matter expert — they
Control Inspector (QCI). The first step could be the same person. Are the right
in the operations is estimating, and Audit Planning and people assigned to the areas that need
to be audited? The lead auditor should
shipping a fabricated member or prod- Strategy be experienced in auditing and help
uct from the company is the final step.
CWIs must know their client and Planning an internal, second-party, guide the other internal auditors (see
their criteria first, whether they are con- supplier, or third-party audit is the first the links in the sidebar). In some com-
ducting second-party, supplier, or third- step. It should be determined who the panies, the lead is not involved with the

26 Inspection Trends / August 2020

Definition of Inspection
• As defined by the most re-
cent ISO 9000:2015, Quality
Management Systems — Funda-
mentals and Vocabulary, inspec-
tion is “Determination of
conformity to specified re-
quirements.”
• Inspection is associated
with inspecting a product or a
service to make sure it is
right.
• Weld visual examination
(VT) or other nondestructive
examination (NDE) methods
are an excellent example of in- Fig. 3 — Analyze and exercise professional judgment. (Photo courtesy of Acero Estrella.)
spection. Does the specific
weldment conform?

Definition of Audit
• As defined by the most re-
cent ISO 9000:2015 standard,
an audit is a “systematic, inde-
pendent and documented
process for obtaining objective
evidence and evaluating it ob-
jectively to determine the ex-
tent to which audit criteria are
fulfilled.”
• Auditing is associated with
a higher-level review of the
system that is designed to
produce and inspect the prod-
uct or service.
• An audit reviews a manu-
facturing process from start
to finish.
Useful Links
What Is Root Cause Analysis
(RCA)?
asq.org/quality-resources/root-
cause-analysis
Audit Versus Inspection? —
Ask the Standards Experts
asqasktheexperts.com/2016/02
/02/audit-versus-inspection/
Fig. 4 — Evaluate and assess the impact of evidence. What is the root cause? (Photo
courtesy of Acero Estrella.)
actual audit but is an individual who re-
views the audit process. Many audits,
such as AISC’s, have included confor-
mance to normative documents like
those of the American Welding Society
(AWS), the Research Council on Struc-
tural Connections, the Society for Pro-
tective Coatings (SSPC), and others.
Fieldwork is critical. As auditors,
CWIs must fully grasp the subject being
audited or have a subject-matter expert
available to help them understand, as
false findings in an audit are not benefi-
cial. Inspectors should take the time to
understand clearly the point the auditee
is trying to communicate. There is time
to review the details and measure them
against the criteria at the end of the au-
dit — this is not a product inspection.
Although it may be easy to jump to
a conclusion, an auditor must take the
time to understand the potential find-
ings before deciding on an action.
These are the expectations of a quality
professional — Fig. 2.
Audit Techniques
Some of the techniques CWIs can
apply to aid them in the auditing
process are as follows:
• Taking accurate notes — It is stan-
dard practice to review the findings of
an internal audit during a company's
annual quality review.
• Explaining the findings to execu-
tive management — The language used
should be clear to a wide range of

August 2020 / Inspection Trends 27

readers. Assumed knowledge can make
the document unclear. For example,
most of the readers of this article would
believe AWS was the American Welding
Society, but the person on the street
might think about Amazon World Serv-
ices. The CWI will not be there to elabo-
rate or justify the finding.
• Determining Root Cause —
Throughout the audit process, the CWI
should consider the root cause of the
findings. Root cause analysis (RCA) or
the root cause is discovered in many dif-
ferent ways. Asking the five whys is what
I find to be the easiest to start with. List
the problem and ask why did it happen?
Then, why did that happen? If there is a
why that is out of the CWI’s control, go
back to the one before — the reason why
is never because of a person — Fig. 3.
We must also focus on the process.
Were they adequately trained? Was the
trainer qualified to do the training?
Did the company have a training
28 Inspection Trends / August 2020
guideline? Who hired them, and what
were the minimum criteria to be em-
ployed for that position? Auditors are
looking at the root cause to write their
findings — Fig. 4. The auditee is look-
ing at the root cause to help find an ac-
tion to prevent reoccurrence, typically,
in a Corrective Action Request (CAR).
A quick analysis may lead the CWI
to a more profound reason for the
nonconforming process during the in-
ternal audit. In some cases, the CWI
may go to an area that was not in the
original plan. It is considered the audit
path and is quite reasonable in the au-
dit process, even though it is outside
of the original scope of the audit.
Reporting the Findings
Some of the steps CWIs can take to
report the findings of and audit are as
follows:
• When findings are not okay, they
must be reported.
• Most audit reports contain only the
facts that support a nonconformity or
noncompliance.
• If one of the audit objectives is to
identify opportunities for improve-
ment, the findings might include ob-
servations of inefficiency.
• Auditors should review findings
and any other information relevant to
the audit objectives.
• Reviewing findings and other rele-
vant information brings the audit full-
circle when outputs are compared to
input requirements.
LEE A. PIELAET
(lpielaet@pioneersteelservices.com) is
president of Pioneer Steel Services Inc.,
Missoula, Mont. He is a Certified Quality
Auditor (CQA), Certified Welding
Inspectior (CWI), and Certified Welding
Educator (CWE).