Purpose and area of application

Product audits serve as a management tool for the independent evaluation of products from the customer‘s perspective (both internal and external) and identify any potential for continuous improvement.

During product audits, the specified product properties and requirements (e.g. conformity with the parts list, product dimensions, material, functionality, reliability, packaging, marking) as well as known customer expectations are determined in a certain product condition (e.g. packed, ready for delivery, after use).

Product audits can be conducted on:

intermediate and/or end products, individual parts

e.g. screws, hoses, crankcases

assembly parts

e.g. electronic components, control units, transmissions, bodies,

complete vehicles

Product audits do not serve:

as repetition of in-process tests,

as direct process control and process confirmation,

as substitute for the CoP (Conformity of Production) tests in accordance with approval laws or regulatory requirements,

as the sole evidence of compliance with the customer‘s specification based on layout inspection and functional testing according to IATF 16949, or

as the sole evidence of the effectiveness of the quality management system.