How is a process audit different from a product audit?

A product audit checks finished parts against the drawing and the customer's requirements. A process audit checks how the parts are made: the method, the people, the equipment, the measurement and the results. A product audit shows what is wrong today; a process audit shows why it could go wrong tomorrow. This checklist includes a short product check for that reason.

What should a manufacturing process audit checklist include?

Questions on the inputs (material, revisions, traceability), the method (control plan, work instructions, changes, reaction plans), the people (skills sign-off, cover), the equipment (settings, setups, maintenance, mistake-proofing, tooling), the measurement (gauges, check frequency, results, charts), the outputs (product, labels, scrap, records) and the results (measures, actions, past findings).

How often should a process audit be done?

Set it by risk on your audit plan: high-risk processes, and those with complaints or recent changes, more often than stable ones. Layered process audits fill the gap between full audits. In automotive supply, check IATF 16949 and your customers' specific requirements for the frequency they expect.

How do you score a process audit?

Grade every question Conforms, Minor, Major or N/A, then score = Conforms ÷ (Conforms + Minor + Major), with N/A left out, for each group and for the whole audit. Watch the Majors more than the score: in this template any Major, or a score under 90%, means correct it and audit the process again within 30 days. Set your own rule.

Free template

Updated October 31, 2026

Process audit checklist

A process audit checks one manufacturing process against the way it is meant to run. The auditor follows the part from the material that arrives to the parts that leave, watches the work, asks the operators and checks the records against the control plan, the work instructions and the setup sheet. It looks at how parts are made, not only at the parts, so it finds the gaps that make defects before the defects reach the customer. This checklist scopes the process with a turtle diagram (inputs, outputs, with what, with whom, how and results) and has 32 questions in seven groups: inputs, method and controls, people, equipment and settings, measurement, outputs, and results and improvement. Each question is graded Conforms, Minor, Major or N/A against the evidence you write beside it, and a product check of parts you pick yourself sits next to them. Page 3 scores each group (Conforms ÷ graded, with N/A left out) and lists every Minor and Major with a correction, a cause, an action, an owner and a due date. Page 4 is a worked example from a CNC turning cell. The Excel version scores each group and the whole audit, applies the result rule, lists every finding with its status and days late, and holds the worked example. In automotive supply, IATF 16949 clause 9.2.2.3 asks for manufacturing process audits; ISO 9001:2015 clause 9.2 covers internal audits in general.

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Page 1 of the process audit checklist — Turtle diagram scopeInputsMethod and controlsPeople and skillsEquipment and settingsMeasurementProduct checkResults and improvementScore by groupFindings and actionsWorked example

Filled-in Process audit checklist: a CNC turning process for a pump shaft — The same sheet filled in with the worked example (page 4 of the PDF, illustrative numbers). Open full size (opens the picture in a new tab)

When to use it

When to use a process audit checklist

On an audit plan, so every process is audited in turn and the high-risk ones more often.
When a process has customer complaints, rising scrap or the same defect coming back.
After a change: a new machine, a new part, a layout move or new people on the line.
When a customer or a certification body asks how you control a process.
Alongside layered process audits, not in place of them: an LPA checks a few key controls every shift, a process audit checks the whole process less often.

How to fill it in

1
Pick the process from risk
Complaints, scrap, recent changes, new people and the last audit's findings. Send the scope and the time to the process owner a few days ahead.
2
Scope it with the turtle
Write down where the process starts and ends, then its inputs, outputs, equipment, people, documents and measures. The audit tests each box.
3
Follow the part
Start where material arrives and walk to where parts leave. Watch the work first, ask the operator second, check the records third.
4
Check the product yourself
Pick a few finished parts and check them against the drawing. Do not take the parts you are handed.
5
Grade on the evidence
Write the record, the ID or what you watched, then circle C, m, M or N/A. One problem gets one grade, under the question it fits best.
6
Close and follow up
Agree the facts with the process owner before you leave. Every Minor and Major needs a correction, a cause, an action, an owner and a date, and a check that the action worked.

Which audit is which

Process audit vs product audit vs system audit vs layered process audit

Four audits that plants often mix up. They ask different questions, are done by different people and run at a different rhythm.

Audit	What it checks	Who, and how often	Use it when
Process audit (this checklist)	One process from inputs to outputs: method, people, equipment, measurement and results	A trained auditor from outside the process, on the audit plan	You need to know whether the process makes good parts every time, not only today
Product audit	Finished parts against the drawing and the customer's requirements, after they have passed every check	Quality, on a set sample and frequency	You want to see what the customer would see
System audit	The quality system against a standard such as ISO 9001, clause by clause	Internal auditors on the audit programme; the certification body each year	You are preparing for certification or checking the system works
Layered process audit	A few high-risk controls at one station, with the same short list each time	Leaders from team leader to plant manager, every shift to monthly	You want key controls checked daily and leaders on the floor

Process audit (this checklist)
What it checks
One process from inputs to outputs: method, people, equipment, measurement and results
Who, and how often
A trained auditor from outside the process, on the audit plan
Use it when
You need to know whether the process makes good parts every time, not only today
Product audit
What it checks
Finished parts against the drawing and the customer's requirements, after they have passed every check
Who, and how often
Quality, on a set sample and frequency
Use it when
You want to see what the customer would see
System audit
What it checks
The quality system against a standard such as ISO 9001, clause by clause
Who, and how often
Internal auditors on the audit programme; the certification body each year
Use it when
You are preparing for certification or checking the system works
Layered process audit
What it checks
A few high-risk controls at one station, with the same short list each time
Who, and how often
Leaders from team leader to plant manager, every shift to monthly
Use it when
You want key controls checked daily and leaders on the floor

What's on the checklist

The 32 questions on the process audit checklist

Seven groups that follow the turtle diagram, from the inputs a process receives to its results. On the sheet each question is graded C (conforms), m (minor), M (major) or N/A, with the evidence you saw; every Minor and Major goes on page 3 with a correction, a cause and an action.

Inputs: material and information

What the process receives

1The material and components at the station are the part numbers and revisions the order or router calls for
2Every lot in use can be traced back to its receipt or the previous operation
3Incoming material is marked as accepted, and nothing on hold or unmarked is in the work area
4The order, drawing and specification at the station are the current revision

Method: instructions and controls

How the work is meant to be done

5The process has an approved, current control plan, kept at the station or one step away
6The work instruction at the station is the current revision and matches the job running
7The steps you watch match the work instruction, in its order, at its key points
8Changes to the process since the last audit were approved before they were used
9Each check has a reaction plan, and the operator can say what it is

People: skills and roles

Who runs the process

10Everyone working the process is signed off on the skills matrix for this job
11The operator can explain the key quality and safety points of the job in their own words
12People who cover breaks and other shifts are signed off for this job too
13Operators know when to stop the process and who to call, and the escalation route is posted

Equipment, tooling and settings

What the work is done with

14Settings read on the machine match the approved setup sheet or parameter card
15The last setup or changeover was checked and signed off before parts were released
16Planned maintenance on the equipment is up to date, with nothing overdue
17Mistake-proofing devices were checked at the start of the shift and work when you test them
18Tools, fixtures and dies are identified, in good condition and inside their tool-life count

Measurement and monitoring

How the process is checked

19Every gauge used to accept product is identified, on the register and in calibration
20Checks are done at the frequency and sample size the control plan sets, and recorded
21Recorded results are inside their limits, or the reaction plan was followed and written down
22Control charts are up to date, and points out of control have a reason and an action
23The gauges the control plan names for key characteristics have a measurement system study

Outputs: product and records

What leaves the process

24Finished parts you pick and check yourself meet the drawing for the features you check
25Finished parts carry the right label: part number, quantity and lot or date code
26Scrap and suspect parts are tagged, held in the marked area and recorded
27Production records for the shift so far are complete: counts, scrap and downtime
28Packaging and storage follow the packaging instruction and protect the parts

Results and improvement

How the process performs and learns

29The process has measures posted with targets, such as first pass yield and scrap
30Every result that missed its target last month has a cause and an action with an owner
31Customer complaints and internal defects on this process have been shared with the operators
32Findings from the last process audit and recent layered audits are closed, and the fixes still hold

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: OP20, CNC turning of a pump shaft in cell 4, day shift (illustrative).

32 questions: 25 Conforms, 4 Minor, 1 Major and 2 N/A (no change since the last audit, and no control chart in the control plan for OP20). Score = 25 ÷ (25 + 4 + 1) = 25 ÷ 30 = 83.3%.
Major, question 20: the control plan sets the bearing diameter check at 1 shaft in 50, but the check sheet at the lathe still said every 2 hours. The 500 shafts made that shift had 3 recorded checks; 1 in 50 calls for 10 (500 ÷ 50). The 500 were held and every one gauged: all in tolerance.
Minor, questions 6, 12, 16 and 26: the work instruction at the lathe was one revision old, a break cover was not yet signed off on the skills matrix, the weekly coolant check was 9 days overdue, and two scrapped shafts sat in an untagged tote.
Product check: 5 shafts picked from the outgoing tote, bearing diameter and length measured, all 5 in tolerance.

The Major came from a change: the control plan was tightened after a customer complaint, but the check sheet was not on the list of documents to update. The change form now lists check sheets. Under the example rule, any Major means the process is audited again within 30 days; three weeks later every 1 in 50 check of the shift was on the sheet.

Common mistakes

Auditing the paperwork, not the process
Start at the machine and work back to the documents. Records that look complete can hide checks nobody did.
Ticking without evidence
A tick proves nothing. Write the record, the ID or what you watched, for the questions that conform as well.
Skipping the product
A process can pass every question and still ship bad parts. Pick parts yourself and check them.
Closing on the correction
Sorting the parts fixes today. A finding is closed when the cause has an action and someone has checked that it works.

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