Four weeks before the audit, the search begins for documents that have existed for ages.
Policies, work instructions and test reports sit in the DMS, batches and goods receipts in the ERP. Before every audit, a compliance manager works through the checklist and hunts for the right document for each requirement, often in several versions. What he finds goes into a folder that is out of date again once the audit is over.
34requirementsThat is how many points the checklist for the product safety audit contains.
820documentsWork instructions, test reports and approvals in the DMS, many in several versions.
2storage locationsThe evidence for a batch sits half in the ERP and half in the DMS.
23follow-up requestsThat is how often the auditor asks for a document during the audit because the folder does not contain it.
In the audit itself, that means 40% less audit effort, because the compliance manager opens the stored reference for each of the 34 requirements and the 23 follow-up requests never arise.
The 40% reduction in audit effort is this agent's headline figure. The 820 documents in the DMS and the 23 follow-up requests in the audit depict a mid-sized retailer ahead of a product safety audit; they are not taken from any survey.