OCAP – AQMS Process Effectiveness from Previous Audit Report

AS9100 auditors are required (by SAE AS9101, "Quality Management Systems - Audit Requirements for Aviation, Space, and Defense Organizations") to complete a “Process Effectiveness Assessment Report” (PEAR), Form 3, for EACH “key” process identified by the company. The PEARs include a matrix (shown below) where the auditor selects a number (1-5) as an indication of the effectiveness of the process based upon whether:

• No nonconformities AND the “Quality Objective(s)” were met (scoring a “5”)
• One or more nonconformities were identified BUT the “Quality Objective(s)” were met (scoring ≤4)
• No nonconformities were identified BUT one or more “Quality Objective(s)” were NOT met (scoring ≤4)
• One or more nonconformities were identified AND one or more “Quality Objective(s)” were NOT met (scoring ≤3)

If the terminology in the PEAR is confusing (i.e., “Planned Activities” vs. “Planned Results”), this is explained in AS9101 (Rev. G) sections:

3.7 Planned Activities
The means, methods, and internal requirements by which the organization intends to achieve planned results of a given process to meet customer requirements. Planned activities include conformity to process requirements and maintained documented information.

“Planned Activities” relate to “compliance” with the applicable requirements from AS91xx with the process being audited… and compliance with any self-imposed requirements.

3.8 Planned Results
The intended performance of a process as determined and measured by the organization. Planned results include product and service conformity and On-time Delivery (OTD) to meet customer requirements, and may include other elements related to the process, as defined by the organization.

“Planned Results” relate to “Quality Objectives”.

As per AS9104/1A, “Table 7 - Organizational Risk Determination”, the AS9100 auditor will use the PEAR with the lowest score to calculate the “Risk Factor”.

The strategy to have a low “Risk Factor” in this category is to ensure that ALL “Quality Objectives” (associated with PEARs) are (1) realistic and (2) consistently met. In addition, you should focus your internal audits on those processes associated with PEARs to mitigate the possibility of any non-conformities arising from those areas.