An expert system approach for quality assurance auditing

International standards for quality management systems, such as ISO 9000, define the organizational structure, the lines of responsibility, the procedures, the processes, and the resources used to manage the quality. The purpose of quality auditing is to assess the effectiveness of the implementation of the quality system and to determine the degree to which the system's objectives are being achieved. Quality assurance auditing is one of the most important tools used to evaluate the effectiveness of a quality system. Due to the variety in quality systems, in some cases, the criteria to determine the degree to which systems objectives are being achieved are not clear-cut. Thus, the quality auditor may have to follow his best judgment. An expert system approach is proposed that can classify the results of the quality assurance auditing. It could be used for training and monitoring of novice auditing personnel, reduction of the variation between different auditing experts, and facilitate decision making during a quality audit.