Why Your Layered Process Audits Aren’t Working—And How to Fix Them

You’re running your layered process audits on a regular basis, but the program isn’t really moving the needle on quality. What gives?

We recently sat down with Richard Nave, a manufacturing expert with The Luminous Group who has over two decades of plant management experience, to explore why that’s happening, how it impacts your operational KPIs, and realistic fixes to get your LPA program back on track.

Signs Your Layered Process Audits Are in Trouble

According to Rich, there are a few reasons why your LPAs aren’t delivering the results you want:

Low Audit Completion Rates

This is a common problem, and it often boils down to:

• Administration: Complications or delays in scheduling, notification, follow-ups
• Execution: Wrong questions, audit process is too long (or too short), pencil whipping
• Accountability: Lack of consequences or follow-ups for not doing it the right way, or not doing it at all (looking at you, Layer 3).

Open/Unresolved Findings

If nonconformances are being identified but not closed, it’s a huge issue. According to Rich, “Nothing changes if nothing changes,” meaning that without actively closing those findings, your LPA system fundamentally is not driving the improvements it’s designed to achieve.

Low Management (Layer 3) Involvement

Another common issue is inconsistent participation across different organizational layers. While Layers 1 and 2 (frontline supervisors, team leads and middle management) may be diligent about completing audits, Layer 3 (plant managers and executives) often fails to stay involved. Leadership buy-in is critical for driving visibility, accountability and, ultimately, process improvements.

Lack of Visibility

Not enough visibility into the audit results across the organization can hinder progress. Everyone involved should have visibility into the audit findings and the changes being implemented. Without visibility, there’s no accountability, and without accountability there’s no incentive for employees to participate or truly understand the benefits of LPAs. 

Watch our on-demand webinar with Richard Nave, “Why Your LPAs Aren’t Working”

Operational Impacts of Ineffective LPAs

The outcomes of an underperforming LPA program can ripple through various aspects of your operations. The most obvious sign is often higher rates of scrap or defects. Since LPAs are designed to catch process inconsistencies early, the consequences of a poorly functioning system—deviations, abnormal conditions and process nonconformances—can lead to more variation in your outputs, resulting in higher defect rates.

Beyond defects, other key performance indicators (KPIs) like Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) can also take a hit. OEE measures the efficiency of your manufacturing process, factoring in quality, productivity and equipment utilization. If LPAs aren’t catching problems before they become issues, your quality metrics will suffer, which in turn lowers your OEE score. Productivity can also decrease, as issues that should have been identified in audits cause disruptions or inefficiencies in the production process. (Learn more: How scrap and rework affect cost of quality and OEE.)

Unplanned downtime is another common consequence of missed or unmitigated LPA findings. Neglected tasks like tool changes, filter replacements or fluid checks can compound and lead to equipment breakdowns and production stoppages. These are issues that could be easily avoided with a functioning LPA program in place.

Fixing Your Layered Process Audit Program

If you’re noticing any of these red flags in your LPA system, it’s time to take action. One of the key benefits of LPAs is that they are designed to catch issues before they escalate, says Rich. But in order to do that effectively, the system itself needs to be continuously improved.

Here are a few ways to get your LPAs back on track:

• Make sure audits get completed by all layers.
• Track and ensure audit completion.
• Change up your questions: Add questions based on trending issues or customer concerns, remove old ones that aren’t providing any new information, and rotate questions to prevent pencil-whipping.
• Create custom checksheets for each work area; generic workflows won’t give you the specificity you need to uncover problems.
• Assign on-the-spot mitigations or corrective actions to close the loop faster on nonconformances.
• Ensure you have data visibility from findings to issue resolution at any time, in real time.
• Share the results to foster a culture of transparency and shared responsibility.

Seem like a lot of work? It is. And the more manual you let these activities be, the more opportunity for your LPA program to breakdown and fail to deliver the results you know it could be capable of unlocking.

That’s where technology can change the game. Software solutions like EASE can digitize and streamline the way your LPAs are done on the plant floor, while also making it easy to collect and highlight the key datapoints that matter for each organizational layer. The results can be significant: One major aerospace supplier cut defects by more than 50% after implementing a digital audit program.

Finally, keep an eye on your KPIs. Defects, scrap rates, OEE and unplanned downtime are all areas where the effectiveness of your LPAs will become evident. If these metrics are moving in the wrong direction, it’s an urgent sign that your LPA program needs attention.