June 17, 2025
Internal audits as a strategic driver of continuous improvement
In the dynamic modern business landscape, establishing a robust internal audit system can be an effective framework for boosting maintenance efficiency, alongside its core function of maintaining compliance with standards. Regularly conducted audits can play a crucial role in fostering and evidencing continuous improvement in maintenance processes. Internal audits should not merely be a compliance exercise; they are a strategic tool that enables organizations to take a broader overview, assess progress and identify further areas for improvement.
Importance of internal audit systems
Internal audit systems are essential not only for maintaining integrity and accountability but also for driving strategic alignment and continuous improvement across operations. Beyond ensuring compliance with standards like ISO 9001 (Quality Management), ISO 14001 (Environmental Management), and ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety), internal audits serve as a structured mechanism to evaluate how well processes, practices, and behaviors align with organizational goals.
When integrated into the broader maintenance and operational strategy, audits become more than a compliance exercise, they become a catalyst for performance enhancement. They help reduce operational errors, improve the quality of performance and streamline workflows by identifying inefficiencies and eliminating redundancies.
Moreover, internal audits play a critical role in risk management by proactively identifying potential issues and ensuring that mitigation strategies are in place. By systematically assessing processes, identifying gaps and verifying the effectiveness of corrective actions, audits support a culture of learning and proactive development. They also help ensure that strategic initiatives, such as those outlined in maintenance roadmaps, are being implemented effectively and consistently across the organization.
One often overlooked but highly valuable practice is to implement a scoring system in audits and track progress over time. This quantifiable approach not only highlights areas for improvement but also makes the trajectory of development visible. It reinforces accountability, motivates teams and provides tangible evidence of continuous improvement. When annual audit results are reviewed in strategic forums such as workshops or steering committee meetings, they offer a comprehensive overview of progress and generate insights for data-driven decision-making. This supports the prioritization of resources and timelines, the definition of milestones and ensures that improvement efforts are both targeted and impactful.
Key success factors for effective internal audit system
Developing and optimizing an internal audit system requires attention to several key success factors that ensure audits are not only effective and credible, but also aligned with strategic goals. These factors help transform audits from routine checks into powerful tools for driving performance, consistency and continuous improvement across the organization.
Platform for continuous improvement: In addition to ensuring compliance, the internal audit system can serve as a powerful platform for continuous improvement. By identifying opportunities, tracking corrective actions and refining processes, audits help drive meaningful progress. Scoring audits and monitoring year-over-year development make improvements visible, motivate teams and reinforce accountability across the organization.
Integration with business objectives: Internal audits help confirm that operational practices and improvement efforts are aligned with broader business goals and milestones such as plant reliability, sustainability, digital transformation, or customer satisfaction. This ensures that audit outcomes support strategic value creation while maintaining a structured and objective approach.
Adherence to standards: Following industry-specific and widely recognized standards such as ISO 9001 (Quality), ISO 14001 (Environmental), and ISO 45001 (Occupational Health and Safety), which together form the foundation of an Integrated Management System (IMS), ensures comprehensive and cohesive management of quality, environmental and safety aspects across the organization.
Process-centric development: Focusing on processes rather than isolated tasks enhances alignment and consistency in improvement efforts. Clear process ownership in the operations, supported by relevant performance indicators, enables informed decision-making and targeted development.
Comparability across organizations: A standardized audit framework and scoring system enable benchmarking across sites and regions. This comparability fosters the sharing of best practices, promotes consistency and supports global optimization of maintenance and operational processes.
Leadership engagement: Active involvement from leadership ensures that audit findings are prioritized and acted upon. Leadership support also helps embed a culture of accountability and innovation throughout the organization.
Competence, calibration and cross-auditing: Well-trained and objective auditors are essential for credible and effective audits. Regular training and calibration sessions help maintain consistency, fairness and depth in audit execution. Incorporating cross-auditing and rotation of audit responsibilities enhances impartiality, broadens perspective and fosters knowledge sharing across the organization. Additionally, involving auditors in the development and continuous improvement of audit questions and templates ensures relevance, practicality and alignment with evolving operational goals.
Alignment of operating model and the audit system: Internal audit system should optimally be fully aligned with the overall operation model. When audit criteria are directly derived from core operation processes, the audit becomes a true reflection of how the business runs. This alignment ensures that the audit system not only evaluates compliance but also validates the effectiveness of the operating model itself. Ideally, there should be a visible correlation between process audit scores and operational performance results, reinforcing the audit’s role as a strategic performance management tool.
Quant’s approach to internal auditing
Quant’s global internal audit system, Site Assessment, is designed to drive continuous improvement and operational excellence across our sites. It combines strategic alignment, structured evaluation and actionable insights through the following key components:
Alignment with partnership goals: Audits are closely aligned with customer-specific partnership objectives. This is achieved through structured customer interviews and by enabling participation in selected audit processes, ensuring that outcomes reflect shared goals and expectations.
Site assessment: Quant’s internal audits are based on the EFQM Excellence Model, utilizing a structured scoring system (0–1000 points) to benchmark site performance. This enables consistent evaluation, cross-site comparability and targeted development planning.
Quant site operation model: A comprehensive operational framework that integrates seamlessly with the audit system. It is built around core and support processes, Enablers, which are systematically assessed and balanced with Results a diverse set of KPIs covering operational performance, OHSE, people engagement and customer satisfaction. This alignment ensures that audits reflect both process maturity and outcome effectiveness.
Supportive elements: The audit process is supported by a range of tools and practices, including experienced auditors, a global Operational KPI reporting platform, structured feedback loops, annual updates to audit templates and the sharing of best practices identified during Site Assessments.
Global audit schedule and close-out reporting: An annual audit plan covers all Quant Total Maintenance Partnership sites globally. This structured schedule enables synchronized data collection across countries and facilitates consolidated reporting through Power BI dashboards. These reports track global progress, process-level scores and development trends, supporting data-driven decision-making and strategic follow-up.
Turning insight into impact
Developing a robust internal audit system is essential for driving sustainable success and continuous improvement across an organization. When audits are aligned with operational models, business objectives and strategic goals, they become far more than a compliance tool — they evolve into a powerful mechanism for performance enhancement, risk management, and organizational maturity.
By focusing on adherence to standards, measurable progress, process-centric development, and strategic alignment, organizations can elevate their operational efficiency and decision-making capabilities.
Quant’s internal audit approach, through its structured Site Assessments, provides a proven framework that integrates these principles into daily operations and long-term planning. If you’re interested in learning how Quant can support your continuous improvement journey, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Partnership Fulfillment Process Owner
Antti Ketola
