Layered process audit (LPA)

How the layered process audit works

In a layered process audit several layers of the organisation check the same process at their own frequency, with short yes / no questions, and every “no” gets a countermeasure at once. LPA is a common practice (often asked for by customers), not a standard here: the layers, frequencies and questions are FactoKit’s example, to be replaced by your own.

Formulas

• Questions per layer: each question is asked by the layers ticked (all by default).
• Compliance of an audit = yes / (yes + no); N/A and unanswered are left out.
• Missing countermeasures: every “no” without a written countermeasure is counted and marked.
• Completion matrix: for each layer the last 8 periods of its frequency (day, ISO week from Monday, month) up to the latest audit, ✓ where at least one audit was done.

Worked example (the tool’s example)

1. Three layers: team leader daily, supervisor weekly, plant manager monthly; eight questions, two of them only for the higher layers.
2. The team leader’s audit of 28 September: five yes, one no (a torque tool past its calibration date, with its countermeasure): compliance 5 / 6 = 83 %.
3. Up to the latest audit on 2 October the team leader audited on 4 of the last 8 days, the supervisor in 1 of the last 8 weeks and the manager in 1 of the last 8 months: the matrix shows where the rhythm is missing.

Common mistakes

• Long question lists: an LPA should take minutes, not an hour.
• Recording a “no” without reacting on the spot: the countermeasure is the point.
• Higher layers that do not show up: the matrix makes that visible.
• Never changing the questions: rotate them to the risks the process has now.

Files

• On this website the project is saved in this browser (IndexedDB) and shared with the 5S page; Save JSON keeps it as a file. The offline file stores nothing.
• Excel: the answers of every audit with compliance as a formula, the completion matrix and the actions; Word: the chosen audit; CSV: every audit; Print / PDF: the chosen audit with the audits and the matrix on A4.
• The blank LPA sheet (fillable PDF with yes / no / N/A per question, Word, Excel with the compliance formula) is for auditing on paper.

Questions

What is a layered process audit?

Short, frequent audits of the same process by several layers of the organisation: for example a team leader every day, a supervisor every week, a manager every month. Each checks that the process is run as defined, and each “no” is acted on at once. The value is in the frequency and in the management attention, not in the score.

How is compliance calculated?

Yes divided by yes plus no, for the questions the audit asked. N/A and unanswered questions are left out. A “no” without a countermeasure is listed separately, because an LPA without a reaction to its findings misses its purpose.

What does the completion matrix show?

For each layer the last eight periods of its frequency (days, ISO weeks or months) up to the latest audit, with a mark where at least one audit was done. It shows whether the layers keep their rhythm; a missing period is a finding of its own.

Are these the official LPA questions?

No. Customer-specific requirements and plants define their own; the questions here are FactoKit’s own example wording, to be replaced by the checks that matter in your process (work instructions, first-part checks, error-proofing, reaction plans).

Related tools

• 5S audit: the same project, auditing the workplace.
• Control plan: the checks an LPA question often comes from.
• 8D report: when a “no” turns out to be a real problem.