AUSTHERM Pty Ltd
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Technical Software Auditing Services
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An audit is a means of quality control, that is, control of
the quality of the information on which managers will make
judgements about performance and prospects. The enhancement
of credibility is the most important requirement of an
audit. Technical software and databases produce information
to be used by managers to make decisions and hence their use
should be subject to quality control or audit. Austherm Pty Ltd
is able to provide such audits.
A way of assimilating the cost of an audit is to consider it
analogous to that of an insurance policy against the risk of
loosing money and influence, the idea being on the one hand
to prevent accidental losses and on the other to be a winner
in the long run. There is always a risk of losing money by
use of poor information and a risk of losing credibility and
influence by providing poor information. The problem arises
in assessing that risk.
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Data Certification is the process of formal approval, by
an authority empowered to do so, of the use of specific data
or a database for a specific application.
A Data Quality Indicator is any of several
descriptors characterising the quality of a data record, a
database, or of the operation of a data system to enable a
user to make an assessment of the data, database or data
system for the intended purpose.
Data Evaluation is the process of establishing the
accuracy and reliability of property data. Evaluation
involves examination and appraisal of the data involved,
assessment of experimental technique and associated errors,
comparison with other experimental or theoretical values,
adherence to known experimental or empirical laws, re-
analysis and re-calculation of derived quantities as
required, selection of best values, and assessment of
probable error or reliability. For test-dependent
properties, measured by standard tests, validation and
evaluation are synonymous. For intrinsic properties, which
may be measured by any of several test methods, evaluation
may be necessary to provide assurance as to the accuracy and
reliability of the data.
Raw Data is experimental test results, typically data
which have not been analysed, evaluated, or combined, in any
way, with other test results.
Data Reliability is an indication of the dependability of
the technical database information in terms of accuracy and
precision.
Data Security is protection of the technical database
information from unauthorised access, use, modification,
destruction, or disclosure.
Data Validation is the process of substantiating that test
data have been generated according to standard test methods
and practices, or other indices of quality, reliability, and
precision.
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Independent assessment should be the provision of an
assurance to management that the information contained in a
technical report constitutes an objective and reliable basis
for decision making and subsequent action. The
classification of fitness for use of information depends not
only on the attributes of the person(s) signing the audit
document but also on the technical properties of the
information contained in the report. Any notion of
independence must embrace the independence of the tests
conducted by the auditor(s) and the independence of the
evidence which may be adducted to support the information
which has been reported, as well as the conventionally
accepted independence of the auditor(s). The character of
the information in the report must be such that the veracity
of each component may be checked by recourse to independent
or corrobative evidence of facts. If information cannot be
checked in this manner, it cannot be said to have been
independently verified, irrespective of the integrity,
ethics or expertise of the auditor(s). Hence, a genuine
audit is a check which is functionally independent of the
activity being audited. Austherm Pty Ltd provides both
independent auditors and the ability to assess technical
information.
A practical example is property data from handbooks and compilations.
Frequently data quoted in a number of compilations comes from a single
original measurement. The reliability of the data should not come from
the fact that each compilation selected the same value, it should be
related to the reliability of the measurement.
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An audit should be concerned with the division of the
information in a technical report. It should be possible to
audit the technical data in computer data banks, to audit
the programs which are used to manipulate the data and to
audit the methods used within an organisation to use the
programs which use the data.
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Ideally an audit should compare actual service performance
with the user's service needs. This ideal is usually so
difficult and costly to administer that most auditing
consists of an approximation. In practical audits, it is
important that the auditor(s) formally identify which
information has been independently verified and which
information has been accepted on face value. Austherm Pty
Ltd personnel are able to make these separations.
The essential features of a profession are:
Three tests of professionalism are:
Professionalism entails a theoretical understanding of the
matters in respect of which skills and judgements are to be
exercised. The distinguishing feature of a profession is
the continual pursuit of reliable knowledge about the nature
of the things to which the skills are to be applied.
The distinction between knowledge and skill is critical, for
skill may be claimed even when it is not based on knowledge.
Skill may be based on a knowledge of how to manipulate
information. It does not presuppose a knowledge of the
character, meaning or function fitness of the information.
Technical software is usually very different to general
commercial software, such as spreadsheets. Technical
software is usually not an expert system where information
is entered and meaningful results obtained with no decision
making required by the user. With most technical software,
the user is required to make many critical decisions based
on their knowledge and experience. To uncritically accept a
technical program's default data values and methodology is
an often unrecognised important decision.
The function of information, in the context of decision
making, is to increase the effectiveness of choice by
increasing factual knowledge or by reducing doubt.
Uncritical acceptance of information generates a sense of
false security i.e. "The computer makes this prediction so
it must be correct."
Measurable properties are specifiable, quantifiable and
independently testable. Judgements made in respect of
measurable properties are non-personal, are open to critical
scrutiny by any inquirer and may be agreed upon by many
inquirers. Austherm personnel are familiar with the
experimental techniques used to obtain the measurable
properties contained in technical software and hence are
able to assess that information.
Information may or may not degenerate with time.
Technical information obtained in a completely characterised
environment, which can be reproduced at will, does not
degenerate. Technical information of this quality is
usually produced in a laboratory. Information obtained in a
situation which cannot be returned to has a functional
fitness which degenerates with time. Process plant
information is often of this quality as plant configurations
and feed stock usually change frequently. Technical
information of this quality has maximum value when used soon
after measurement.
Professionalism entails the stipulation of the function to
be served by the exercise of professional skills. It is an
understanding of the function to be served by the activities
that directs the analysis within a field of inquiry. If the
function to be served by the activities is unclear or in
doubt, the existence of the required body of knowledge is
uncertain and the basis of professionalism remains to be
established. Practice cannot be disjoined from theoretical
understanding and vice versa.
The object of quality assurance is consumer confidence. In
respect of much technical information, many managers are
generally unable to appraise for themselves the technical
qualities of that information. The managers may lack either
the required technical knowledge and expertise, and/or the
time and facilities to make a full technical appraisal.
Consequently, the managers are dependent upon the producers
of the information to ensure the fitness of that information
to perform its specified function in a reliable manner. The
intended function must be accurately understood and/or
specified by the information producer. There is danger in
applying information to unintended uses. Quality assurance
is predicated on the function of quality control, that is,
the process of independent testing whereby the producers of
technical information ensure the technical serviceability of
their merchandise. Austherm Pty Ltd personnel are
experienced in the practical application of technical
software to industrial and environmental problems.
Professions provide services, the technical quality of which
usually cannot be judged by many managers. The managers
generally have no option but to trust. A service provided
by a professional may be technically defective. But even in
these cases the managers who are affected by the defective
judgement generally will not understand the technical
explanation of it.
The services provided by a profession should be judged by
persons who possess specialised knowledge of the matters
which fall into the ambit of the profession's activities,
that is, by members of the profession. As many managers
have no option but to place a great deal of trust in
professionals, the professionals must take steps to ensure
that the services they offer are under continual review and
self-correction. Austherm Pty Ltd personnel have been
involved data assessment, teaching and in the production and
use of technical software for over 20 years.
Technical software has to be marketed similarly to other
products. In this area, more income is derived from new
customers than from old clients. Consequently, there is a
trend to develop user interfaces for technical software
which enable new and/or inexperienced users to rapidly
obtain output numbers. To achieve this the software relies
on simplification and the use of default input, that is, the
user has to enter less information in order to model a
system. To a manager, this trend may appear to be more
productive. However, there is a minimum quantity of
information which is required to produce an adequate model
of any system. Easy to use software does not always equate
with effective software in technical areas. Austherm Pty
Ltd is experienced in evaluating the amount of information
required to model a particular system and hence whether
particular technical software is appropriate.
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Austherm Pty Ltd has produced a number of bench marks which
may be applied to technical software. These include
combustion calculations and calculations concerning systems
involving molten slags, salts, metals and natural gas.
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As it is rare for technical information to satisfy all the
above criteria, an experienced auditor such as Austherm Pty
Ltd is required assess technical data. ASTM E 1407 - 91
states that "it is essential to have experienced and
knowledgeable personnel involved in the process of locating,
assembling, evaluating and inputting data, as well as in the
operation of a well-supported data source.".
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ASTM E 1443 - 93d "Standard Terminology Relating to
Building and Accessing Material and Chemical
Databases", ASTM, Philadelphia
ASTM E 1484 - 92 "Standard Guide for Formatting and Use
of Material and Chemical Property Data and Database Quality
Indicators", ASTM, Philadelphia
ASTM E 1485 - 92 "Standard Guide for Development of
Material and Chemical Property Data and Database
Descriptions", ASTM, Philadelphia
J.D.Cox, D.D.Wagman & V.A.Medvedev, 1989. "CODATA Key
Values for Thermodynamics", Hemisphere, New York
P.M.Gy, 1979. "Sampling of Particulate Materials Theory
and Practice", Elsevier, Amsterdam
S.Watanasiri, S.Anavi and M.W.Wadsley "Modeling
Metallurgical Processes using a Chemical-Engineering
Simulator", Fluid Phase Equilibria, Vol.82, pp.55-62, 1993
M.W.Wadsley "Reconciliation of Chemical Engineering
and Metallurgical Process Simulation Techniques", Plenary
Lecture delivered to the 4th Biennial Conference and
Workshop on Computer Software for Chemical and Extractive
Metallurgy, University of Missouri-Rolla, June 8-10, 1992
M.W.Wadsley "Expert Systems in Thermochemical
Modelling of Extractive Metallurgical Processes" pp. 239-244
in Extractive Metallurgy Conference 2-4 October, 1991,
Perth, Australia, The AusIMM, Melbourne, 1991
P.W.Wolnizer, 1987. "Auditing as Independent
Authentication", Sydney University Press.
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Copyright Austherm Pty Ltd 1997 - 2004
All rights reserved
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What is an Audit?
Austherm Pty Ltd personnel and associates have wide
experience in the use and the development of technical
software (see Austherm's modelling
page) and property databases. They have gained much
experience in and procedures for overcoming the problems
that may result from its poorly managed use.
Continue reading for more information regarding Austherm's
concerns regarding the management of
the use of technical software.
Technical Reporting
A technical professional must not only produce information
but also prepare and make available to the potential user of
that information, the proof that the information is fit for
its intended use. The proof may consist of:
Quality Control
Quality assurance uses all known methods to assure that a
technical report has acceptable quality standards. Quality
assurance is the activity of providing the evidence needed
to establish confidence that the quality function of
technical reporting is being adequately performed. The
confidence is derived from objective evidence. The evidence
must be accessible to any inquirer or can be confirmed by
independent test. Austherm Pty Ltd personnel are
experienced in seeking the evidence required for technical
audits.
Quality Indicators
There are a number of indicators which may be used to
describe the quality of a technical data record or technical
database.
Independence
The concept of independence is important to auditing.
Frequently 'independence' and 'independent verification' are
associated more with the mental attitude, with the
associations and with the practices of the people involved
in the audit than with the independent corroboration of the
information which has been reported and which is the actual
subject of the audit. Thus the conventional notion of
independence is usually confined to matters which may only
be properly described as psychological and sociological.
However, the grounds on which independent assessment of
information is supported and propagated within an
organisation are in fact technical. They pertain to the
demonstration and corroboration of the technical qualities
of the information.
Division of Information
Reported information may be divided in a number of ways.
One useful division of technical information is its
separation into data, the procedures to use the data and the
manner by which procedures are used to manipulate the data.
Qualification and Professionalism of
Auditors
The object of a technical audit is to ensure the functional
fitness for use of the information which has been reported.
It follows that the auditor(s) have expertise in the area is
which the information is to be used as well as in assessing
the quality of the information.
Benchmarking Technical Software
Benchmarks are one method of differentiating performance.
Technical software benchmarks enable differentiation between
the various products and services available in the market.
Austherm Pty Ltd is experienced in generating the benchmarks
which are most appropriate to your business.
Technical Data Assessment
Points which should be considered when assessing raw
technical data include the following:
Austherm and Auditing
Austherm Pty Ltd personnel have had over 25 years experience
in the production and use of technical software and the
selection of physical property data for use in technical
software. Austherm personnel have been involved in
teaching undergraduates and in training postgraduates and
industry professionals. Austherm personnel have been
involved with using a large number of technical software
packages. They are able to assess whether your organisation
is obtaining full value from its use of technical software.
Bibliography
ASTM E 1407 - 91 "Standard Guide for Materials
Database Management", ASTM, Philadelphia