We remanufacture engines for the aftermarket world. In this process, we try to reman to OE specifications but in remanufacturing, we try to reuse every item.

As a remaner we do not have control or responsibility over the original design of the product.

For example, if the OE service manual says to use new head bolts when replacing the head, but we reuse the original bolts, can we still claim an exclusion of 7.3 Design and Development under ISO 9001:2000?

You say that you "try" to reman to OE specs, but you disregard where the OE service manual says to use new bolts. In my opinion, you are not trying too hard! Seriously, are you trying to get ISO certified? If your attempt is to INDEED reman to OE specs, but dor't follow OE specs, I think an auditor would have major problems w/ this. Also, at this point I don't see how 7.3 would enter in.

I'm not certain regarding your situation - I think we need more details. I've only had experience with 1 re-manufacturer - they did torque converters and other transmission parts. (I was part of an ASQ chapter team doing a preliminary ISO-9001 quality system assessmnet fo them.) They initially claimed not to do design, but our audit uncovered that they did conciously develop changes to the original, such as beefing up the original manufactured structures at failure points.

In fact their re-manufactured parts had as good or better life than new due to the structural changes they made. Our recommendation to them was to include design in the scope of their system and to show-case it as they were doing such a good job of it.

And yes, they did try to use as many original parts as possible to minimize their costs.

The changes that Kevin mentioned are seen as an improvement. In other words, the products were:

1) Remaned to OE specs, and/or
2) Improved beyond OE specs.

If the OE recommends new head bolts, it must be for a reason: that the old ones are no longer acceptable; be it stretch, fatigue, galling,ect.

Therefore, in my opinion, using old bolts does not indicate an attempt to reman to OE specs.

BTW what does your quality policy say?

You are not designing. Someone brings in an engine and you disaaaemble, give it an acid bath and bring the worn components back to within tolerance of the original engine. You normally probably try to reuse everything you can to keep cost down. I am curious, as we have a remanufacture in our area, do you provide data to the not so big 3?

Everyone,

Thanks for your help. I have had lengthy discussions with our management team and we feel we should include 7.3. Your comments were helpful in generating interest in analyzing our current methods.

Crash Not, you are right, we don't reman to OE specification on everything. This is due to us being an aftermarket supplier (competitors to OE) and not being able to acquire all the OE specifications. Many times we have to utilize industry standards and our depth of experience to determine our manufacturing specifications.


Thanks again for your help!