I would like to hear the thought, ideas and if anyone has implemented and is willing to share an example of a Supplier Manual...:)

See these existing Supplier Manual (http://elsmar.com/Forums/fileslist.php?mode=allfiles&sortby=filename&pageamt=2&criteria=supplier) related files

I am not just looking for quality related supplier criteria but an overall supplier manual which would include supply chain, engineering, etc....

I am not just looking for quality related supplier criteria but an overall supplier manual which would include supply chain, engineering, etc....

Here is a pretty good one from Volvo

http://www.volvo.com/suppliers/global/en-gb/supplierselection/ourrequirements/keyelements/kep.htm

Caster

I am not just looking for quality related supplier criteria but an overall supplier manual which would include supply chain, engineering, etc....A lot of the stuff contained in the manual you describe would depend a lot on where your organization stood in the supply chain. Are you the OEM doing final assembly and marketing of sub-assemblies and components [both custom and off-the-shelf] OR are you merely a link in some OEM's supply chain?

Typically, any attempt to control downstream suppliers usually becomes unworkable more than two levels away. This means special requirements critical or crucial to the final product are best dealt with directly by the OEM instead of relying on the instructions and requirements to filter down the chain to the applicable link and then work its way back is like playing the game of "Telephone" with players who don't speak the same native language. So, in effect, some OEMs have to "leapfrog" over links directly to some suppliers to achieve the results they want to meet requirements on a particular component. This type of thinking may be inherent in "customer-supplied" materials and components (whether the component is supplied because OEM is able to get a better initial price or better quality, the net result is an economic one, saving money for the OEM in some aspect of managing the chain link whether on the hard cost of he component or material or on the soft cost of trying to manage the quality of the component or material through multiple links in the supply chain.)

The sad fact is the presence of a manual far removed from its source is almost the same as having no manual unless the manual creator has eyes and ears (SQA or SQE) to personally monitor the production site and whisper words of encouragement or discouragement in the supplier link's ear.

Instead of futile attempts to micromanage the entire supply chain, many folks find it easier to concentrate efforts on the immediate link below them and expend every effort to imbue that link with a sense of honor and commitment and "partnership" in hopes that link will deal similarly with the link below it, and so on down the chain.

Engineers (real ones, not just a title, because rarely are SQEs real engineers), ought not to be constrained by a manual , but allowed to go directly to any link in the chain, either to learn or to instruct to assure the best quality of the product or component under consideration. I see it as a need-based task rather than a routine, manual-dictated one.