I am putting together a procedure for the control of customer supplied product. Our customer provides all the supplied parts to us and we assemble into a final product. I am also in the process of putting together a receiving inspection document with the "blessing" of the customer (and yes they are ISO 9001 certified) and their "inspection criteria". Am I on the right track or would I need to create my on criteria?

Thanks,
Doug

is there any difference between what their criteria is than what you need?

If they are supplying you with the components, one would think that they have already done some inspection, no? So does re-inspecting the same things that they've done add value, to them, to you?

Yes, you are right to identify criteria for inspection, document inspection methods and inspection frequencies. Just remember to ensure value is gained, and not lost. You cannot inspect quality into a product. Ever.

some questions that come to my mind when thinking about incoming inspection.

Why would you do incoming inspection, is it value added?
Is your customer paying for it (= part of your cost structure that was quoted)?
Do you have concerns about the quality performance of the suppliers? if so, address with your customer.
Can the supplier give you SPC data, outgoing inspection reports for the supplied parts?
Will you be able to test/inspect the supplied parts?

Kales Veggie

I will give you what I have to offer. 1. My customer buys some of the supplied parts from a broker at a reduced price, so you never are certain what you will get. 2. When contacting the "customer", who is ISO 9001 certified, I am told that they have all the quality data supplied to them by the vendor. Do I ask for copies of this data or assume that all is okay because the customer says so? I know what happens when you assume something. I just want to make sure that whatever I need to do is compliant with ISO and I have it documented. Would I perhaps need a statement from the customer regarding this arrangement? The supplied product does not have critical precise demensions, so I'm not sure where to go from here.

Doug

Your receiving inspection should be to confirm that you got what you asked for. In this case, there is an added layer in that the customer is supplying the material. So what you probably want to do is to confirm that the customer is sending you what he says he is sending.

I would think that you would want to match the bill of materials that the customer has supplied and confirm that the arriving parts match.

Depending on how well the customer has checked before he sent it on to you, you may still have a problem. For example, I have seen where the BOM calls for UL approved power cords and the ones sent were not UL approved. I have also seen where quantities don't match as well as other specifics don't match. You don't want to perform the build with parts that don't match the requirements on the BOM or drawing. Such discrepancies need to be ironed out with the customer.

Also, don't forget the requirements for 7.5.4 on identifying and safegarding customer property.

Doug, Question- Is the material delivered to you direct from the customer or is it drop shipped from the vendor?

Secondly, am I correct in assuming that there is no mention of the certification requirements of this material in the contract with your customer?

Bob

excellent questions, Bob, I was wondering that myself. If your customer expects you to verify supplied materials, you should probably cover that in the contract just to make sure that everyone's butt is covered.

Regardless of where the product comes from, your organization is responsible to ensure that the product leaving your facility going to your customer is good. Your procedure should address whatever controls are necessary to ensure that's what happens.

If you can get supplier data that is trustworthy, that can be taken into consideration. You can use the requirements of 7.4.3 as guidance for this, even though this product isn't purchased (by you). Your organization should determine what's acceptable and what isn't based not only on customer needs, but those of your organization.

Your question is directly addressed in Clause 7.5.4 Customer Property. Your must exercise care with customer property while it is under your control. The standard requires your company to verify, protect, identify and safeguard property and if it is lost, damage or found unsuitable it must be reported to the customer and records maintained.

Clause 7.5.4 applies to all customer property not just customer supplied materials, consideration must include:

• Customer provided product or materials
• Customer provided tooling, equipment and facilities
• Customer provided intellectual property, and
• Customer provided software.

You will need to have in place a process to verify the product that is supplied to assure it is at the specified configuration inclusive of dimensional verification when applicable. Look at the following clause of the Standard to identify other controls you must have in place to meet the requirements of this clause: 4.2.4, 5.2, 7.2, 7.5.5, 7.6, 8.2.1, 8.3, 8.5.2 and 8.5.3.

Bob Bonville,

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back with you. The product we get is drop shipped from the vendor. The production originally began before I was hired and the thought of implementing a QMS. The customer assures me that they have all the "technical data" for the product, but seems a little hesitant to share this info. To give you a little more insight, the major requirement is that the product will pass a balastics test. With this in mind we have received in the past product that was "purchased" from a broker that had slight imperfections. We assembled it and samples passed ballastics and the product was sent to the customer that purchased it initially and sent it on to another customer.

Doug

Doug, as Jeff Frost has stated in his post, you must satisfy those sections of the standard he has highlighted. I personally don't see any way around it unless you are contractually exempt from performing the verification.

Bob

And don't forget about Customer Returned Product.

To all who have shed light on this subject,

I thank you for sharing your input. I have the latest feedback from the customer. He states, "consider the challenges just in the procedure to handle continual transfer and control of various versions and revisions for such documents. My best advice for your current procedure would be to simply include a blurb referencing the exclusion for such documents. Due to the relationship between "us" and "you" we are in control of the required documentation per the standard and we maintain a valid certification with ISO. In an audit situation this would be more than sufficient evidence of your exclusions reasoning. I would be more concerned about on hand materials based on quantity, pieces, weights, and general material. I would possibly focus on the basics of what you are using and the details such as total amount of each material required per assembly, scrap used, on-hand inventory, incoming inventory, and outgoing inventory." So if the supplier send us a product and it isn't to spec, we wouldn't know it and if it is sent to the customer's customer and fails, was I responsible per ISO to have made sure it was good?

Thanks,
Doug