Hello all,
We have been asked how we monitor our suppliers test and measuring equipment. The question caught me a bit off guard, so I looked up what we had in our manual and found this:

5.0 Supplier Measurement Control
5.1 The Quality Manager is responsible for extending the control of measuring and test equipment to all approved suppliers.

How do people accomplish this? Our suppliers are not that anxious to share much with us, many of them holding patented processes and methods, so they are not generally very free with any information. Short of requesting hard copies of thier own manuals and policies, what can I do?
It almost sounds like I should be responsible for making sure all our suppliers measuring equipment is calibrated properly and on time!

You can only control a supplier’s calibration system by requiring them to maintain a calibrations system which meets your documented requirements or to requirements contained in an international or national standard such as ANSI Z540, ISO 10012 or ISO 17025. These are flowed down via your PO requirements.

Even at a minimum just requiring the supplier to meet ISO 9001:2000 requirements for the control of monitoring and measuring devices (Clause 7.6) could be sufficient based on the complexity of the product being procured.

What can I do? Change your manual to something more realistic that adds value to your organization or start performing supplier site audits.