Hi to all!!

I have not been here for some time as I have busy with the TS 16949. I am very happy to announce that we have gone from ISO 9002:1994 to being recommended for TS16949!!!! :vfunny:

Even though you did not hear from me I was haunting the various threads and postings gleaming all the tidbits of extremely valuable information that really helped me out. :thanx:

We are a contract electoplating shop and had a few different bumps in the road than some.

For those out there creating your QAMs ours consists of a cover page, an index,
permissable exclusions, 5 QSPs, flowcharts and a Quality Policy.

We received 2 minor CARs during our audit which have been corrected and accepted.

Again thanks to all

Jan

Congrats to you, Jan T. :o

We are still working on ours.

CONGRATULATIONS


CAR is "rules" for any audit... The registration will benefit both your company and yourself soon. :biglaugh:



CONGRATULATIONS again! :bigwave:

Congratulations Jan. 2 CAR's is pretty good.


We had our follow-up audit today to close out 11 CAR's from our certification audit - due mostly to the lack of Management's committment, but that is another thread. All are completed with signed off verification for closure. Now the real work begins

Congratulations Jan and Bigfoot!!

I think you both have answered a question I had. We are beginning our transition from ISO/QS to TS. I haven't studied up on this yet, but I was told that there are no longer majors and minors, but different levels of nonconformances. The scary thing though was that during the registration audit, any nonconformance would put us out of the game. Wow, I couldn't believe that after all the work put into the new system, some teeny n/c could stop you from becoming registered. It looks like that's not so in your cases, though. I feel better now.

Again, congrats to you both!

There still can be major and minor nonconformities. The difference is that you have to have verified corrective action for all of them before you can be issued a certificate. It doesn't stop your registration, but it at least postpones it a bit...

Oh, and congratulations to both of you!

[/QUOTE]There still can be major and minor nonconformities. The difference is that you have to have verified corrective action for all of them before you can be issued a certificate. It doesn't stop your registration, but it at least postpones it a bit...[QUOTE]

Thanks for clearing this up. This is much more encouraging!

Congratulations Jan and Bigfoot!!

I think you both have answered a question I had. We are beginning our transition from ISO/QS to TS. I haven't studied up on this yet, but I was told that there are no longer majors and minors, but different levels of nonconformances. The scary thing though was that during the registration audit, any nonconformance would put us out of the game. Wow, I couldn't believe that after all the work put into the new system, some teeny n/c could stop you from becoming registered. It looks like that's not so in your cases, though. I feel better now.

Again, congrats to you both!

There are still Majors, Minors and OFI's. There is a slight difference in the definition between QS and TS2. The response process is no different than with QS; majors may require a re-visit, at the discretion of the CB, Minors require evidence of complianace, but not a re-visit. OFI's should be addressed, could possibly turn into minors at a later date.

The audit may be terminated when major nonconformities are discovered.

All responses to nonconformities require require root cause analysis, corrective action definition and target date for implementation.

We just went through our certification process. We only had three months to implement our system. We received 18 minors and 13 OFI`s. Has anybody else out there received this many? We are certified pending corrective action.
Our registrar had just been audited by the IAOB the week before our audit and received a major nonconformance, so he is being watched closely be the IAOB. I think this had some type of effect on our audit, because he was very picky. At least we did not receive any majors though.

We just went through our certification process. We only had three months to implement our system. We received 18 minors and 13 OFI`s. Has anybody else out there received this many? We are certified pending corrective action.
Our registrar had just been audited by the IAOB the week before our audit and received a major nonconformance, so he is being watched closely be the IAOB. I think this had some type of effect on our audit, because he was very picky. At least we did not receive any majors though.

18 minors & 13 OFI's. That seems like a lot of write-ups without receiving a major. Would you care to elaborate?

I have to agree with Sam. That is a lot of write ups with no majors. Maybe he was trying to cut you some slack, or he was writing up everything due to the fact that you stated he had received a major from the IAOB. Wonder what that was?

Hopefully you can shed some light on what a chastised auditor writes up. ;)

As you can probably understand, I`m pretty busy, but I will try to elaborate. Some examples of minors:
1. Calibration lab not on ASL.
2. Feasibility not performed before quoting process.
3. Special characteristics on Control plans, but not on FMEA`s
4. Vendor status not updated to TS.
5. Contingency plan not available for satelite site.
6. Work Instruction not available, It was in the office.
7. No design FMEA`s. Not design responsible. Customer will not provide.

Some examples of OFI`s
1. Authority and Importance of Customer Rep. should be reenforced
2. More define and measure the Market Analysis process
3. Define and monitor delivery process better.
4. Is the backup and protection of test software adequate
5. When are supplier CARS issued and how good is the process
6. Is the floor checked to ensure ESD safe
7. Plan, do, check, act should be institutionalized
8. More define and measure the RFQ process.

These are some of the examples. As you can see, I`ve got some work to do. We had processes for all these. We planned, we did, we checked but our acting process needs work. The main focus of the audit. Show me your process, Can you prove that it is effective. What are you doing to improve the process.

Mike,
If the other 11 minors are similar in nature you could have very well received a major. You were lucky. maybe this is why your CB is being investigated.

My question; Did you not have a practice audit with your CB?

Sam,

We did have a practice audit about a month before the actual. Our CB said everything looked fine and we were ready to go. Of course, this was before he was audited by the IAOB. This TS is a learning process and we look to improve upon the results. It was most disappointing.

Sam,

We did have a practice audit about a month before the actual. Our CB said everything looked fine and we were ready to go. Of course, this was before he was audited by the IAOB. This TS is a learning process and we look to improve upon the results. It was most disappointing.

It appears they have done you a great dis-service. And probably through no fault of their own. I'm beginning to "feel" the confusion.

Mike,

One possible factor besides the "tune-up" to the CB.

When QS was new, we observed many CB's being very strict on registration
audits and less so on surveillances. Their rationale was that it was vital to
ensure that the system was strong from the start. My opinion was that the
CB was more comfortable being strict before granting registration, as a harsh
writeup after registration might lead to questioning of the validity of the
registration audit performance. ("You allowed this on the reg audit"!)

Some of the auditors have casually mentioned that "we would write this
up if this were a registration audit", but don't do so in surveillance.

This tendency may also be happening here. Indeed, it seemed like most
of the minors would have been minors under QS also; perhaps they were
never detected.

Anyway, good work on getting thru, and best of luck in closing out the minors.


Brad