Do Calibration Suppliers need to be included in the list of Approved Suppliers?

F

fregando

Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide raw materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando
 
Last edited by a moderator:
B

brahmaiah

Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide ram materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando
Calibration supplier should be included in the approved supplier list.Also records of assesment of their suitability should be available.If you are a TS16949 Company the calibration supplier should be accredited to ISO17025.
V.J.Brahmaiah
 

bio_subbu

Super Moderator
Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide ram materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando
Dear Fernando

Normally, outside calibration or maintenance services are used to perform calibration or service function. The calibration service (service providers) must be an approved supplier and be listed on the Approved Vendors List.

Regards
S. Subramaniam
 
T

True Position

Not to just pile on, but yes. Your outside calibration vendors will need to be in the approved supplier list. I've always found keeping a copy of their ISO17025 Certificate AND Scope of Accreditation with the supplier evaluation form will be enough for an auditor. You do need both the certificate AND scope though, one is worthless without the other.
 

howste

Thaumaturge
Trusted Information Resource
Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide ram materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando
I'm going to have to disagree with what's been said. In looking at the TS 16949 standard, there is no requirement to have an approved supplier list at all. If you're not required to have a list at all, then you certainly don't need to have any supplier on it.

Having said that, you do need to have records of supplier evaluation. The records of supplier evaluation do need to include calibration suppliers. As Brahmaiah said, they do need to be accredited to ISO 17025.
ISO/TS 16949:2009 said:
NOTE 1 Purchased products above include all products and services that affect customer requirements such as subassembly, sequencing, sorting, rework and calibration services.
 

qusys

Trusted Information Resource
Note nr. 1 of par. 7.4.1 of ISO TS says that purchased product means all the products and and services that affect customer requirement, in particular calibration services are mentioned too.
The note is clear to be informative, even though not prescriptive.
In the case the Las is not ISO 17025 certified, organization shall have the approval to use it requesting to the Customer.
Records for the evaluation of the supplier shall be stored.
In case you have a list of approved suppliers as per your internal procedure where you say to mantain it updated with established criteria, you shall put suppliers of calibration services inside it.
Anyway, ISO TS does not directly request to have this list, but the process in place. List is not a must, but only a tool to show evidence from the organization stand point.

Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide ram materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando
 

somashekar

Leader
Admin
Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide raw materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando
Products include services and so if your system has been defined to have a list of approved suppliers, then calibration service providers do have to be in it. All that you do to approve and add into this list applies to calibration service suppliers too.
 

AndyN

Moved On
Hi there,
I currently have in my list of approved suppliers only the ones that provide raw materials and components to our products; the question is: do suppliers for calibration need to be included in the list of approved suppliers?
Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Fernando

Since you have elected to list approved suppliers (which, as Howste suggests isn't actually a requirement), then it makes sense - because calibration service suppliers do have a fundamental impact on product quality.

If your own process says you produce a list, that's what you'll have to comply with first and foremost, not ISO/TS 16949. I'm guessing you have a way to evaluate the service they supply and then, periodically, re-evaluate them? Not just accreditation, but actual performance. Having ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation and meeting your (calibration service) requirements may not be the same thing....
 
F

fregando

thank you everyone for your input, it seems that I am going to do some extra work....another question.... what if you have a new instrument, like a thermometer, and it does not have a certificate of calibration from the manufacturer, should I have to send it out for calibration?... it is new and I compared it against other thermometers and it is working perfectly; to me it is just a waste of money and time to send it out just because of the certificate, and I am actually planning to send only one thermometer to an external lab and use that one to check my other thermometers.... will that work?

thanks again.
 

Helmut Jilling

Auditor / Consultant
thank you everyone for your input, it seems that I am going to do some extra work....another question.... what if you have a new instrument, like a thermometer, and it does not have a certificate of calibration from the manufacturer, should I have to send it out for calibration?... it is new and I compared it against other thermometers and it is working perfectly; to me it is just a waste of money and time to send it out just because of the certificate, and I am actually planning to send only one thermometer to an external lab and use that one to check my other thermometers.... will that work?

thanks again.

All gages must be verified before use. However, if you have the means to verify it to a known accurate thermometer, then you may do it internally. It does not have to be an external calibration.
 
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