Purchase Order Revisions and PO Review - What information is required in a PO?

Is it absolutely necessary to identify your specification revisions on your
PO's or can you simply state "latest revision" e.g.,
"AMS2871 Latest Revision"

Also , is it absoluteley mandatory that a QA person check a po before its
issuance?

I am strictly speaking from an AS9100 and ISO9001 perspective.

I have operated undo those instructions for years, however, i find myself in a new company where the Purchasing manager wants to change how we do business ( this will also result in a QA Manual change)

I want to be sure im AS9100 compiant.

Thanks

An OldQAManager

Re: Purchase Order Revisions and PO Review

A QA person doesn't have to sign the P.O. (although it is often a good practice).

You do, however, need to specify to the supplier the revision to work to. Most organizations publish a spec index and tell the supplier to reference the index.
The problem with "latest rev" is sometimes some people get behind or ahead. I'm sure you have had the occasional rev issue with your customers too. Who is right, who is wrong?

AS9100 rev C paragraph 7.4.2
"Purchasing information shall describe the product to be purchased, including, where appropriate

d) the identification and revision status of specifications, drawings, process requirements, inspection/verification instructions and other relevant technical data"

By the way, many aerospace customers require this revision to be included on the certification from the supplier and that you should verify that revision on the certification with each shipment.

Re: Purchase Order Revisions and PO Review

I support Alspread's opinion. I believe it is very important to provide the vendors with as much as possible information about the purchased product to prevent errors.

I have had experience with outdated products sent by the suppliers because they were not effectively and timely made aware of spec changes. The result: scrap costs and a dilema of who was going to pay for it.

There are systems for inventory management that get maintained by a group and that includes updating rev levels. Those systems share their information with the PO processing, so there is no need to enter the rev level every time a PO is issued, since it is automatic and minimizes entry errors. Asses if yours has this capacity. Just keep it simple!

Take care!

oldqamanager said:

Is it absolutely necessary to identify your specification revisions on your
PO's or can you simply state "latest revision" e.g.,
"AMS2871 Latest Revision"

Also , is it absoluteley mandatory that a QA person check a po before its
issuance?

I am strictly speaking from an AS9100 and ISO9001 perspective.

I have operated undo those instructions for years, however, i find myself in a new company where the Purchasing manager wants to change how we do business ( this will also result in a QA Manual change)

I want to be sure im AS9100 compiant.

Thanks

An OldQAManager

Click to expand...

Any document when it is made has got it's status, in ISO 9001 perspective we can call it as a revision no. or amendment no and date of revision or date of amendment. This is required for tracking the status of PO. As PO is the major document issued to the supplier as far as the purchasing activity is concerned. To have conveynience for referring the PO with Supplier, the status of PO is to be mentioned on this document. When you change any previously stated requirement, you need to issue a new amended PO with escalated revision/amendment status to supplier.

I have had experience with outdated products sent by the suppliers because they were not effectively and timely made aware of spec changes. The result: scrap costs and a dilema of who was going to pay for it.

Click to expand...

Essentially, a PO is a 'contract' and if one is sloppy in the details, they would have no recourse but to accept goods supplied based on whatever they specified.

oldqamanager said:

.............. I want to be sure im AS9100 compiant......................

Click to expand...

A related thread: Purchase Order (PO) Quality Clauses - AS9100 7.4.2 Purchasing Information

Re: Purchase Order Revisions and PO Review

alspread said:

A QA person doesn't have to sign the P.O. (although it is often a good practice).

You do, however, need to specify to the supplier the revision to work to. Most organizations publish a spec index and tell the supplier to reference the index.
The problem with "latest rev" is sometimes some people get behind or ahead. I'm sure you have had the occasional rev issue with your customers too. Who is right, who is wrong?

AS9100 rev C paragraph 7.4.2
"Purchasing information shall describe the product to be purchased, including, where appropriate

d) the identification and revision status of specifications, drawings, process requirements, inspection/verification instructions and other relevant technical data"

By the way, many aerospace customers require this revision to be included on the certification from the supplier and that you should verify that revision on the certification with each shipment.

Click to expand...

Hold the phone here!

AS9100C is not auditable yet.

Although there is nothing to keep a company from using AS9100C or aspects of it, it can't be used as a requirement for CB audits.

That said, I think specifying the revision level on the PO is an exceptionally good practice.