S
speck
I posted this question yesterday but it seems to have vanished into the abyss somewhere. Not sure what I did wrong posting. 
We are a design exempt commercial heat-treater and the question I have is, is mandatory configuration management required? I searched for the better part of the day yesterday on the cove (incidentally I learned way more than I was planning to and it turned into a very educational surfing morning – thanks to all) and could not find a topic covering it. Only about 1% of work done here is aerospace quality work, and none require a FAI as we are 3rd, 4th or 5th tier and things are pretty watered down by the time it gets to us. I always get as much information as I can from our customer but sometimes they have no clue where the parts end up. Our “Configuration packet” consists of every piece of paper that was used to make the part from contract review to invoicing. Our requirements are usually surface hardness, effective case depth and core hardness only. We develop a process document it on the shop router and steps are bought off by employees in order. We do not purchase anything for the parts except instrument grade gasses used for carburizing, which is handled appropriately, and rust preventative spray for shipping which have COC of each batch. Many times we run a lot and never see the part number again. We have a configuration and FAI procedure but don’t really use it. 7.1.3 of AS9100 C says The organization must implement and maintain a configuration management process that includes, AS APPROPRIATE to the product…. I have always maintained that as we do not have FAI or other req’s our “Appropriate” CM is a control plan outlining every aspect or step involved in the product realization that allows at any time to determine the configuration of the product. A distilled version of my question is, Do I need a separate configuration file folder in my office for every aerospace part we do if there is no requirement for FAI and we have, or may only run the parts 1 or 2 times? Relatively speaking our process is so simple as it applies to the standard. We take the customers parts, heat treat them and ship them back to them. The last thing I want to do is complicate things for us. We have survived 4 years of AS9100 audits and 2 years of NADCAP audits without a scratch. Have all the auditors given me enough rope to hang myself? The more I read about CM here, the more it sounds like everyone just has CM files for every part regardless of circumstances. Again sorry if my first post on this is lost somewhere in the other parts of the cove and thanks a ton for helping me out over the years.
We are a design exempt commercial heat-treater and the question I have is, is mandatory configuration management required? I searched for the better part of the day yesterday on the cove (incidentally I learned way more than I was planning to and it turned into a very educational surfing morning – thanks to all) and could not find a topic covering it. Only about 1% of work done here is aerospace quality work, and none require a FAI as we are 3rd, 4th or 5th tier and things are pretty watered down by the time it gets to us. I always get as much information as I can from our customer but sometimes they have no clue where the parts end up. Our “Configuration packet” consists of every piece of paper that was used to make the part from contract review to invoicing. Our requirements are usually surface hardness, effective case depth and core hardness only. We develop a process document it on the shop router and steps are bought off by employees in order. We do not purchase anything for the parts except instrument grade gasses used for carburizing, which is handled appropriately, and rust preventative spray for shipping which have COC of each batch. Many times we run a lot and never see the part number again. We have a configuration and FAI procedure but don’t really use it. 7.1.3 of AS9100 C says The organization must implement and maintain a configuration management process that includes, AS APPROPRIATE to the product…. I have always maintained that as we do not have FAI or other req’s our “Appropriate” CM is a control plan outlining every aspect or step involved in the product realization that allows at any time to determine the configuration of the product. A distilled version of my question is, Do I need a separate configuration file folder in my office for every aerospace part we do if there is no requirement for FAI and we have, or may only run the parts 1 or 2 times? Relatively speaking our process is so simple as it applies to the standard. We take the customers parts, heat treat them and ship them back to them. The last thing I want to do is complicate things for us. We have survived 4 years of AS9100 audits and 2 years of NADCAP audits without a scratch. Have all the auditors given me enough rope to hang myself? The more I read about CM here, the more it sounds like everyone just has CM files for every part regardless of circumstances. Again sorry if my first post on this is lost somewhere in the other parts of the cove and thanks a ton for helping me out over the years.
I just don't like gray areas. They result in findings sooner or later.
