Contract Review Procedures

[overloaded intern]

I just finished my FIRST year in undergrad for aerospace engineering and am working at an internship for the summer. My boss decided AS9100b certification would be a good task for me to work on. My company started the ISO certification process a few years ago but never completed it. They did outline/reference several documents to cover the AS9100b requirements however these documents were either lost or never actually written. Going from that list, I'm supposed to write a document titled "Contract Review Procedures". Looking through the standard I'm thinking this includes everything in 7.2 but I'm not sure what else. In other words, I dont know what Im supposed to write about. Do you have any ideas as to what requirements I could compile under this title? Thanks

[michelle8075]

I am not familiar with the AS91000 standard. I am however very familiar with QS-9000 TE and ISO-9001:2000. You can probably look up some previous threads on this site under QS and ISO and see what kind of ideas you can get.

The section 7.2 in AS-91000 may call out some related elements. If it doesn't think of Contract review starting the moment your company thinks it might start get a job. Usually, a company gets a request for quote in which your estimator/quoting department reviews customer requirements, customer specifications, plant layout (do you have the area to produce the product the customer wants), manpower - resource management, feasibility of making the product, cost, etc.

So read through the standard and start to see the coorelation between the other elements and "shalls" in section 7.2. I'm sure that many other elements will influence how you write your contract review procedure.

[BadgerMan]

“Contract” review is only one part of the process described in section 7.2, IMO.

I would start by studying the process, beginning with receipt of the RFP/RFQ all the way through flow down and implementation of the resulting contract requirements. Then sketch a flow chart to help you develop an outline for your procedure.

[RosieA]

Yikes, sounds like a pretty intense project for a first year intern. Good luck!

[morgand]

Find out how you really do things first. Then map them back against you standard. Fill in the gaps that appear and everything should be

[overloaded intern]

Thanks everybody. I'll see what I can learn. Then I'll be back with more questions.

[Sidney Vianna]

Originally Posted by BadgerMan

I would start by studying the process, beginning with receipt of the RFP/RFQ all the way through flow down and implementation of the resulting contract requirements. Then sketch a flow chart to help you develop an outline for your procedure.

Originally Posted by morgand

Find out how you really do things first. Then map them back against you standard. Fill in the gaps that appear and everything should be

Yes, one can do that. However, if the existing process is ineffective, "broken" and/or dysfunctional, then you just perpetuate an AS9100 compliant (but ineffective, broken or dysfunctional) process.

Not easy for an intern to solve this, but to document what you do might just perpetuate intrinsic problems. Intern, if you can, interview the people associated with the process, and enquire them why things get done the way they do. Further, ask the process-involved people if and how the process could be improved. At the end of the day, you want to have a lean, streamlined process which addresses all regulatory, customer and self driven mandates.

[overloaded intern]

So I read through a contract and broke it down into about 7 different areas (funding, info rights, subcontracting, etc.). I'm compiling a list of each area and who is responsible for each. I guess I'm then going to get info from each person on what each area involves and then compile it into my "Contract Review Procedures" document. Any other suggestions?