How many firms are third-party registered to TE (Tooling and Equipment) Supplement?

Hi, all

Not much activity in the TE front? If you recall, we went through TE registration about 2 weeks ago....have responded to Non-compliances, am awaiting word of acceptance...

How many firms are there already third-party registered to TE?

Feedback anyone?


Bryon

Hi Bryon,

We're having a pre-assessment tomorrow and Friday for TE by a third party auditor. I am a bit neervous because although we have cleaned up considerably there are many issues remaining that I am not so confident of passing. But what the heck-that's what a pre-assessment is for.

I'm curious as to what you did for SPC (4.20). We don't really have much to document. We use mostly proven technology with added extras such as welding systems or conveyors. Could you give me an idea of what you have in your procedures/documentation?

Thanks,
Michael

[Marc]

Mike

Keep us informed about your pre-assessment. Who is your registrar?

Good luck to you in your pre-assessment......take the opportunity to "pick " your auditors brains a little....as far as the 4.20 thing goes, I called out analysis of various reliability measures, MTBF, MTTS, LCC, etc.....and then showed that we were doing some analysis of these measures to drive improvement. I did some analysis of LCC; gathered estimated production/labor/material costs, and did some comparisons with actual times, etc. I based our MTBF, and MTTR numbers on individual components testing, and then ran those failure rates into a system reliability formula (series vs. parallel systems) It worked out fairly well, and I was even surprised by some of the numbers I got back. We use this information to help drive process improvement........

I get the feeling that this TE thing is so new, that there will be some fumbling and groping by all parties concerned......if the numbers I hear about the sheer quantity of TE suppliers as opposed to production part suppliers to Detroit, this TE thing should be huge. I guess it will come down to customer mandate..........we shall see.

Keep us posted on your experiences.

Bryon

This is long so read only if you are interested and have time!

Perry Johnson is our registrar (chosen before I joined the company). The auditors seemed to do a good job-and I did pick their brains (which were energized by our Thai food lunch).

There were 12 minor NCRs which will take all of 15 minutes each to correct (procedure clarifications, etc.). I'll do a summary of the majors-this is early morning and I don't have the standards in front of me but I'm sure you'll recognize the elements.

1) Internal audits-a stupid mistake on my part for writing in our procedures that we do monthly int audits (I meant just for a few months but... , and for not having an audit plan for this year. Easily fixable

2) Contingency plan-A failure on my part to address the issue properly. No clear plans for machine breakdown, power failure, or other emergencies. Fixable

3) Receiving Inspection-Uncontrolled access to crib, no non-conforming material log, lack of sufficient ID of received product. Reinstruction and procedural changes.

4) Material Storage-No control of access, no requisition procedures, lack of identification of product, insufficient organization. A major effort required here but I agree with their assessment totally.

5) Test Equipment-Using uncalibrated test equipment (torque sensers) in software lab. Easy fix for an otherwise fairly organized department.

6) Training-Employee training records not updated in two years! My records were not even there...A major oversight on my part (I trusted our administration department on this one...ouch! Fixable

7) Vendor Evaluation/Delivery-Using Vendors with a very poor record of on-time-delivery. Using vendors not approved by our own procedures. Will take time but easily fixable.

8) Hazardous Material-Contaminated Oil being stored (55 gal drums) 5 feet from receiving dock (dangerous situation), violation of EPA, OSHA, etc. Have to check on this. OSHA has never cited us but... .TBD

Overall nothing that will take too much time or money to fix. These and a few minor procedural clarifications will make us ready for another audit (perhaps one more pre?) then go for the gold. I am quite satisfied with our efforts. You shuda seen us at the start... !

Michael