Purchasing Review and Approval Process

QS9000 4.6.3 states "The supplier shall review and approve purchasing documents for adequacy of specified requirements prior to release." Is the review of "adequacy of specified requirements" a check to make sure that sections 4.6.2 (a, b, c) have been met?

Thanks for your help

Paul

Hi.

THe intent of 4.6.3 is to ensure that the purchasing documents that you use, i.e. PO's, have the required information included. That information is spelled out in 4.6.3 (a,b,c.). What we do in my company, is have an independent buyer(one other than the person who generated the PO), review it for accuracy, and then initial it as proof of review, prior to release. It is a simple, but effectie way of satisfying the standard.

Hope this helps.

Bryon

[Tom Goetzinger]

The intent of the standard is ensure that the supplier has all of the information necessary to supply the item ordered correctly. The requirement is not that someone other than the buyer placing the order review it. It all depends on how you write the governing procedures. I would hesitate requiring a second person review all orders; this seems like an added cost better avoided if possible. The buyers need to be responsible for what they order. Very large dollar or complex orders might be different, but I would require that review to be done a mangement level higher.

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Tom,

I concur. The standard does not require an independent review of a PO, only that the purchasing documents are reviewed prior to release. However you decide to do that is up to you, as long as it is proceduralized.

The independent review simply is how the review process is handled at my employer.


Bryon

[Marc]

Any other thoughts on this?

[Al Dyer]

On a P.O./Contract, the company needs to review:

-prices
-production rates
-shipping timelines
-environmental regulations that may apply
-workforce required
-machinery requirements
-customer specific requirements
-print revision levels
-capability to meet specs
-contingency plans
-and others as applicable to individual company processes

This review is a form of and to ensure that there are no disputes with the customer.

I have typically seen this function performed by the APQP team with checklists and such but in smaller companies it may be only one or two people. Either way it needs to be completed by some methodology that ensures covering all the bases.

Too many times over the years I have been party to an owner or salesman that shows up with a signed P.O. and says make it work. Surely not pro-active and can lead to losing alot of money if a profit margin is not met.

Al...

[Randy Stewart]

Since the PO is THE contract it must be complete and convey the requirements. IMO all the review does is to ensure that customer and company requirements have been addressed (SPC data, inspection type, etc.).