A TS 16949 Implementation through Registration Project Diary - Automotive

[Icy Mountain]

OK, here goes:

8/20 meeting released the Product Realization - Customer Related Processes. Huge discussion on Product Realization - Purchasing. Generating a 4 tier current supplier list: 1-Automotive, 2 - ISO, 3 - General non-product related supplies (filing cabinets), and 4 inactive. Supplier qualification procedure written and reviewed. Looks good. Querying Level 1 and 2 suppliers to get a certification status on file. Reviewed the whole section at the 8/26 meeting. PR-Purchasing to release on 9/17, all new suppliers will have to be prequalified as TS or ISO after that.

Going to have to create a Procedures Handbook for our Materials Team so that they have special requirements procedures available at Receiving.

Job Descriptions and Team Skills/Training Matrixes are 90% complete for everyone in the plant.

Attended team meetings for the last two weeks to provide training on the Continual Improvement, Preventive Action and Corrective Measures system. I now have all three rolling in and getting databased, assigned, completed and followed up. Yay!

Attended team meetings for the last two weeks to provide training on the Non-conforming product and process. Everyone calibrated to red tag and segregate, plus provide truth-in-advertising on First Pass Yield forms (including failure data that can be trended and analysed).

Reviving our database of Customer Feedback cards and bringing it up to current. We have 3+ years of data! Just need to enter the last 12 months or so. This will go on to support our Monitoring and Measurement - Customer Satisfaction section, along with warranty data and Customer Complaints. BTW, customer complaints will go right into our Corrective Measures Database for tracking.

Team meeting today to review the TS requirements for TS Readiness Evaluation, guidance for 8.2.1.1 Customer Satisfaction - Supplemental, and 8.5.1.1 Continual Improvement of the Organization to map out what metrics we have to support these sections and make sure that they are available and pointed out in the various procedures where the data creation or review is mandated (mostly Monitoring and Measurement and Management Review).

Finally, didn't get to Management Review yet since we interviewed registrars instead (the queue for assessment is getting longer). Management Review is now set for 9/8 (I'll let you know how it goes).

We have selected a registrar: DNV (Det Norske Veritas or The Norwegian Truth). Preliminary schedule for pre-assessment the first week of January 2005 (this cannot be the same auditor that does the registration assessment if registration is after 12/15/04), Readiness Review 3rd or 4th week (this now must be on site if your reg is after 12/15) and Registration Assessment the first week of February 2005. Oh, Saints preserve us!

-Icy (but melting fast) Mountain

[Icy Mountain]

Ok, lot's of posts on the Cove today, since I am immersing myself in Quality to prepare for the Management Review today. I have a big thick binder with all the MR Gozintas and Gozoutas. I have a two inch stack of Implementation Project Minutes, Notes, and Supporting Documents. Everyone pray for me that I can intelligently answer all questions and support them with data.

Well, it was less than 3 hours. I have some really good action items, straight from the top. Also, one of the benefits I had forgotten since I haven't done this for 6 or 7 years, Management now has a greatly enlarged appreciation for the work involved in a System Implementation Project of this magnitude, for the scope of the Quality Management System and for what benefits we will realize from it as a company.

[Icy Mountain]

We started our ISO/TS16949:2002 registration project June 1, 2004.
We are about 1/2 done writing, reviewing, releasing and training to our new procedures.
The only major Sections we have left are
Design and Development (7.3), Production (7.5), Device Control (7.6), and Internal Audit (8.2.2).

Before you say, "Holy Smokes, that's most of the hard stuff", we have a fully developed Product Development Control Process and already have one product that has been through it + APQP, FMEA, MSA, and PPAP and is shipping to the customer that is requiring TS2. So, we just need to write it so that it aligns with the rest of the Q Manual. Same with Production and Calibration. Again, we are already shipping to a customer that is requiring that we comply. Internal Audit will be written and performed by an expert SUPPLIER.

We should have everything documented, implemented and trained sometime in November, followed by a complete system internal audit in late November. A round of corrective actions, and internal audit followup with another Management Review completed before December 15.

Pre-assessment early January 2005, Readiness Review late January, Registration Audit early February.
And that's the way it is, Claes. Any questions?

[Claes Gefvenberg]

In Reply to Parent Post by Icy Mountain

And that's the way it is, Claes. Any questions?

Not really. Thank's for the info Ice, and above all: Good luck When you're past that hurdle we hope to see you back here on a more regular basis.

/Claes

[Wes Bucey]

What?!! You couldn't do this all in forty days?! You must not have been using the right consultant.

Actually, Ice, I really appreciate the time you have taken to document the time and effort it really takes to do the job right. It may prevent someone from being misled by overly ambitious advertising "puffery."

Ignorance may be bliss, but not in the Quality industry!

[Icy Mountain]

It is theoretically possible to start from scratch and achieve ISO9001:2000 registration in 40 days (although I believe that this would be HIGHLY registrar dependent). Sidney can pipe in here, but I doubt that you could convince DNV. It is not possible to satisfy a registrar that you comply to ISO/TS16949:2002 in that amount of time. Period. Read the IATF rules and guidance.

Thanks for the appreciation, Wes, <edit: I value that very much, especially considering the regard I have for the wisdom of your posts and the thought that you obviously put into them. You have very astutely determined my motiviation. edit> but I have simply typed the project status log onto the Cove. I would have had to type it somewhere to keep track.

[Wes Bucey]

In Reply to Parent Post by Icy Mountain

It is theoretically possible to start from scratch and achieve ISO9001:2000 registration in 40 days (although I believe that this would be HIGHLY registrar dependent). Sidney can pipe in here, but I doubt that you could convince DNV. It is not possible to satisfy a registrar that you comply to ISO/TS16949:2002 in that amount of time. Period. Read the IATF rules and guidance.

"Theoretically," yes, for a relatively small or simple organization, or for one that has a well-organized QMS to begin with.

I, myself, led several organizations that were "compliant" (not on purpose - just good business) and could have passed a surprise audit for ISO '94 or 2000 on any given day. The folks looking for a "miracle fix" probably are not well-organized and would have serious gaps.

I agree TS16949 has a couple of hiccups (hiccoughs?) preventing instant registration.

[Icy Mountain]

Had a 2 week emergency detour into Customer Satisfaction (another story).

So, we had our first Management Review on September 8 and there's a lot of nice action items that need completed before our next MR in December.

September 16, another team meeting for updates on:
Skills Lists and Training Registers
Registrar Selection and schedule
Management Review
And we released the Product Realization - Purchasing section. Materials Group is hard at work separating TS suppliers (those who will supply product for TS customers) from ISO suppliers (those who will supply product for the rest of the customers) from registration unnecessary suppliers (office supplies, etc.)

September 21, meeting with our contractor and the team to discuss the Product Realization - Design and Development section. We have a very good Product Development Control Process (PDCP), we just need to follow it -- ALWAYS! This will get a Procedures Manual section as well as a supporting Work Instruction because of the detailed deliverables required in our PDCP. Will try to release October 1.

October 1, "The best laid plans of mice and men....". 10 days from customer complaint to redesigned circuit board, in a product, on the customer's production line. 10 days of no TS work. No Design & Development release.

Discussed the balance of the Procedures Manual. There are quite a few small TS subclauses that need a one line answer now that most of the manual is finished (+Control of M&M Devices and Internal Audit). Divided between the contracter and me, we hope to have all the holes filled in for release by 10/15. Planning for a discussion on Product Realization - Product and Service Provision on 10/22.

October 4, finished the Work Instruction for PDCP and distributed for review.
October 7, During the team meeting, Executive Management realizes that they REALLY need to review the PDCP to make sure we can do all that. . Good part, I have two projects in the last 12 months where we have all of the deliverables required and all the Managment signoffs, so I know we can. Maybe a 10/15 release for Design & Development?

Finally, we have a whole system Internal Audit scheduled the week of 11/22. DNV is scheduled for pre-assessment the first week of January 3, 2005, readiness review the January 26, 2005, and registration assessment the week of February 28, 2005

Still cool,
Icy