We technically do not own the company as we pay another company who in turn pays the employees.
Your situation is a common one. I have dealt with this type for the past ten years.
They are not responsible for processes such as Sales, Purchasing, Engineering... All they do is receive raw material (that we order), manufacture the harness, then ship to us for inspection and we ship to our customers. How would you do Internal Audits for this location?
1- You still have to issue a PO /labor only. (Sales and contract verification and review)
2- The Material is considered customer supplied material. (Customer becomes the supplier) Hence supplier evaluation, SCAR, right material, right spec, right quantity, right arrival time, etc.
3- Manufacturing processes are based on customer requirements. They still have to have a product realization plan.
4- they don't design the product, but they have to perform process design, process control, First Article Approval, and process engineering.
5- They still have to purchase some material locally, such as solder bar, solder wire, flux, packaging, etc. This is beneficial because you can take advantage of EVA tax return.[/QUOTE]
Would they be able to recieve certification if they only perform those processes? .
Absoluetly!
We send them work orders based on our customer orders and purchase raw material based on that. If you were to visit this facility for an audit what would you audit? Would they have to come audit our facility here in BC for things such as Purchasing, Sales, Engineering,,,
If you define responsibilities clearly and assign sales, purchasing, and engineering clearly (no matter how insignificant the functions are), your HQ does not need to get involved.
Your HQ can be considered as external training source. The Mexico plant have to perform need assessment and schedule training and assess effectiveness. Email correspondence should be classified as customer communication and records need to be kept.
The plant manager will be a part of our management review and their quality metrics will be included into our Balanced Scorecard. Sorry I am fairly new to the "Quality" sceen and would appreciate some help as I have to go down there Aug 19th and do their Internal Audits in prep for the ceritification audit. I am an internal auditor here but I'm not sure how to audit this facility, also the language barrier is a little daunting!
Thanks
You are not the only one who experiences the language barrier.
Two years ago, TUV auditor asked one of the operators if she knows where to find procedures. She turned around and said that they don't have any procedure...LOL. The auditor laughed because he could see the work instruction in front of her....
Last week, I was training two supervisors in Mexico. I don't speak the language and they did not speak English. I was teaching them how to do a turtle chart. I used Google translator. It took me four times longer, but they got it and did a wonderful job.
Normally, Mexico plants get written-up for insufficient PAR and not following up with CAR and ECNs. They have not mastered planning and following up. The system should be set on accountability. The continual improvement should be very systematic. Make sure the safety is considered in every process procedure and work instruction.
Good Luck,
Michelle