Approved supplier list for R&D

duff999

Quite Involved in Discussions
Do suppliers used for R&D purposes where a process has not been locked down need to appear on the approved supplier list, and when the process is locked, is this when the supplier should be added.

I am trying not to hold up the R&D process while waiting to approve a supplier that may not be used again.

Thoughts?

Thanks
 

Mark Meer

Trusted Information Resource
Up to you, I think, but be careful.
You want to avoid the situation where you have a (tested) prototype, but can't approve suppliers of the parts that went into it.
...and it goes without saying that suppliers should all be approved prior to any design transfer to production. ;)

For ourselves, in early stages of development we allow for unapproved supplier sourcing (samples, etc.). ...but as development transitions to formal prototype development stage, we start to control the suppliers.
 

Seekingknowledgee

Involved In Discussions
I used to be a part of the of the team to add suppliers into our approved supplier list in Massachusetts. The way we used to do it was, we would have to add the suppliers in our approved supplier list before we get any product from them even for R&D purposes.

One time we got the raw materials from the supplier without having them in our approved supplier list. after two months when we were trying to have them in our ASL, they failed the audit and we could not get any product from them. Luckily we didn't have a problem with that since there was another company that we were getting raw materials from as well and that company was in our ASL.
 

Ninja

Looking for Reality
Trusted Information Resource
...and the R&D folks wonder why I make them throw away the 20+ year old stuff they have on the shelf...
When I saw the first $200K project try to launch on a supplier that had gone out of business 14 years earlier, it hit the fan.

R&D suppliers do not have to be approved, but it greatly behooves you to check whether they are "certifiable" in a good way.
 
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