Are Special Characteristics mandatory (required)?

[J PARTHASARATHY]

in case you do not have special or critical charateristics identified either by customer or internally by you, the best way to start with is from fmea.

product or process characteristics with high severity rating as 9 or 10 and characteritics with combination of high severity and occurence rating can be selected for critical/special caharecteristic and controlled by spc - capability studies.

the requirement for such characteristics is to control them in better way compare to others, as the impact is more with respect to product/process perfomance. More than for ts standard requirement, this helps organisation.

hope these may be useful.

 

[QEMan]

A review of all products to ensure that there are no SC should be sufficient. However, make sure that you include the FMEAs in this review. Pay close attantion to any previous customer complaints that were dimensional issues. Don't forget to look at all similar products and processes. I think that you will find at least a few SC in this review.

Good Luck

 

[tammydiz]

Re: Special Characteristics? Is this compulsory?

I am trying to research some items which I think may be a safety characterisitic and if so would need to be identified as such on the PFMEA and control plans. The items in question are the front impact sensor and the hood latch cable systems which my company assembles onto the front end module. I have searched FMVSS and cannot find anything for the sensor and for the cable only that it needed to have one. Where can I find information and what am I missing??

 

[Jim Wynne]

Re: Special Characteristics? Is this compulsory?

I am trying to research some items which I think may be a safety characterisitic and if so would need to be identified as such on the PFMEA and control plans. The items in question are the front impact sensor and the hood latch cable systems which my company assembles onto the front end module. I have searched FMVSS and cannot find anything for the sensor and for the cable only that it needed to have one. Where can I find information and what am I missing??

Welcome to the Cove.

The best source of information regarding special characteristics (or any other product requirements) is the design record, and if you're still not sure, asking the customer directly. If you do communicate with the customer in this regard, do it in writing--don't accept verbal responses.

 

[tammydiz]

Re: Special Characteristics? Is this compulsory?

Thanks for your reply Jim. My problem is that my customer is very lax on requirements. I just want to be sure we (internally) are not missing any federal requirements for things that could be safety issues.

 

[Jim Wynne]

Re: Special Characteristics? Is this compulsory?

Thanks for your reply Jim. My problem is that my customer is very lax on requirements. I just want to be sure we (internally) are not missing any federal requirements for things that could be safety issues.

I understand your concern, but you need to be on record with your customer regarding your concerns. These things can come back to bite you in a big way, and if this one does, you're going to need evidence that you brought the matter to the customer's attention.

 

[tammydiz]

Re: Special Characteristics? Is this compulsory?

Yes, we have it in writing that they have no requirement for the sensor and they consider the hood latch cable as a "significant characteristic" not a "critical characteristic", which is what I thought they would be considering the safety aspects of both. The cable is designated as a significant characteristic on the drawing, the sensor - nothing. I am more concerned with us doing our due diligence internally, I don't care what the customer designates it as (we certainly meet their requirements), I can always elevate it...but I need to substantiate my arguement with something....which I don't have at the moment.

 

[Citizen Kane]

Hi !

In the automotive field for our plant we have this. Most of them we have them from the customer, but still you must define ones internally yourself when building the P-FMEA.

 

[Jim Wynne]

Hi !

In the automotive field for our plant we have this. Most of them we have them from the customer, but still you must define ones internally yourself when building the P-FMEA.

Not true unless it's specifically required by a customer. If there are no special characteristics--those worthy of increased surveillance and/or statistical analysis, there's no point in creating them.

 

[Helmut Jilling]

Not true unless it's specifically required by a customer. If there are no special characteristics--those worthy of increased surveillance and/or statistical analysis, there's no point in creating them.

In TS, the intent of cl 7.2.1.1 is to address customer designated special characteristics, whatever they may be called - significant, safety, delta, shield, etc. Any customer designated characteristic that is more than normal, or needs any additioanl attention.

When they added cl 7.3.2.3, in my view it was to address the benefit of internally designating special characteristics as well. I see customers delegating this more to the suppliers. It was discussed in the APQP or FMEA manual, but the 2002 version of the standard brought it directly into the standard as well.

I find most products have features which are "special" in actuality, but organizations are reluctant to identify them as "special." Many, if not most products, have some features which require more than normal attention, insoection, monitoring, difficult feature, higher than normal defects. In essence, these characteristics are "special" in nature, and treated as such. Why not just designate them as such, and use the system in place to communicate that?