AS9100 (8.5.1 j) - Missing Parts when received back from External Provider

[WonderCNC]

Regarding the requirement 8.5.1 j. "the accountability for all products during production (e.g. parts quantities, split orders, nonconforming product)":

We made 200pc of a part and sent them to our supplier for plating. We received back 196pc of the part. I contacted the supplier and they did not lose any pieces in their tank or scrap any pieces during processing. How do we handle "missing" parts when received back from an external provider?

We do not request that suppliers verify quantity before and after processing and notify us if the quantity does not match- that we can do going forward. But how do we handle the scenario where the actual physical count doesn't match when parts are returned?

 

[Mikishots]

You could ask for receipt verification to be provided. Not much can be done for this job, but valuable lesson for future work.
But if what you're saying is actually the situation (the supplier did not lose the parts), it's not up to the plating shop to rectify this - it's time to review shipping practices on your end.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

How do we handle "missing" parts when received back from an external provider?

You annotate somewhere, preferably, using the same protocol used when you kill parts in-house that, 4 parts were not returned from supplier. Using RBT, if you believe there is a risk that such unaccounted for parts could be used as counterfeit parts somewhere, you should inform the customer(s) and regulatory agencies, as appropriate.

We do not request that suppliers verify quantity before and after processing and notify us if the quantity does not match- that we can do going forward.

You should, in my view. you don't want a repeat of this problem. In addition to that, I would make sure that my contractual arrangements with such type of suppliers make them financially responsible for the loss. If they don't feel a pain for their mistakes, they would have very little inclination to change.

 

[Eredhel]

Our POs that we send to vendors always have the quantity. And I can't think of any of our vendors that don't do the same when they return them to us. We also check quantities before shipping to them and after receiving from them. It's so easy to skip it, but it really is a basic need. You might not have many options for this order but you can use this example as the driving force for all arguments against keeping track of quantities in the future.

 

[normzone]

Back in the previous century (we're talking vernier instruments here) in order to get into an inspection position at company REDACTED, I took a job in their shipping / receiving department for a while. The curmudgeon who ran the department insisted on detailed counts of everything.

He moved on, and his successor, a smooth talking slimeball, declared that a waste of time, and rough counts became the order of the day.

UNTIL we came up short of something critical needed to meet a schedule, and the trail led back to the receiving department. After that, he was religious about counting. Burn and learn ....

Me, I moved into the inspection area. Fun days, lots of dimensional inspection with antique tools and the just-introduced digital novelties