AS9100 Supply Chain - Supplier evaluation and auditing

[willytheweeper]

As a UK company registered to AS9100, I periodicly review our supplier base to ensure continuing compliance with our companies requirments.
I also perform a simalar review with all new suppliers that our purchasers wish to use. A case that I have been presented today is as follows:

A french supplier of a hard to source part has no form of iso / as or other certifaction and is not even claiming to be working in line with any of these standards. They are sourcing the required parts from another company who is iso certified. They have provided us with thier suppliers ceritifcation, with the name and certifcate number blanked out. Is it proper to insist on the identity of the third party, in order to ensure that we are indeed geting our products from an assured source?

NB, due to company policy, an audit of this company would have to be carried out by one of the management, as us lowly company auditors are restricted to movement within the UK.

Any comments on this matter would be welcome

Mick

 

[Wes Bucey]

My understanding of the requirement is the one I got from a Quality Digest article

Emphasis is placed on managing suppliers throughout the aerospace supply chain. In particular, AS9100 includes a number of additional expectations for identifying and maintaining suppliers. The standard lists seven specific areas to consider when communicating requirements. They range from clarifying engineering requirements to managing test specimens and right of access to suppliers' facilities. Procedures for determining the method of supplier control are required, as are the processes used when employing these methods.

If you don't have right of access included in your purchase contract, you don't seem to have met the Standard.

 

[WALLACE]

Mick,
This situation just doesn't make for good logic.
Wes is the Cove's resident AS9100 guru, I would listen to his council.
Your French supplier seems more like a middle man (broker) to me. The fact that, they have intentionally failed to disclose certain information regarding their supplier authentication and standard certification/Registration should raise a red flag.
Wallace.

 

[Wes Bucey]

It appears, Mick, that people doing the sourcing for your organization need to be more diligent in finding a true source rather than a middleman who wants to maintain his middleman status by hiding the identity of the manufacturer from you. Without independent testing of the product, how can you determine you are not getting a substandard counterfeit product?

You don't say what kind of a product this is, but in my experience, there is no such thing as a "hard to source part" - only "expensive" or "inexpensive" to source. Sometimes the extra cost is worth it to be sure of what you get.

If you don't have personnel capable of ferreting out the true source, you can always look to pay a one-time fee to a consultant who can do it for your organization.

In fact, I know one guy in the States who made a career out of going to companies and resourcing products for a percentage of the first year savings on price and he always met ALL customer product criteria. His main "trick" was eliminating middlemen who did not add value to a product. If he could make a living at it, certainly, then, you should be able to find a way to discover the true manufacturer.

 

[willytheweeper]

thanks Wes, I have reviewed our companies Terms & conditions, and we do indeed cover the rights of access.
I have informed our purchasing department that no approval of this supplier will be forthcoming until such a time that the sources of our product can be verified.
Do excuse my lack of knowledge at this moment of as9100 as we have only just recieved certifation into this area, and I myself as a newly qualified auditor, (so new that I yet to have recieve my certifacte though the post).
The help provided by yourself and the other regular contributor to these forums, is provi]ing to be a valuble resource for me as I an finding my feet in this thorny area of standards.

Again, thanks to all
Mick

 

[Al Rosen]

Paramount, in aviation, is material traceability. That means to the original source.