AS9100C Quality Policy Requirements

[Mr. Friend]

Hi friends. We are attempting AS9100C certification, and we have a Quality Policy that reads:

"(company name omitted for privacy purposes) is committed to meeting or exceeding customer requirements as well as maintaining compliance with the ISO 9001 and AS9100 Standards, continually measuring and improving the effectiveness of our Quality System."

A consultant has interviewed with us to lead the way and has made the claim that our particular Quality Policy is a joke and that it does not meet the requirements of the AS9100C Standard. During his criticism, he pointed to the fact that the words "Top Management" were not included.

We are interested in knowing if we should hire this individual. Is this a valid claim on the part of this consultant?

 

[AndyN]

A joke? That tells you everything! This is perfectly fine as a policy statement - and has been used by many hundreds of companies before (words similar) and been successfully registered etc)

You stated that you'll meet customer requirements, which in my book is a good thing, and from this you can set objectives such as meeting specs, delivery time etc. Well, perhaps not. Maybe it should be "agreed upon", because customers often want things quicker than is reasonable, or want tighter than reasonable tolerances. So, maybe some small adjustment to the wording, but certainly not a "joke" (if that's what they really said)

 

[Mr. Friend]

Thank you for the response Andy. He did not use the word joke. But this word is more than appropriate in describing his response to the policy. He stated that the 3rd party auditor would use the this particular policy as an instrument to assault the company in order to extract more cash out of the company. Again, he claimed that the words "Top Management" were crucial to this policy. Is this top management inclusion a true requirement? I didn't see anything in the standard, but I could be mistaken.

 

[Mr. Friend]

What is important here, is that we are about to hire this individual. He used this Quality Policy as the basis of an argument, arguing that the company was in serious trouble and that the previous consultant who approved this particular policy is incompetent.

 

[Marc]

What about metrics/measureables? You have to state measureables.

ISO 13485 Quality Policy that concisely meets standard

It's not AS but the same applies.

 

[Reg Morrison]

What is important here, is that we are about to hire this individual. He used this Quality Policy as the basis of an argument, arguing that the company was in serious trouble and that the previous consultant who approved this particular policy is incompetent.

Obviously we have very little here to advise you, but any consultant who blatantly badmouths the competitor and uses fear to be hired is very suspicious, IMO. His critique of the policy statement is unfounded in my assessment.

Good luck.

 

[AndyN]

What is important here, is that we are about to hire this individual. He used this Quality Policy as the basis of an argument, arguing that the company was in serious trouble and that the previous consultant who approved this particular policy is incompetent.

Do not hire this person. Their rationale is fundamentally flawed! No CB auditor is going to extract cash for that reason! That's bizarre in the extreme. I mean, seriously. DO NOT HIRE THIS PERSON!

 

[Marc]

The following is a good discussion to read through. Of note: The difference between Quality Policy and Quality Objectives.

Quality Policy Draft - Please review

Two good things to think about:

From the ISO perspective of "Quality Policy" vs "Quality Objectives" this looks to be a reasonable policy. Now, the interesting thing will be the development of Quality Objectives to implement the Policy and measure the effectiveness of Quality as envisioned by the Policy.

As a Quality auditor I could ask you to provide me evidence of every claim you state and evidence of planning for every promise you're making

Your policy is an auditable document...Every word of it!

And in line with the previous poster (immaya08) ...Prove that you exceed customer expectations.

And do you really want to include "safeguarding human health, environment and Social well-being?"....You're opening Pandora's Box if you do because I can hold your feet to the fire on tht statement as well (I am also an Envirnmental, Health & Safety auditor and an experienced professional in the field)

You may want to rethink your policy and get rid of the warm, fuzzy stuff

 

[ckillam3]

Your quality policy, from this aerospace quality engineer, looks quite acceptable. AS9100 is generally a guideline except for the six 'shalls.' The QP will be a dynamic mission to satisfy your customers who pay you for your expertise. Follow the previous advice above and remember who is the customer in this situation. You.

 

[Mr. Friend]

Read the papers. To all that have contributed to this thread, I am deeply appreciative. I will take a deeper look at the the papers referenced within this thread. Thank you very much!