AS9100D Process Matrix for a small cnc machine shop

[FHM_Julian]

Hello, I am in charge of implementation of the AS9100D QMS for our small (4 employee) cnc machine shop. I've managed to create a decent system and we've secured an accreditation agency to perform our audits. We paid to have them come out and do a preassessment (before the stage 1 and 2 audits) and, while I still have a lot of things to work on, I feel confident we'll get certification.

One area I'd like a little help on is our process matrix. The auditor explained that we have far too many processes listed and that could be an issue for how small we are, so keeping things simple will be better. I couldn't agree more! We do cnc machining, no design work, and being as tiny as we are, i've broken the processes down into the following areas:

Quality and Management (per the auditor, these would not be "controlled" processes.
Sales, purchasing, manufacturing (these would be controlled processes.

Now finally to my questions:

1. We were instructed that all processes must have inputs and outputs, and that typically the output of one process will be the input of another. I'm struggling a bit to come up with these inputs/outputs and i'm not sure specifically where in the standard it asks that we have these written down. If anyone can shed clarity on how i might document the inputs/outputs for these processes, and what (if anything) we should do to track them, i'd appreciate it. Currently we track a large amount of metrics, the core of which are quality, on time delivery, and customer satisfaction.

2. In regards to the 5 processes I outlined above, is it a requirement of the standard that we have those in chart-form available in our QMS manual, or other supporting documents? I've used google to find a few process matrices for other companies, but many are larger and with many more processes listed. Thus it gets a bit confusing figuring out how to format this type of chart to be simple, straightforward, and beneficial to someone reading it. I'll be doing a bit more reading through my AS9100d standard later tonight to try to clarify processes and inputs/outputs but i'll be thankful for any support on this subject I get here.

I'll also attach the very rough beginning of a chart I quickly threw together to help organize those 5 processes we want in our QMS. Does this look to be on the right track, and if so, should I add the inputs/outputs here (possibly with interconnecting arrows?)

Thank you again.

 

[Sidney Vianna]

The auditor explained that we have far too many processes listed and that could be an issue for how small we are, so keeping things simple will be better.

The real reason for the auditor's comment is this: The more "processes" you list in your QMS, the more PEAR forms s/he will have to fill out. So, they want you to have a minimalist approach to the number of listed processes, not for your benefit; but theirs.

Good luck.

 

[Michael_M]

Sales, purchasing, manufacturing (these would be controlled processes.

Now finally to my questions:

1. We were instructed that all processes must have inputs and outputs, and that typically the output of one process will be the input of another. I'm struggling a bit to come up with these inputs/outputs and i'm not sure specifically where in the standard it asks that we have these written down. If anyone can shed clarity on how i might document the inputs/outputs for these processes, and what (if anything) we should do to track them, i'd appreciate it. Currently we track a large amount of metrics, the core of which are quality, on time delivery, and customer satisfaction.

For example, the input on sales can be "Customer PO" and/or "Customer Request for quote". Because I was taught this way, I use a turtle diagram (see attached). You are not required to use the turtle diagram regardless of what your auditor says, I have them so I use them, They help to answer several questions.

 

[Big Jim]

The real reason for the auditor's comment is this: The more "processes" you list in your QMS, the more PEAR forms s/he will have to fill out. So, they want you to have a minimalist approach to the number of listed processes, not for your benefit; but theirs.

Good luck.

Amusingly AS auditors seemed to encourage complex IOPs until they had to complete a PEAR for each process.

 

[FHM_Julian]

Thank you for the assistance, I appreciate it! Another question that I have (still plugging away at all my notes here) is in regards to as9100d 7.1.3 - Infrastructure. The auditor noted that while we have preventative maintenance for our CNC machines, we are lacking on the other items in our shop, and noted back to 7.1.3. He was saying we need to have plans for all infrastructure. The things i wrote down from him were "forklift, band saw, air compressor, lights, heat, electricity, fire extinguishers, etc."

But reading back over 7.1.3, it just says 'the organization shall determine, provide, and maintain the infrastructure necessary for the operation...' Does this mean i need to create another policy to address how we handle infrastructure, or add something to our preventative maintenance document? We are really trying to keep things simple due to our shop size. Most of these, very honestly, just boil down to: if one of these things has an issue, we will call and have someone come fix it asap.

 

[Big Jim]

Your auditor is wrong. There is no requirement to create a maintenance procedure or keep maintenance records unless you determine you need to. You are reading the standard correctly and you need to confront the auditor and if he won't back down call his registrar and ask for them to get involved.

 

[Cari Spears]

Here's our overall process interaction - and an example of one of our turtle-ish process diagrams that we have for each of our major processes.