How to satisfy with AS9100 Clause 8.4.3 a, Information for external providers?

[Mike S.]

If I understand your question, as a supplier I prefer to only be notified of requirements that apply to me. Tell me what I need to know and need to do, no more.

 

[Kirby]

I understand, but the requirements for each supplier are not always the same. The original idea to note requirements on a doc and then make that doc available online is, I think, a common approach. I guess my fear is that if we do not list all of the items in 8.4.3 on the website, our Purchasing folks would need to review each P.O. and determine what specific requirements might apply, it seems that kind of defeats the purpose of having the doc online?

 

[Cari Spears]

We have a document available on our website that is referenced on all of our POs. We've covered all of 8.4.3 in either standard terms and conditions that apply to all of our suppliers, or quality clauses which specifically state which type of product/service the clause applies to. We didn't use the phrase "as applicable"; it's clear in the way we wrote the document that if the PO we've issued to a supplier doesn't include heat treating, for example, then the heat treating clause doesn't apply.

 

[Kirby]

We have a document available on our website that is referenced on all of our POs. We've covered all of 8.4.3 in either standard terms and conditions that apply to all of our suppliers, or quality clauses which specifically state which type of product/service the clause applies to. We didn't use the phrase "as applicable"; it's clear in the way we wrote the document that if the PO we've issued to a supplier doesn't include heat treating, for example, then the heat treating clause doesn't apply.

Thanks, Cari

 

[Mike S.]

Cari's T's & C's and Q clauses are relatively short at 3 pages. Some of my customers' T's & C's and Q clauses run 10, 20 or even over 60 pages long! In such cases, I don't wanna have to read the whole darn thing to figure out which ones apply to me as a supplier, I want the alleged expert in that document (the customer) to tell me exactly which ones apply.

 

[Kirby]

Mike, I hear you but... if you don't want to take the time to understand your customers' needs, somebody else will. As a supplier you may be annoyed with "alleged experts" but as a customer I like to do business with folks that try to make my life easier rather than expect that I should make thier's easy and I try to keep that in mind when I'm working with my customers.

 

[Cari Spears]

Cari's T's & C's and Q clauses are relatively short at 3 pages. Some of my customers' T's & C's and Q clauses run 10, 20 or even over 60 pages long! In such cases, I don't wanna have to read the whole darn thing to figure out which ones apply to me as a supplier, I want the alleged expert in that document (the customer) to tell me exactly which ones apply.

No kidding! Then they also throw in a supplier requirements manual at how ever many pages - some of our customers have a supplier requirements manual and supplement it with a tooling supplier requirements manual, lol. Our quality clauses take the place of a supplier requirements manual. And honestly, the whole clause regarding the weld consumables is only there to make a customer's weld process auditor happy - it used to be only 2 pages.

 

[Kirby]

Cari, as I look at your T&C document (thank you) I see that some of the items in 8.4.3 are not directly noted - design & development controls, use of statistical techniques, etc. - I'm assuming that the omissions were purposeful, by not noting these items you are, in effect, communicating that you do not have requirements specific to these areas? This was the reason I initially posted, I was trying to get a better feel for a "correct" way of addressing 8.4.3. As I mentioned earlier, I have a draft of a document that speaks to each element of 8.4.3, even if it just says "Where design and development requirements apply, OUR COMPANY will determine appropriate controls on a case by case basis and communicate those required controls to the supplier." I understand that this is a very broad statement (One of many in the document), and it might not be the best plan but, I'm not sure that I have a better one so I think I'm going to run with it.

 

[Cari Spears]

Correct - we don't outsource design, and we make one-off tooling, so none of our suppliers would ever need to provide statistical data.

 

[Ralba]

Cari, thank you very much. And thank you too Kirby. I had this on my to-do list of things to update for our upcoming audit, and thanks to both of you I have the answer for what we want to do before I even started looking. Nice when that happens.