ISO 17025 Accredited Suppliers from a QMI TS16949 Auditors Perspective?

[jfgunn]

I work in a 17025 accredited calibration laboratory. We are accredited by L-A-B. It is my understanding that L-A-B is an acceptable auditor for the purposes of TS16949 since they are approved by GM and some other people. L-A-B shows how they are recognized on the folowing page http://www.l-a-b.com/LAB_recognition.htm. As soons as they achieve recognition from APLAC, they will have mutual recognition with A2LA and some other people.

We have a competitor who is "accredited" by Alliance Insternational Registrars. Unlike most accredited labs, they have no scope of accreditation. Their certificate just says they are accredited for the "calibration and repair of metrologoical instruments".

I have a customer who is TS16949 registered by QMI. They are trying to decide between using us and my competitor. My competitor's certification seems like a peice of paper they bought off of the internet. Can any of the QMI auditors (or other TS16949 auditors) tell me if this competitor's accredition seems fishy????

How should I go about telling my customer that the other guy's certificate is not worth the paper it was printed on? Of course, I have two resons for telling them: 1.) So I can get the business, 2.) so they do not get a nonconformance in an audit.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[AndyN]

Re: ISO 17025 accredited suppliers from a QMI TS16949 auditors perspective????

Your frustration is well founded! We have other similarly frustrated posters here, regarding the inappropriate use of 'accreditation' for labs.

I looked at Alliances's ANAB cert and it doesn't say anything that shows (to me) that they are accredited (even under ISO 9001, if it were applicable, and it isn't) for auditing a metrology company.

I'm not an external auditor, but it shouldn't take too long to research this and show that your competitor's lab isn't even close to being accredited and should, therefore, be treated with some caution.

 

[crendfrey]

Re: ISO 17025 accredited suppliers from a QMI TS16949 auditors perspective????

How should I go about telling my customer that the other guy's certificate is not worth the paper it was printed on? Of course, I have two resons for telling them: 1.) So I can get the business, 2.) so they do not get a nonconformance in an audit.

QUOTE]

Greetings jfgunn,

I have been in similar situations.
I believe it all comes down to educating your customer.
Teach them how to do their due diligence in selecting a calibration supplier.

In my mind Accreditation is not just a piece of paper. It is a whole lot more. Right down to your integrity as a calibration lab. Let them know about the process and back flips you had to go through to be accredited by a mutually recognized body.
Can your competitor supply the same information? I doubt it.

The long and short of it is you can only present your case backed up by the proper documentation. Ask you prospective customer if your competitor can supply the same.

In our business, we have had customers go with “cheap imitations”.
99% come back to us. Not only for the “piece of paper” but because of the services we provide, the reliability of our calibrations, and the way our particular systems enhance the quality of the work performed.