ISO 9001 requirements that you chart and post - Service company

[shawnann]

OK, I need some help from you ISO guru's.

We have a long time customer, who is wanted to get us approved by their customer. We have to go through this Quality manufacturing Wall to Wall Audit. Now, keep in mind, we are NOT a manufacturing company, we are a service company, we paint parts that are supplied by our customers.

So, we are going throgh this wall to wall audit, which to some extent is similar to the CQI-12 assessment, but in more detail. They are wanting to score us on the following:

0 - Element is not in place and no evidence of plans to implement
1 - Element is not in place but a plan to implement is documented
2 - Element is in place but is not being followed
3 - Element in pllace but not followed at each job or all the time
4 - Element is in place and it is being followed

The first section has to do with metrics. The questions are as follows:

1. Is Downtime Analysis by department, Production Plan vs. Actual, posted?
2. Is Scrap Analysis by deparment, Production Plan vs. Acual, Posted?
3. Is monthly Safety Analysis by department, Plant, Area posted?
4. Is monthly Absenteeism Analysis by department, Plant, Area posted?
5. Is the Voice of the Customer Posted? (Charts for PPM, # of PRR's and Major Disruptions)
6. Is Rework Analysis by deparment, Production Plan vs. Actual, posted?

We have gone through this entire Audit and forwarded it to our customer. In all but # 5 we feel they do not apply because our downtime, scrap, & rework are well under 1%. We post our OSHA posters but we don't chart anything. If one or even 5 people are absent in any given day, it does not hurt our production or our quality of work, we do one process, hang parts on a line, they go through the system, remove parts from the line and place into customer containers. Our HR logs who was absent but we do not post anything for the other employees to see. We keep track of customer feedback but this is something only management reviews because we do not run a system where the faster you go the better or the slower you go the better, our system runs at one speed.

Anyway, we get a reply from our customer, that we should be charting all of these things and posting them out in our shop per the requirements of ISO. Now, I've read and re-read the ISO 9001:2000 standard and I've never seen anything that specifies these 6 areas as being required to be tracked, charted, and posted.

So my question is, Are these 6 questions something that truely is required by ISO (we've never gotten a NC for not doing the ones we don't do or for the way we do the ones we do) or do they sound more like a requirement the customer's customer wants?

TIA

 

[AndyN]

Re: ISO requirements that you chart and post

Specifically, these aren't required by 'ISO' and no-one should (really) be telling you they are - after all, it doesn't take much to open the thing and read............(scare tactics?)

Now, if your customer writes contractually you have to do them - then you'd have to do them, of course. If there's no contract binding you to do this, then you may do as you choose, but recognizing that they might have a reason for you to do this, in that ISO 9001 requires you to communicate to people and, although you may know that your scrap etc is low, it's a great idea to actually post these things.......trends too.

It's often that to set it up is worse than the maintenance of a simple white board somewhere in the shop, by the watercooler or entrance/exit!

 

[Colin]

Re: ISO requirements that you chart and post

Interesting one this, I guess that any or all of these could be quality objectives (as required by 5.4.1) and as such, would become requirements.

If your customer requires you, as part of the contract, to have these as objectives then they become a requirement.

Other clauses impacted upon would include 8.2.3 and 8.2.4 (monitoring and measurement of processes and product); 8.3 (control of nonconforming product); 8.4 (analysis of data); 8.5.2 (continual improvement); 7.2.3 (customer communication) and perhaps, ultimately, 5.6 (management review).

Number 3 is about safety and is therefore not part of ISO 9001 - however, if the contract requires it and you agree to abide by the contract, it could be included.

 

[shawnann]

Re: ISO requirements that you chart and post

Thanks so much guys!

I think the main problem we have is our customer is one of those types that want to have something for everything just in case their customer ask for it. In other words, do more work than you need to just in case it ever comes up that you need to start doing it. If it's required, we do it.

The other problem with all of this is this Audit that their customer is wanting done is a generic audit form/questions that they request from all of their suppliers and sub-suppliers. In other words, it's for stamping companies, steel companies, etc. and in all reality there are many sections where only a couple items apply to a service type company.

Our customer's customer came to our facility, checked out our process, reviewed our CQI assessment and they liked everything they seen and said they didn't see anything that would cause us to not be put on the approved list of suppliers for one of the coatings they do. Now, obviously they didn't look at everything, but I'm sure they understand that their audit form has several areas that wouldn't apply to our type of company.

Thanks again!

 

[AndyN]

Re: ISO requirements that you chart and post

Thanks so much guys!

I think the main problem we have is our customer is one of those types that want to have something for everything just in case their customer ask for it. In other words, do more work than you need to just in case it ever comes up that you need to start doing it. If it's required, we do it.

The other problem with all of this is this Audit that their customer is wanting done is a generic audit form/questions that they request from all of their suppliers and sub-suppliers. In other words, it's for stamping companies, steel companies, etc. and in all reality there are many sections where only a couple items apply to a service type company.

Our customer's customer came to our facility, checked out our process, reviewed our CQI assessment and they liked everything they seen and said they didn't see anything that would cause us to not be put on the approved list of suppliers for one of the coatings they do. Now, obviously they didn't look at everything, but I'm sure they understand that their audit form has several areas that wouldn't apply to our type of company.

Thanks again!

Yup, been there, done that.......

 

[JaneB]

Re: ISO requirements that you chart and post

this Audit that their customer is wanting done is a generic audit form/questions that they request from all of their suppliers and sub-suppliers. In other words, it's for stamping companies, steel companies, etc. and in all reality there are many sections where only a couple items apply to a service type company.

Yup - just one of the problems with a generic audit form/questions!

And no, as others have said, none of the questions they list are specific ISO requirements. They are the way they have interpreted and applied specific requirements to their suppliers - and in a very 'one size fits all' B&W approach at that, which as you so rightly say, doesn't work for a service company.