QMS and ISO 9001 for a Single Person Machine Shop

[jobshop]

Ian,

The past year i've been sending a RoHS document for plastic parts.
So it sounds like i can expect at minimum: RoHS, material certs for metals, quality inspection sheet for each part number.

For RoHS platics have always sent one document and it covered the whole shipment. Will it be similar to the aluminum 6061 i send? Say its all aluminum 6061at different thicknesses in bar form from same company, do i need material certs for each and every thickness i buy, even if its the same type of material? I only do plastic and 6061, on a rare occasion stainless. Should i keep a copy of inspection sheet and send one with them? Same with material certs?
Thank you

 

[oldmanian]

Jim,
We only have to send documentation with new parts to our customer most of whom are in Medical instrumentation. Once the first three shipments are approved we only store the documents here on our server. Your customer will tell you exactly what they will need. It may only be storing the data at your site.
We send one document from our supplier for 6061 as they are needed and the supplier knows if they get a new delivery we get a new set of certs. Don't do more than they are asking for however.
By the way if you are storing scanned documents you will need to think about off site storage and back up. We have a daily backup so the worst we lose will be one day. In you case I would suggest a flash drive or three being rotated day by day.
Good Luck

 

[jobshop]

Thanks Ian, will find out more as i go.

 

[Big Jim]

May I suggest that you have a talk with your customer and clear up all your questions with him. We can speculate what is going on, but they know.

If you have been serving them well for several years it is highly unlikely that they want to disturb that.

The fact that they are getting certified does not mean that they need to have you become certified.

If you do want or need to get certified, it can be done. I have a few one and two person clients who do just fine. If needed, you can do it too. I'm betting that you don't need to.

Take a deep breath, relax, and open conversation with your customer and find out just what is really going on. I'm sure they would not dream of loosing you as a supplier.

 

[jobshop]

Thanks Jim, will do tomorrow.

 

[Jen Kirley]

Let us know how it goes, okay jobshop?

The survey they sent you looks like boiler plate. If you truthfully answered the questions "no" and they handled the survey in the manner intended, you'd get negative marks so of course talking with them is the right approach. It sounds like your performance record is all they need to do an evaluation - I am unclear as to why they even sent the boiler plate thing to you.

 

[hogheavenfarm]

You probably do not need an inspection sheet with each part, a Certificate of compliance is what is usually provided, this just says you made the parts the way they specified, (materials, procedures, whatever else they provided you with). I would perform sampling inspection on the batch (you say you release in smaller lots), and file those results, I would not provide them unless asked. Make sure that the sampling conforms to accepted norms however. When I started here acceptance sampling was simply "10%" of the batch, not a statistically proper format to be sure! First thing I did was fix that.

 

[jobshop]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm supposed to supply material certifications, document and store customer drawings. Organize and store part programs.
Provide quality control data sheets and store.
So far thats the extent of it. I'm sure there will be a little more to it down the road but this is a start.
Thank you all for being so kind and lending me an ear and providing me with your wealth of information.
I'll be dropping by from time to time, but for now i'm gonna breathe a little and get going on some organization.

 

[Coury Ferguson]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm supposed to supply material certifications, document and store customer drawings. Organize and store part programs.
Provide quality control data sheets and store.
So far thats the extent of it. I'm sure there will be a little more to it down the road but this is a start.
Thank you all for being so kind and lending me an ear and providing me with your wealth of information.
I'll be dropping by from time to time, but for now i'm gonna breathe a little and get going on some organization.

I am glad you are working this out with your customer.

You are welcome for our help. That is the function of the Cove, to help out when we can.

 

[Big Jim]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm supposed to supply material certifications, document and store customer drawings. Organize and store part programs.
Provide quality control data sheets and store.
So far thats the extent of it. I'm sure there will be a little more to it down the road but this is a start.
Thank you all for being so kind and lending me an ear and providing me with your wealth of information.
I'll be dropping by from time to time, but for now i'm gonna breathe a little and get going on some organization.

It is very likely that your customer as well as us can help you with what they are asking for. It is considered supplier development. It's always easier to help a diligent and competent supplier improve than it is to find another one. Don't be bashful to ask for help, both from them and from us.