Wes Bucey
Prophet of Profit
Re: Supplier Quality Management System (QMS) Audit - Formal Documented QMS does not e
Normally, in my machining business, I would buy direct from a mill for ferrous or non-ferrous material, but, for short runs, I had several distributors to supply 10 or 20 bars of stock. The mills, of course, maintained pristine records of everything, but all I wanted from a distributor was assurance he kept the mill identification with the stock, so I could always go back to the mill to check traceability. Many such distributors did not have the type of documented QMS one would expect from an organization trying to be compliant to an international Standard.
Similarly, when I outsourced a job of sawing bar stock to 3 inch lengths for hopper feeding into a hydromat rather than slow the cycle time by having the hydromat do the cut-off, I was able to get the job done at a mom & pop machine job shop with no written QMS at less than half the price of a fully registered ISO 9001 shop. One of my operators went over the mom & pop machine setup and I created an SPC control sheet for the supplier to follow to assure consistent results. The mom & pop were so pleased with how much more efficiently they ran with just the tips from my operator and the assurance of the SPC routine that they signed up for courses from our ASQ Section and became fully compliant to an ISO QMS Standard within two years, WITHOUT any prodding on our part. - We just said before giving them the job,
"This is the way WE do this; would you agree to follow this routine for running our job?"
Obviously, this is a "first look" case. The supplier must have something worthwhile going for it or the prospective buyer would [should!] not go to the expense of assigning an in-depth audit or evaluation of the supplier.
I'd go a step further than this and let the depth of the evaluation hinge on the criticality of the product to the purchaser's requirements. (If I'm buying steel bars from a distributor, I'm primarily concerned that he keeps the lots (heats) from the mill identified and separate for traceability - I don't really care about his presence or absence of a written quality manual or his dedication to continual improvement (as long as there is no deterioration of current status.)
Normally, in my machining business, I would buy direct from a mill for ferrous or non-ferrous material, but, for short runs, I had several distributors to supply 10 or 20 bars of stock. The mills, of course, maintained pristine records of everything, but all I wanted from a distributor was assurance he kept the mill identification with the stock, so I could always go back to the mill to check traceability. Many such distributors did not have the type of documented QMS one would expect from an organization trying to be compliant to an international Standard.
Similarly, when I outsourced a job of sawing bar stock to 3 inch lengths for hopper feeding into a hydromat rather than slow the cycle time by having the hydromat do the cut-off, I was able to get the job done at a mom & pop machine job shop with no written QMS at less than half the price of a fully registered ISO 9001 shop. One of my operators went over the mom & pop machine setup and I created an SPC control sheet for the supplier to follow to assure consistent results. The mom & pop were so pleased with how much more efficiently they ran with just the tips from my operator and the assurance of the SPC routine that they signed up for courses from our ASQ Section and became fully compliant to an ISO QMS Standard within two years, WITHOUT any prodding on our part. - We just said before giving them the job,
"This is the way WE do this; would you agree to follow this routine for running our job?"
Yep. This can be the deal breaker. Sometimes the top dog in a supply chain can impose requirements which must be rigidly followed or enforced by the various links in the chain. Often, the profits involved do not justify alienating the head of the supply chain by asking for exceptions to the rules.
