Suppliers for R&D department - Approved?

Sidney Vianna

Post Responsibly
Staff member
Admin
#11
Excuse me for asking, but where were manufacturing / purchasing representatives during R&D stages design reviews and risk analyses? Further, such a generic requirement probably belongs in the R&D design checklists in the first place.
If you pay attention to my "signature" in this virtual community, the word dysfunction is there. And for a reason. As a former management system auditor, I have had the chance of being exposed to hundreds of organizations. Dysfunction is the common denominator. We (individuals, families, organizations, nations, etc.) are all dysfunctional. What varies is the degree of dysfunction management allows to set in. Successful organizations are the ones that realize they need to keep dysfunction in check and do so, in my opinion.

The organizations I alluded to were, for the most part, post (not by much) start-up phase. They were in the late stages of product validation, post prototyping. They did not have full fledged production operations. Since most of their processes were still around R&D, and their personnel did not have a lot of experience with volume production, it did not cross their minds about this specific challenge.

Also, remember that, depending on the type of the product, an R&D cycle can take many years. The early stages of the Research is pure conceptual tinkering. Manufacturing, Purchasing, Quality, etc. are DELIBERATELY left out of the process not to "hinder" the scientists creative juices....:tg: Sometimes, there is a price to be paid.
 
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DrM2u

#12
And so it goes....:truce:
From what you are saying, you are experimenting a discrepancy or a gap between the actual practice, the documented procedure and your personal desired practice.:agree1: I'm a genius!!! :mg:

The whole point is to come to a common practice that everyone can live with and then update the procedure accordingly. So, the first step is root cause analysis and here are a few things for consideration:
- the procedure is yours and CAN be updated as deemeed necessary; it is not cast in stone and, depending on what standard you subscribe to, it might not even be required to be documented
- there must be a good reason why the process is not followed as currently documented; did you ask the others involed what are their reasons?
- here are some potential reasons: the process is too cumbersome to follow as documented; the process was improved (new methods, technology, etc) but the documentation was not updated; functions involed are not aware of the documented process; functions involved are not aware of the importance to follow the documented process; there is unclearity regarding the responsibilities & authorities (including an accountability system); etc
- these 'reasons' are actually potential causes for the observed effect; at the same time these reasons are the effect(s) of other causes; keep on digging until you arrive at the root cause before taking any actions

OK, I'll stop here for now. How's that for :2cents:?!?
 
Q

QCAce

#13
Thanks to all responders for your input.

The "experimentation" in the early stages of new product design is considered research for us until feasibility is established. Basically answering the question "Can it be done?" closely followed by "Should we do it?" from a business stand point.

We have an established and documented procedure for design and development that is based on a gate review model and we do have representatives from R&D management, engineering, sales, RA/QA and manufacturing, as well as, other specialist as needed and someone without direct responsibility for the design stage being reviewed present during the formal design review meetings. Supplier approval must begin by Gate I review in order to proceed to the next phase of development.

The suppliers are evaluated and approved based on a set of criteria that includes consideration of their level of criticality and risk.

R&D is getting push back from Purchasing during the initial purchase request for the "experimental" materials in an effort to limit the number of suppliers and I suppose the extra effort it requires to approve new suppliers down the road. These kind of checks and balances are good but can delay the acquisition process (R&D mind-set is to beat the competition).

And so it goes....:truce:
I would recommend building flexibility into your processes. For example, you could add a clause to your Purchasing procedures that states "experimental materials do not require purchase from suppliers on the approved supplier list."

The next question I'm sure would be what happens when R&D states "we would like to begin purchasing this material from SmallJobShopSupplier for production." If the supplier has no quality system then you could allow purchase on a deviation until you can help the supplier build one. Or allow purchase with management approval and then be sure in either case to increase your incoming inspection plan for that supplier.

The key is that flexibility does not have to mean sacrificing quality, it just means making sure everyone is on board with what is happening and then collect good data so they can see the results or consequences of those decisions.
 

Ronen E

Problem Solver
Staff member
Moderator
#14
If the supplier has no quality system then you could allow purchase on a deviation until you can help the supplier build one. Or allow purchase with management approval and then be sure in either case to increase your incoming inspection plan for that supplier.
Talk about flexibility...

Who said that all suppliers must have a quality system, and that lack of one requires management approval for purchasing? This would be true only if the standard you seek comliance with or your SOPs say so. Also, I don't think that the ultimate "solution" (what is the problem?) must be increased incoming inspection.

Once again, I claim that if design controls are properly functioning (and they actually do in some organizations :lol: inspite things said in a previous post), then a "live and let live" approach towards R&D is the most sensible and profitable one (long-term). Challenge their decisions on design reviews, make them document and justify everything (doesn't have to be lengthy), but don't overload with unnecessary procedures and rules.

One last comment: If a certain organization is R&D focused and lacks the full-scale production expertise / experience, this can be offset by calling external consultants in for critical design reviews.

Cheers,
Ronen.
 
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