Whether or not this Purchasing Process get NC during Audit??

[raj.nt]

Hi Everyone,
We are in a process of Implementation of ISO 9001:2000 QS. I've a small doubt regarding Our Purchase Process. Ours is an Heavy Fabrication Industry with 5 Units at different Locations across India.

As the Major Raw Material is Steel (Flat & Round) and Migwire, we have a Centralized Procurement Dept.(CPD) at our Headquarters for these Commodity. All other commodities are purchased by Purchase Depts located at each units.

The Format of Purchase Order(PO) of Plant Purchase & Centralized Purchase Dept. are different and are released by resp. Dept. Incharge and Stores.

For QS Implementation we have not considered CPD in our scope.

My question is whether the use of PO from CPD may be considered as Non Conformance by Auditor as it carries no Format Control Noumber and differs from Our Format for Purchase Order

 

[M Greenaway]

Re: Whether or not This Process get NC during Audit??

Based on what you have said I cannot see that this would be an audit NC from a third party certification auditor.

If you have a procedure which says something else then you might have a slight discrepancy but it doesnt sound like something which warrants an NC.

 

[SteelMaiden]

Does the documented purchasing process address the fact that some POs are issued by corp and some by divisions? If not, then get it documented. The standard says nothing about not splitting purchase responsibilities. Do what works for you.

As far as a form number....nothing in the standard says that you have to have a form number. It says to identify documents. (a form is just another document until it is filled out, then it becomes a record) Identification can be the title of the form or whatever else you choose to use to identify them. Do what works for you.

Don't get so hung up in reading things into the standard that you paralyze your operations.

 

[Paul Simpson]

As the Major Raw Material is Steel (Flat & Round) and Migwire, we have a Centralized Procurement Dept.(CPD) at our Headquarters for these Commodity. All other commodities are purchased by Purchase Depts located at each units.

Not a problem so far! It is quite usual for different groups to order different items.

The Format of Purchase Order(PO) of Plant Purchase & Centralized Purchase Dept. are different and are released by resp. Dept. Incharge and Stores.

Again not a problem. Format and process can be different for different groups.

For QS Implementation we have not considered CPD in our scope.

Here is the key question - why not?

If CPD are part of your purchasing system then they should be included in your scope. Whether they are assessed as part of your initial assessment depends on what they do and how they are treated by you:

• Are they treated as a process of your system
• Are they a sub contractor
• Are they providing an outsourced process

The controls you build into your system will depend on how you see them in your system.

My question is whether the use of PO from CPD may be considered as Non Conformance by Auditor as it carries no Format Control Noumber and differs from Our Format for Purchase Order

The PO on its own will not be a non conformity. Any lack of control of the process by you as the owner of the system will be.

 

[vanputten]

What was your registrar's answer to the question?

Thank you,

Dirk