posted 10 March 2000 12:29 PM               

1. FIFO as in regards to revision control. We currently do not use FIFO in our incoming inventory. Parts from suppliers are often mixed (castings, etc). Is this going to be a problem?
2. APQP and R&D. I want to write my procedure such that R&D is a "black box" and is not subject to APQP until we decide to actually manufacture the product. Problem with this idea?
3. Operator certification. I interprete QS to say that machinist, operators, assemblers, etc., should be certified to handle the product. Yes/No? Best way to comply with existing workforce?
4. Now the really difficult one: Order entry. Our order entry is EDI. The customer sends it into the system directly. Currently no human review. They create the due date. Sometimes, we can't hit their required date and have to change it. Would this be missing the ship date? What if we get customer approval? Example: Original customer date is 3/15/00 - we change the date to 4/1/00 and notify the customer. If it ships on 4/1/00 did we hit the date? Or is it still counted as late since we didn't hit the original due date of 3/15/00?

Last question: Does anyone have a "rule of thumb" number for QS consulting? If I want to get some consulting help, what is a rough, ball park number, to plug into the budget? $x per day, per hour, etc.?

Lots of questions, I know. Thanks for any and all help.

PS BIG management presentation on this being given 3/15/00.

Thanks,

posted 10 March 2000 02:52 PM               

quote:

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1. FIFO as in regards to revision control. We currently do not use FIFO in our incoming inventory. Parts from suppliers are often mixed (castings, etc). Is this going to be a problem?

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quote:

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2. APQP and R&D. I want to write my procedure such that R&D is a "black box" and is not subject to APQP until we decide to actually manufacture the product. Problem with this idea?

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quote:

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3. Operator certification. I interprete QS to say that machinist, operators, assemblers, etc., should be certified to handle the product. Yes/No? Best way to comply with existing workforce?

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quote:

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4. Now the really difficult one: Order entry. Our order entry is EDI. The customer sends it into the system directly. Currently no human review. They create the due date. Sometimes, we can't hit their required date and have to change it. Would this be missing the ship date? What if we get customer approval? Example: Original customer date is 3/15/00 - we change the date to 4/1/00 and notify the customer. If it ships on 4/1/00 did we hit the date? Or is it still counted as late since we didn't hit the original due date of 3/15/00?

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quote:

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Last question: Does anyone have a "rule of thumb" number for QS consulting? If I want to get some consulting help, what is a rough, ball park number, to plug into the budget? $x per day, per hour, etc.?

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I generally charge between US$600 to US$1250 a day. Depends upon the contract and such. You want me to stop in for a day it's gonna be near US$1250. You have a project, 650 to 850 a day. I'm open to negotiation.

posted 10 March 2000 03:33 PM               

As for TS vs QS. The trucking industry runs behind the auto. They are still talking QS and wanting that. It will probably be 2 years before they are making much noise about TS. Further, I think we could get QS quicker and eaiser - then look up at up-grading to TS.

BTW: We don't need FIFO for the material. Shelf life is not a problem for us. The only problem is I have seen auditors "back door" FIFO with revision control. Our stock turns average 10 per year, plus it is mostly metal and non-perishables.

At other companies, I am use to keeping revision control in compliance with FIFO. In an environment with no FIFO, that is hard to do.