posted 14 January 1999 08:34 AM               

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From: Norm Ennis
Subject: Re: Q:Customer Supplied Product / Negroni/Ulander/Ennis
From: Gustaf Ulander

Carmen,

We have a similar situation at "my" company, undergoing the process of ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 certification. We manufacture vehicle bodies, and regularly do repairs and sometimes service on both our own products and other makes (great chance for a bit of "industrial spying"!).

Our registrar advised us to handle these products as "customer supplied", and since we have no "service contact" 4.19 Service does not apply in their (registrars) opinion. Furthermore, a quite well-know swedish "hand book" on qualitys systems has "a car supplied to a garage/workshop for servicing or repair" as an example of 4.7, customer supplied product.

We seem to have a different interpretation than others on this list...

Best regards

Gustaf Ulander
Quality- and Environmental manager, Berco Produktion AB, Sweden
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May I suggest an interpertation.

It has been my experience that "customer supplied material" is a component that you will put into an assembly that you will ship back to the customer. The customer (for what ever reason) is supplying a part of your final product. You must keep this material separate from the material you bought and own. Any material of the customers that you do not use is normally returned to the customer.

However, as pointed out, there are other situations that can be considered.

If you build a product, it goes to a customer, and is sent back as received broken or as a warrentee repair. Then you are doing servicing / repair. It is not customer supplied material as your company still had an obligation to the product.

If you build a product and ship it to the customer and they are happy with it. Later (after warrantee) it comes in for upgrades or costed servicing, or a competitors product is sent to you for upgrade / servicing then the material IS customer supplied and you are to perform a value added service and return. If you cannot "fix" the product, you would return it to the customer at no charge.

Any comments??