Posts Tagged ‘Supplier quality management’
What Must An Organization Do To Have An EMS That Meets The ISO 14001 standard?
The ISO 14001 standard requires that an organization put in place and implement a series of practices and procedures that, when taken together, result in an environmental management system. ISO 14001 is not a technical standard and as such does not in any way replace technical requirements embodied in statutes or regulations. It also does not set prescribed standards of performance for organizations. The major requirements of an EMS under ISO 14001 include:
A policy statement which includes commitments to prevention of pollution, continual improvement of the EMS leading to improvements in overall environmental performance, and compliance with all applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.
- Identification of all aspects of the organization’s activities, products, and services that could have a significant impact on the environment, including those that are not regulated
- Setting performance objectives and targets for the quality management system which link back to the three commitments established in the organization’s policy (i.e. prevention of pollution, continual improvement, and compliance)
- Implementing the EMS to meet these objectives. This includes activities like training of employees, establishing work instructions and practices, and establishing the actual metrics by which the objectives and targets will be measured.
- Establishing a program to periodically audit the operation of the EMS
- Checking and taking corrective and preventive actions when deviations from the EMS occur, including periodically evaluating the organization’s compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
- Undertaking periodic reviews of the EMS by top management to ensure its continuing performance and making adjustments to it, as necessary.
Customer Relationship Management Software
Customer relationship management (CRM) is a customer-centric business strategy with the goal of maximizing profitability, revenue, and customer satisfaction. Technologies that support this business management system purpose include the capture, storage and analysis of customer, vendor, partner, and internal process information. Functions that support this business purpose include sales, marketing, customer service, training, professional development, performance management, human resource development, and compensation. Technology to support CRM initiatives must be integrated as part of an overall customer-centric strategy. Many CRM initiatives have failed because implementation was limited to software installation without alignment to a customer-centric strategy. This is why CIS Continuous Improvement Software excels in CRM. All of these CRM requirements are totally integrated into one CRM Solution including the Cross-Platform Communication capability of CIS!
Your CIS consultant can show you how to improve communication both internally and with your customers and suppliers any time, anywhere.
AS9100 Managing Suppliers
Managing suppliers throughout the aerospace supply chain is a major challenge for the industry. The chain is long, and within the supply base, there are sources that serve many industries. Because the industry is so dependent upon this supply chain, AS9100 includes a number of additional expectations for identifying and maintaining suppliers. Supplier approval is just one step in the process of managing suppliers.
Effectively communicating requirements is very important. The standard lists seven specific areas for consideration. They range from defining engineering requirements to managing test samples and right of access to suppliers’ facilities.
The industry typically relies upon one of three methods for product acceptance. An organization might conduct a receiving inspection, perform the inspection at the supplier’s facility or formally assign product acceptance to the supplier. Procedures for determining the method of supplier control are required, as are the processes used when using these methods.
But no element of supplier control is more important than understanding that a supplier is responsible for managing its suppliers and subtier suppliers. This includes performing special processes that are frequently subcontracted to business consutling firms. The supplier must use customer-approved sources; however, ensuring that the processing is properly performed is the supplier’s responsibility.
A new avenue has opened up in supplier surveillance auditing, which has had the effect of lowering cost and delivering real time results to customers. AS9100 software applications have made it possible to manage the quality requirements for as9100 from your desk top, while lowering the cost of visiting suppliers less frequently. This system is so effective that some registrars are now considering using it for such requirements as document review, corrective and preventive action effectiveness, quality objective review, internal audit effectiveness etc. All of this is done remotely thus lowering travel costs and disruptions to the customer business. Some requirements will always require on site visits, but the amount of time needed to complete a surveillance audit will reduce dramatically.
Auditing The Supplier Selection and Evaluation Process
ISO 9001:2008 says you must select and evaluate your suppliers based on their ability to meet your requirements and evaluate them. There is no set method of doing either of these, but there are a few things that are common. It is important to understand that the size of your organization and the number and type of suppliers drives the form of supplier selection and evaluation. It is the internal auditor’s or external auditor’s responsibility to determine if the method selected is effective and is being followed.
The first step in evaluating the method used to select and evaluate is to determine what the standard actually says. This gives you the requirement by which we, (The auditor’s), will decide on compliance. The standard says that you shall; “evaluate and select suppliers based on their ability to supply products in accordance with the organization’s requirements.” Additionally it states you shall establish; “Criteria for selection, evaluation, and re-evaluation…” And; “Records of the results of evaluations and any necessary actions arising from the evaluation shall be maintained…”
This means that you (the organization) decide on the rules for your suppliers. As auditors we need to look at the criteria given for supplier selection and evaluation. It is important to remember that our job is not necessarily to pass judgment on whether we think the criteria is sufficient. Our job is to determine if those responsible for purchasing are aware of the criteria and are following the plan. We can make recommendations on the intrinsic worth of the criteria, but should limit our conformance decision to whether the standard is adhered to.
The second step is to determine the process used to meet the standard. Supplier selection and evaluation may be part of a single process, or may be two separate processes. The process approach is the best way to accomplish this objective. Meaning you must first determine all of the inputs and outputs of the supplier selection and evaluation processes. This is easily done by looking at how your organization describes their processes in the Quality Manual. Process maps can also provide you with much of the required information.
How Do You Demonstrate Compliance to AS9100?
More than 60 percent of IAQG members have implemented the AS9100 standard internally and are flowing it down to their suppliers. Most members will require suppliers to comply to the updated version of AS9100 (which is aligned to ISO 9001:2008 and supercedes older ISO 9000 standards). This is consistent with the transition from the old ISO 9001 standard to the new version.
Organizations within the industry differ in their compliance to AS9100 verification requirements. Some use their own external auditors to verify suppliers’ quality management systems. Others share the results of their quality system audits with suppliers in the industry. Most provide suppliers with copies of external audits. Most permit suppliers to share the audit results with other customers, too.
The industry is using the results of third-party registrars as a means of demonstrating a quality management system’s compliance to AS9100. The Americas Aerospace Quality Group, working with the Registrar Accreditation Board, has established a process and requirements for auditors performing audits to AS9100 and registrars granting supplemental registrations. The process includes additional AS9100 training and practical experience and ensures that auditors are competent and that registrars are experienced in the industry. The AAQG has created a Registrar Management Committee to oversee this important function. Its methodology is defined in SAE AIR5359. Europe and Asia are developing equivalent methods.
Supplier Management Software Solutions
Controlling Your Supplier Base Using CIS – Large corporations may not have a need for CIS Software for their own applications because they generally have an integrated information system that has been in use for many years that meets their requirements for management and quality assurance. However, their system does not integrate with their supplier base and does not provide for a complete control over their suppliers other than simple reporting of nonconformities, engineering approvals and purchasing.
Most larger corporations have a supplier control department that will audit and approve suppliers to ensure that the suppliers are capable of meeting their stringent requirements. Additionally, the supplier control department will monitor and perform periodic audits of the suppliers to ensure continued conformance to their specifications.
This approach, although effective in controlling the quality, is very expensive when the travelling expenses and time to audit is factored into the overall cost.
CIS Software offers the larger corporation as well as small business a solution that is more effective and far less costly. If the suppliers to a large corporation are using the CIS Software, then the supplier control department can perform electronic audits of their systems far more often without the huge travelling expense. CIS will also offer immediate reporting of supplier issues and their resolutions.
Quality Management Principle (# 8 Mutually beneficial supplier relationships )
An organization and its suppliers are interdependent and a mutually beneficial relationship enhances the ability of both to create value
Key benefits:
- Increased ability to create value for both parties.
- Flexibility and speed of joint responses to changing market or customer needs and expectations.
- Optimization of costs and resources.
Applying the principles of mutually beneficial supplier relationships typically leads to:
- Establishing relationships that balance short-term gains with long-term considerations.
- Pooling of expertise and resources with partners.
- Identifying and selecting key suppliers.
- Clear and open communication.
- Sharing information and future plans.
- Establishing joint development and improvement activities.
- Inspiring, encouraging and recognizing improvements and achievements by suppliers.
When and Why Should I Get My Suppliers Involved?
The very nature of the question of supplier involvement invites discussion. When is the right time to include your suppliers in the product life cycle? My choice would be, first, last and always. The earlier you involve your suppliers in the business planning process, the better the chances of coming up with a business solution that works for all concerned. Supplier involvement promotes better resource utilization, the development and sharing of technological expertise and network effectiveness. In today’s world, outside suppliers represent increasingly important members of the new product development team.
When you involve your suppliers in your business management system you gain two very important business advantages over your competition. The first advantage is you get to understand what drives your suppliers and what they have to offer to you, both technologically and intellectually. The second advantage, your suppliers will gain a better understanding of what drives your organization and what you bring to the table. This discovery process will lead to faster turnaround times, lower costs, and reduced false starts. Given this, is there anyone out there who wouldn’t want to improve their business right now using this supply management tool?
If I New Then What I Know Now
When I first started out some twenty years ago, the communications process for supplier management was somewhat akin to the pony express. You pick up the phone and hope to reach your contact or play phone tag for a few days until you finally made contact. You wrote letters and then waited weeks for a response. You got on a plane and traveled all day to meet for a few hours and travel another day to get back to the office, so you could write more memos to make sure everyone who needed to know the outcome of your trip was informed. Then of course there were the endless meetings which resulted in still more telephone calls, travel, memos, etc..
Supplier quality management was and continues to be a time consuming and costly initiative. Granted the pay back, if done well, far out ways the cost. But what if you could accomplish everything you wanted for half the cost and with half the effort. I personally have been a part of the never ending struggle to rain in my supplier base to keep moving forward to drive cost out and improve the quality of the products and services that I am required to purchase. Unfortunately I found that the programs that we put in place ultimately resulted in increase costs of their own.
Just recently I came across the most wonderful supply chain management software. This software enables you to meet all of your supply chain needs while reducing travel and improving communications real time, both internally and externally. With this software you can conduct quality management audits of your suppliers without leaving your office chair. Corrective and preventive actions are real time with communications to all interested parties at the touch of a computer key board. Evaluating and reevaluating your suppliers becomes an automatic process that lets you stay on top of non-conformances, inspection reports, on time delivery, new product development activities and schedule meeting which included supplier and customer input. What a difference a day makes.
Supplier Relationship Management In A Global Economy
As the speed and complexity of supply chain activities continue to escalate, the ability of organizations to meet customer demand becomes more and more challenging. Organizations must create corporate strategic goals to minimize inventory investment and lower transaction costs while still increasing differential/competitive advantage and expanding globally. In almost every industry, supplier relationships can either make or break an organization’s ability to service customers responsively and reliably while maintaining cost effectiveness and managing assets effectively.
Many organizations are realizing that effective communications and integrated processes, driven by collaboration with suppliers, will drive supply chain effectiveness and competitive advantage. Improving the supply base to include the strongest, best performing, and most collaborative upstream partners and then building integrated teams to design and implement programs that enable visibility throughout the supply chain are usually the core to this strategy. Supplier relationship management (SRM) programs that drive effective collaboration and supply chain synchronization with suppliers are critical success factors in serving customers and meeting strategic goals.