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Supplier audits

Discussion in 'AS 91XX - Aerospace Quality Standards' started by NattyG, May 2, 2018.

  1. NattyG

    NattyG Member

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    Hi everyone,

    I'm going to be posting in the aerospace section quite a bit over these next few weeks. I hope that you don't mind! We've completed our ISO:9001:2015 surveillance audit and passed with no non-conformances (Yipee!). Now we are going to complete AS9120.

    My question, for aerospace how often should we be completing supplier audits? How is this usually completed?
     
    NattyG, May 2, 2018
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  2. Andy Nichols

    Andy Nichols Moderator Staff Member

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    When you need to. Supplier audits should really only be done as a last ditch effort to get actions done to correct quality problems (aka "supplier development") or when considering a never-used-before supplier.
     
    Andy Nichols, May 2, 2018
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  3. JKendall

    JKendall New Member

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    Our company completes annual supplier audits on our top 10-15 critical suppliers that could have an impact on our production. We generally start with a site audit & general overview of their QMS. If the supplier is struggling, we will visit them as needed until issues are resolved. If they are not struggling, we just monitor them remotely. The type of audit/review conducted is based on the product they supply for us.
     
    JKendall, May 2, 2018
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  4. TenaciousQ

    TenaciousQ New Member

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    JKendall has it right. I am speaking from AS9100. Admittedly I am not familiar with the specifics of 9120.
    That being said:
    To properly manage the level of risk from outside suppliers the decision on audit schedule can be based on a ranking. Meaning those parts/products which are either high cost or high impact to your supply chain are audited more frequently. Within your QMS you can define how the ranking is done. Meaning some analysis is conducted to arrive at a score. Some simple criteria to consider for scoring. Price of purchased piece. Complexity of part. Lead time. Impact to supply chain (INTERNAL as well as your customers) Existing scorecard data if available. Be honest with the ranking though. If you have suppliers that can open you up to some major risk, audit them and cover your behind. I hope I provided some food for thought. Good luck to you!
     
    TenaciousQ, Jun 6, 2018
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  5. Oximoxi

    Oximoxi New Member

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    Hi! I agree with previous posts. When to conduct supplier audit? Simply when you need to. There is no tab which tells you how often, or when to do it. Of course it is fine to audit a new supplier. BUT, you need to evaluate risks and determine, if the audit is really necesery. For example you wouldn't audit supplier with which you don't assume any longer cooperation, or when the supplied product/service is not that important for your business. It's good to set some internal rules for auditing suppliers based on supplier evaluation that you have. For example set some criteria which supplier has to fulfill (PPM, OTD for instance) and conduct audit when those criteria are not met for some time period, to find causes and generate some corrective action plan.
     
    Oximoxi, Jun 28, 2018
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