Questions regarding conformance to work instructions and specifications ISO9001/IATF16949

Hi guys,

Lets say for example I have a specification which states the reject criteria in the event it exceed certain quantity. The specification states that if the quantity exceed 5 units, the lot will be rejected.

This information is been passed down to our contract manufacturer. They then translated this and port over the specification into their own internal specs and work instructions for operator/technician reference.

Instead of reject if it exceed 5 units or more, they internally tighten the criteria to reject if exceed 3 units or more.

Based on the above, does it still comply with the ISO9001 / IATF16949 requirements? And if it's not, which clause in ISO / IATF does this point to?

 

There is no noncompliance. If a supplier chooses to reduce a tolerance that (in theory) will result in you the customer being less likely to receive a nonconforming part/lot. As long as they are able to actually MEET this new criteria, it isn't something that you need to worry about.

 

Thanks for the feedback. The reason why the contract manufacturer chooses a tighter spec / limit is because there's some returns in the past.

Just wondering why isn't this non-compliance? The instructions given to the contract manufacturer say reject if > 5 units but the actual practice at the manufacturing site is reject if > 3 units. On paper/document it looks like the contract manufacturer is not following the instructions given.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Of course by reducing the tolerance, more outliers / nonconforming part/lots can be screened out. My concern is more to the compliance portion whereby the contract manufacturer is not following the instructions given. Also, assuming if there's more than one contract manufacturer, one stick to the criteria of reject if > 5 units and the other have a tighter control e.g. reject if > 3 units, it seems that there's no consistency.

Correct me I'm wrong but I remember long time ago during TS16949 time, I heard something like whatever you put in the spec must be practiced in the production line.

 

Thanks for the feedback. Appreciate

 

There's no such agreement. Tightening the limit is good. My only concern is on the compliance portion. Assuming if I have more than one contract manufacturer and each of them have different requirements e.g. triggering limits. In the event if there's an audit by the same auditor on different manufacturing sites and this is observed, I'm sure the auditor will question why the difference and goes back to ISO / TS standards

 

Although you are correct in the strictest interpretation of the rules, in this specific case, the requirement for rejection (>5 units detected) is a MINIMUM requirement. The contractor must perform the minimum requirement which you have imposed but if they choose to go beyond that it is THEIR choice to assume the added risk. As for the inconsistency, that is easily dispositioned - your requirements to your supplier are a MINIMUM requirement, and one supplier has chosen to exceed your requirement, the other has not (at least not as of yet).

 

Thanks for the explanation. Yes, the supplier is using an accept on 3 and reject on 4 on nonconforming parts with the same sample size.

 

Got it. Thanks for the inputs. Appreciate

 

Thanks Andy