AS9100C: Customer requirements

Customer requirements: even under normal circumstances, reaching agreement could deplete the energy of Hercules. Suppliers might breathe a sigh of relief and feel a tickbox mode coming on when they see that the requirements include mandated use of parts or suppliers.

But what if customer requirements include mandated inferior parts or services that are in conflict with your Approved Suppliers List, currently-approved certification status or immaculate quality system practices?  This tension must be  resolved, preferably before it leaks into the production process or (much worse) into the delivered product, not to mention the vexatious issue of counterfeit parts.

Careful validation and verification by the customer and supplier at the RFQ stage can help management to identify the risk assessment and management within “special requirements” and reduce the need for

•  tedious Relentless Root Cause Analyses of nonconformances
• the resulting need for containment
• a plan for corrective action, re-inspection and final disposition, with due dates for completion and acceptance by the customer
• disturbance of the production process
•  product recall

With sufficient care and analysis at the RFQ stage suppliers can identify critical design features, tests, inspection points where customer requirements and current supplier practice are in conflict, and implement procedures to minimize the probability of product escape. Designers and design approval representatives can include this valuable information in design history records and save time and embarrassment if these issues come up in future contracts.

QUALIDOC Quality System Internal Audit Checklist (Customer Requirements) includes all the basic questions needed to cover this vexatious issue.

Examples:

This section is available separately on the Qualidoc website for only £150.

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