Subcontracted design

If you subcontract design, you must be able to demonstrate you have the appropriate capability to ensure your subcontractor meets the design control requirements of ISO/TS 16949. 

Prepare standard requirements for subcontracted design activities which specify the documentation requirements. 

Establish a mechanism of reviewing progress through the design and development process for in-house designs and subcontracted designs. 

How do you control subcontracted design and design verification activities ... 

Project reviews are not design reviews. Project reviews assess performance of the project and take into account timing, costs, organization, work assignments, subcontracts, etc. Design reviews look back at the technical aspects of design and look forward to the technical aspects of the design tasks ahead. 

The standard requires the supplier to provide appropriate technical resources for tool and gage design, fabrication, and verification activities, establish a system for tooling management, and implement a system to tack and follow-up tooling management activities if any work is subcontracted. 

The contractual requirements are specified, including warranty, payment conditions, acceptance conditions, customer supplied material, financial liability, legal matters, penalties, subcontracting, licenses, and design rights. 

The supplier does not need to own research and development facilities and may subcontract conceptual or complex design work to design studios. Clearly customers in the automotive sector are seeking new solutions to engineering problems and in order to capture the competitive edge, innovation is paramount. 

Acceptance criteria are the requirements which, if met, will deem the product acceptable. Every requirement should be stated in such a way that it can be verified. Characteristics should be specified in measurable terms with tolerances or min/max limits. These limits should be such that will ensure that all production versions will perform to the product specification and that such limits are well within the limits to which the design has been tested (see also Part 2 Chapter 2 under Identifying verification requirements). Where there are common standards for certain features, these may be contained in a standards manual. Where this method is used it is still necessary to reference the standards in the particular specifications to ensure that the producers are always given full instructions. Some organizations omit common standards from their specifications. This makes it difficult to specify different standards or to subcontract the manufacture of the product without handing over proprietary information. 

Testable items the design and/or manufacture of which are subcontracted... 

Siemens-Westinghouse Power Corporation, of Pittsburgh, PA, with a subcontract to Allison Engine Company, evaluated a pressurized solid oxide fuel cell coupled with conventional gas turbine technology without a steam plant. The system was operated at a pressure of 7 atm. The fuel cell generated 16 MW of power and the gas turbine generated 4 MW of power. The process showed 67 % efficiency as developed. An efficiency of 70 % is deemed achievable with improvement in component design. The COE is predicted to be comparable to present day alternatives. NOx levels were less than 1 ppm. 

Transport and delivery of sample containers from the Point of Exit to the OPCW Laboratory and from the OPCW Laboratory to the designated laboratories is subcontracted to a specialist company. The Director-General will appoint an OPCW staff member to escort the samples during transportation to the extent possible and to hand carry the respective documentation. 

The choice of design presentation will have an impact on costs, especially if construction is to be subcontracted on a lump sum basis. If that is the case, engineering work must also be scheduled accordingly. 

The willingness and personal discipline to track and compare the original preliminary take-offs and costs with the latest ones as the design develops and firm commitments are made through purchase orders and subcontracts. 

Work resulting from the resolution of "holds" and/or major design changes in the initial scope is considered additional scope. When defined and added to the subcontract, they must be considered as "committed" at the subcontractor firm price or best estimate, as applicable. Changes in take-off quantities arbitrarily fixed for bidding purposes will fall in this category. The "committed" quantity must be adjusted based on unit prices as soon as the real quantities are known. 

Correction of oversights and miscellaneous changes resulting from detailed design are not considered additional scope. They must be considered subcontract changes, as indicated below. 

As the work progresses, the subcontract cost will grow as a result of design and field changes. 

During this phase of the design work the scope established in the preliminary phase of the project is divided into work packages for award as subcontracts or, if the construction is done on a direct hire basis, they become the work packages for the various crafts. 

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