Supplier meetings with

A good example of the many successftil DfE Partnerships is the Furniture Flame Retard-ancy Partnerhip. Pentabromodiphenylether (PentaBDE) was the primary flame retardant used in low density, flexible polyurethane furniture foam. Due to concerns over its use and the fact that the chemical was found widespread in the environment and in human tissue and breast milk, PentaBDE was voluntarily phased out of production by US manufacturers in January 2004. The industry needed alternatives in order to meet furniture flame retardancy requirements, but did not have the human and environmental health and safety information needed in order to compare the alternatives. DfE worked with the furniture manufacturers, foam manufacturers, and flame-retardant chemical suppliers along with governmental and environmental groups to evaluate possible alternatives. 

Customers are looking for confidence in the ability of a product to meet its business needs. Obtaining this confidence involves evidence gained from the Supplier Audit with other data which may be more subjective. 

The final step was to determine if the suppliers could meet the demand. Meetings with key suppliers were quickly pulled together and they all agreed that they could meet the requirements, because the company had for several months been operating at close to this level on the average. We now knew that it was possible to meet the demand and could focus on the execution phase of the solution. 

In a performance-based approach to build structures, all decisions, choices, and tradeoffs start with the required behavior-in-use rather than prescribed solutions for how to meet the stated needs. The supplier responds with an offering that includes the estimated performance of that offering. A validation method, through measurement, calculation, or testing, is necessary to evaluate the performance (over time) and to compare alternative solutions (Szigeti Davis, 2005). The design/build team must warrantee and main-... 

Many additives meet with sales resistance solely on cost grounds. But if customers have an overriding need for an effective flame retardant to meet stringent new fire specrfications while retaining other performance indicators, then suppliers are in a strong position. Reasons cited for above-average price increases sometimes include the need to invest in new capacity or to recoup R D expenditiure. 

This version of the standard has been harmonized with intemationat (ISO) and European (EN) standards by the introduction of hazard identification and risk assessment as the principal method for analyzing hazards to personnel and achieving a level of acceptable risk. This version of the standard is a major revision that integrates the requirements of ISO parts 1 and 2 and ISO 14121, as weU as U.S. standards. Suppliers meeting the requirements of ANSI/PMMI B155.1 2006 may simultaneously meet the requirements of these three ISO standards. 

Are there regular coordination meeting with your suppliers yes/no... 

From this upper echelon list, the firm matches key suppliers with high-impact categories and chooses a small number of partners to participate in a disciplined, systematic supplier relationship management (SRM) effort. These partners meet with the buying firm and establish a mission or strategic purpose for the SRM effort. The focus then moves to analyzing the total cost of ownership (or total life cycle costs) and finding the hidden cost reduction opportunities and extra values in the relationships. 

Start meeting with the leaders of the principal, fire alarm systems suppliers and other stakeholders... 

According to Norwegian Internal control regulations, companies that act as the principal enterprise shall ensure that sub-contractors and suppliers comply with the regulations (Section 2.2). The execution of SHE audits is a means for the principal enterprise to meet these regulations in this respect. 

Are SHE issues in fabrication and construction adequately brought up in management meetings with suppliers ... 

Asia-Pacific region (and, the last time you checked, China was part of the Asia-Pacihc region). However, you have just learned that the standard color you specihed is not exactly standard, it is simply a color that was created for another application, which was then given a standard commercial code which was then added to the supplier catalog. To make matters worse, not only is that material in that grade in that color not readily available anywhere in China, that color code is not available anywhere else in the world (unless you would like to make a Special Order). On top of all this, your boss has scheduled a meeting with you to discuss your future with the company. 

On the other hand, the NDT service business has evolved towards a more open market, in which the prime contractor requires a transparent access to the data provided by the supplier, in order to ensure the comparison of data obtained from different sources and at different periods of time. Existing fomiats are most of the time proprietary formats released by instrument manufacturers, generally dealing with a unique NDT method and not including complementary information on the acquisition consequently, they fail to meet these requirements. 

The results from CA, deseribed in Chapter 2, serve as a good basis for supplier dialogue very early in the development proeess. Problem areas in the design are systematieally identified and diseussed openly with suppliers. The neeessary proeess or design ehanges are then effeetively eommunieated in order to meet the eustomer s requirements leading to a proeess eapable design. 

As a set of minimum standards, ISO 9000 addresses the business community. It was intended for purchasers as a means for them to obtain products and services of consistent quality from their suppliers. In place of purchaser-specified general quality management requirements, ISO 9000 became the common requirement and hence eliminated the need for such requirements. As a consequence, it provides suppliers that meet its requirements with a demonstrable capability that others may not possess and hence such capability becomes a persuasive marketing tool that will increase market share. ISO 9000 was also intended for application to all types of industry and therefore did not contain requirements for any specific industry sector or type of products or services. Partially due to the scope of misinterpretation and the degree to which particular industries have common supplier requirements, certain industry sectors perceived the need for harmonizing such requirements in a form that added to those requirements in ISO 9000. 

Conformance with ISO/TS 16949 for third party certification shall be based on objective evidence of meeting each applicable requirement including customer-specific requirements at the time of the audit. The auditor needs to determine specific customer requirements that apply and verify compliance with each requirement - not a sample. If the supplier has several different customers then compliance with the requirements of each customer has to be demonstrated. 

Do maintain records of all meetings and visits with suppliers and subcontractors. 

The definition of nonconformity in ISO 8402 states that it is the nonfulfillment of specified requirements therefore a nonconforming product is one that does not conform to the specified requirements. Specified requirements are either requirements prescribed by the customer and agreed by the supplier in a contract for products or services, or are requirements prescribed by the supplier which are perceived as satisfying a market need. This limits the term nonconformity to situations where you have failed to meet customer requirements. However, ISO 8402 1987 suggests that nonconformity also applies to the absence of one or more quality system elements, but clearly the requirements of clause 4.13 cannot be applied to nonconformity with quality s /stem requirements. Both ISO 9001 and ISO 9004 only address nonconformity in the context of products, processes, and services and when addressing quality system elements the term deficiencies is used. Some auditors use the term nonconformity to describe a departure from the requirements of ISO 9001 but it would be preferable if they chose the term noncompliance to avoid any confusion. The requirements of clause 4.13 therefore only apply to products, processes, and services and not to activities, quality system elements, or procedures. 

The requirements for internal audits apply to audits of the quality system, including the policies, practices, products, and services to which the quality system relates. They are not limited to audits of procedures. In order to determine whether the quality system is effective in maintaining control, you need to check that the resultant products and services meet the specified requirements and that prescribed quality objectives are being achieved. If the products and services are not meeting the specified requirements, or the prescribed objectives are not being achieved, something is clearly amiss with the quality system. The requirements do not apply to audits of suppliers or subcontractors as they are covered in clause 4.6 of the standard. 

---