Supplier Relationship

The supplier partnership process is a four phase process. The first phase involves a system capability assessment. During the assessment process the survey is used to verify the supplier's processes. It is important that you identify your needs to the suppliers. You may chose to specify Q91, ISO or some other quality system elements as standards. These needs should be documented and discussed one on one with your suppliers. If necessary you may need to provide education for the suppliers. The on site assessment should provide emphasis on the supplier's quality system, quantify results, document findings and create a linkage with supplier personnel. Results of the assessment should be analyzed to identify root cause deficiencies, assess the impacts on quality and recommend alternatives to meet expectations. A corrective action plan should be deter­mined jointly with the supplier by documenting solutions, assigning responsibility and accountability, providing re­sources and establishing time tables. Finally the corrective action plan should be implemented and monitored.

Phase two is the development and implementation of a quality system for key suppliers. The trend in the industry now is to accept a suppliers quality system if it has been approved by another customer. As an example, a supplier may have already be certified by one of the major auto manufactures. In this case it would serve no useful purpose to spend the effort to verify what is already known.

Phase three is the process of product certification for specific parts or product families. This is accomplished by product design verification, process verification, control plans, key control characteristics (KCC) and performance evaluation. Certification maintenance should be verified on a periodic basis.

Phase four involves a long term strategic partnership agreement. This creates a strategic alliance with the supplier. These long term associations must be consistent with each party's strategic interests. Risks and rewards are shared between you and the supplier. A written document exists that outlines each parties responsibilities, expectations and rights. Communication is critical to the process of partnering in that it is two way, it identifies expectations, planning is a shared process and conflict resolution is coordinated to eliminate barriers. It should be noted that the partnership process involves a great amount of resources and should be initiated for only strategic suppliers.

To Be Continued