Management system guidance
8.4 Control of externally provided products and services
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8.4.3 Information for external providers
This requirement is again comparable to the requirements from ISO 9001:2008 Clause 7.4.2 – Purchasing Information. You should seek and record evidence that your organization has, where appropriate, communicated not just the products or services they wish to receive but also any processes they want the external provider to undertake on their behalf.
To ensure adequacy of specified purchasing information prior to their communication to the supplier, the supplier is usually requested to quote on price and availability. All pertinent purchasing information, as determined by your organization and customer requirements; should be included in the request for a quote (RfQ).
The purchase order should be created after the review and acceptance of a supplier's quote, and must contain the same content as the request for a quote. Describe the product to be purchased by:
- Defining product approval requirements, e.g.; certificate of conformity;
- Defining intended verification arrangements, e.g.; witness testing or certification;
- Defining personnel qualifications and quality, environmental, and safety requirements;
- Maintaining records.
Where activities are wholly outsourced, or subcontracted; your organization maintains responsibility for product conformance to all specified requirements. Purchasing information should include acceptance criteria, and where appropriate, state the requirements for the approval of supplier’s procedures, processes, and equipment.
Applicable versions of specifications, drawings, process requirements, inspection instructions, traceability, relevant technical data, and requirements for qualification/competence of the supplier’s personnel, and quality management system must be specified and communicated.
Purchasing verification
Ensure that items, which are essential to fulfilling customer requirements and which directly affect the quality of your products and services, are verified upon product receipt or service delivery to verify they conform to:
- QMS requirements;
- Competency of external personnel;
- Purchase orders;
- Purchasing specification;
- Purchasing agreements;
- Delivery notes;
- Release certificates;
- Certificates of conformity;
- Inspection and acceptance tests;
- Product specifications;
- National or international standards.
Receiving inspection
On receipt of incoming materials, the receiving personnel must identify and inspect the items, goods and materials and match them against the delivery note. The delivery note is compared to the corresponding purchase order and any related documentation. This inspection should include but not be limited to:
- Confirmation of identification using purchase order number, drawing numbers, material markings etc.;
- Confirmation of adherence to delivery schedule;
- Confirmation of conformance to purchase order requirements;
- Confirmation of correct quantities;
- Visual examination for obvious defects;
- Measurement comparison to drawings where required;
- Specified certification/documentation as required.
For large numbers of identical items, visual and dimensional checks should be undertaken on a minimum of 5% of the total quantity. No material is released for further processing until receiving inspection has been completed and goods accepted. All accepted materials passing immediate inspection can be allocated a storage area.
Any non-compliant goods must be placed in a separate area, and clearly identified. Further investigating should determine whether the items, materials or goods are to be:
- Scrapped;
- Returned to Supplier;
- Reworked to a useable condition.
When inspecting materials that include specified certification or documentation should only be accepted when such certification and documentation has been viewed and approved by the Quality Manager or the Purchasing Manager. If you need a procedure and forms to help control your business's purchasing and procurement process, click here.
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