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| QS-9000 is not dead, just
on life support until December 15, 2006.
QS-9000 registered organizations can maintain their registration to that date if their customers say so. Daimler-Chrysler has said that their suppliers have to be registered to ISO/TS 16949:2002 by 7/1/04. Ford and GM are sticking to the 12/06 timing. Some tier-2 suppliers are being pushed by their tier-1 customers (like Delphi) to register now. So ask your customers. Some suppliers are maintaining their QS and upgrading their ISO to ISO 9001:2000 so that they can satisfy everyone. That is in fact not very difficult. (Go to QS & ISO 9001:2000) |
| In the "old days" back in
the 1970s the Big Three really wanted to do something about the quality of
the parts delivered to their assembly plants. Which meant that they
had to do something about the supplier's quality systems (not their own
designs); so Ford had their Q-1 quality systems program, General Motors
had Targets for Excellence, and Chrysler had Pentastar.
Each system was a big binder (GM had 5 sections) which listed the requirements the supplier had to meet. The requirements covered most of the same stuff (calibration, training, document control etc.) but the sections were different and the words different. The auto company would send in a team of auditors to audit the supplier to their requirements. So a supplier to all three had to have three separate quality systems to pass the three separate audits. And the Big Three ended up sending three teams to the same shop. Not very efficient. |
| Then in 1987 ISO 9000
was published, and began to take hold worldwide. So the Big Three
formed a Task Force in conjunction with
the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group, a automotive industry trade
association made up of suppliers and the auto companies) to write a
unified standard for all suppliers to follow.
They started by publishing the simpler manuals on SPC (Statistical
Process Control) and MSA (Measurement System Analysis) and ended up
publishing QS-9000 in 1994 with the publication of ISO 9000:1994.
The original documents had the Ford, Chrysler, and GM logos on the cover,
and it was seen as a big step forward. Not perfect, but a good
step.
There are actually seven books which make up QS-9000 (available
from the AIAG at a bargain
price, some in non-English languages or call 248-358-3003.):
There are also Sanctioned Interpretations of the QS-9000 documents published by the Big Three Task Force and available at the ASQ web site. These are a part of the requirements so you have to know what they say, and stay current at least prior to your audit. It is a disappointment to have the auditor whip out a new set of documents you have never seen to audit against. |
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For More Information Contact: tony@midwestquality.com or 800 464-9008 |
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