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The API Spec Q2 standard has created some confusion regarding the implementation of certain requirements. One frequent conundrum centers around the definition of a critical supplier, as well as the QMS requirements of said supplier.
The standard defines critical, in 3.1.6, as follows: That deemed by the organization or customer as indispensable or essential, needed for a stated purpose or task, and requiring specific action.
Let’s start with a simple definition of a critical supplier. The term “critical” and the criteria used in the designation should be determined by your organization and/or customer. That being said, if a supplier is integral to the process or you cannot survive without them that would be a pretty good indicator that the supplier is “critical.” Keep in mind that “critical” can be defined in a variety of ways, so development of internal criteria is essential.
Next, let’s look at how to verify that your critical suppliers’ QMS conforms to your internal requirements. You may require your suppliers to have a third party certification in order to be approved. In this case, you can outline the standard(s) required to satisfy your conditions. If you do not require certification, you should develop an audit checklist to verify that their QMS meets expectations.
The API Q2 standard requires the following, in section 5.6.1 Purchasing Control:
For critical services or service-related product, the criteria for the initial evaluation and selection of suppliers by the organization shall include the following prior to initiation of the purchase agreement:
Remember, you’re only as good as your weakest link. Q2 requires the management and monitoring of the supply chain. Understand that this can create burdens and require additional resources to verify. It is important that you develop a simple process to evaluate and monitor your vendors.
To find out about how Accupoint can help you streamline your supply chain management process, call us at 800.563.6250 or visit www.accupointsoftware.com
The standard defines critical, in 3.1.6, as follows: That deemed by the organization or customer as indispensable or essential, needed for a stated purpose or task, and requiring specific action.
Let’s start with a simple definition of a critical supplier. The term “critical” and the criteria used in the designation should be determined by your organization and/or customer. That being said, if a supplier is integral to the process or you cannot survive without them that would be a pretty good indicator that the supplier is “critical.” Keep in mind that “critical” can be defined in a variety of ways, so development of internal criteria is essential.
Next, let’s look at how to verify that your critical suppliers’ QMS conforms to your internal requirements. You may require your suppliers to have a third party certification in order to be approved. In this case, you can outline the standard(s) required to satisfy your conditions. If you do not require certification, you should develop an audit checklist to verify that their QMS meets expectations.
The API Q2 standard requires the following, in section 5.6.1 Purchasing Control:
For critical services or service-related product, the criteria for the initial evaluation and selection of suppliers by the organization shall include the following prior to initiation of the purchase agreement:
- Assessment of the supplier at supplier’s facility to meet the organization’s purchasing requirements, and
- Verification that the supplier’s quality management system conforms to the quality system requirements specified for suppliers by the organization.
Remember, you’re only as good as your weakest link. Q2 requires the management and monitoring of the supply chain. Understand that this can create burdens and require additional resources to verify. It is important that you develop a simple process to evaluate and monitor your vendors.
To find out about how Accupoint can help you streamline your supply chain management process, call us at 800.563.6250 or visit www.accupointsoftware.com
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A chain is only strong as its weakest link. When it comes to controlling your supply chain, the better you are at understanding the entire chain and identifying weak links, the better your company will be in the long run.
In today’ post, we would like to present a couple of tips to help make managing your supply chain more effective.
Tip 1: Understand the big picture. Gather performance data on each vendor in the chain and update it constantly. If your data only includes some vendors or incomplete performance data, the picture of your supply chain is as incomplete as a jigsaw puzzle missing half the pieces. Without concrete data, you may have an idea of potential snags but ultimately you are guessing. As a result, you're not able to make the best decisions on how to resolve issues related to your operations.
Tip 2: Use integrated technology to manage your supply chain. Technology enables more efficient and effective data collection and analysis, giving you increased response time to head off potential problems. In addition, by using integrated technology you can improve communications with relevant stakeholders resulting in minimized disruptions to production.
The efficient use of supply chain controls enables your company to reduce costs and satisfy customer requirements. How well do you know your supply chain? Accupoint can help your organization to get a handle on comprehensive supply chain management. To find out how, visit us on the web at www.accupointsoftware.com or call toll-free 800.563.6520.
In today’ post, we would like to present a couple of tips to help make managing your supply chain more effective.
Tip 1: Understand the big picture. Gather performance data on each vendor in the chain and update it constantly. If your data only includes some vendors or incomplete performance data, the picture of your supply chain is as incomplete as a jigsaw puzzle missing half the pieces. Without concrete data, you may have an idea of potential snags but ultimately you are guessing. As a result, you're not able to make the best decisions on how to resolve issues related to your operations.
Tip 2: Use integrated technology to manage your supply chain. Technology enables more efficient and effective data collection and analysis, giving you increased response time to head off potential problems. In addition, by using integrated technology you can improve communications with relevant stakeholders resulting in minimized disruptions to production.
The efficient use of supply chain controls enables your company to reduce costs and satisfy customer requirements. How well do you know your supply chain? Accupoint can help your organization to get a handle on comprehensive supply chain management. To find out how, visit us on the web at www.accupointsoftware.com or call toll-free 800.563.6520.
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One of the requirements of the new API Q2 standard deals with supplier quality management. Organizations, both large and small, have been spending time, talent and resources to address the supply chain control provisions outlined in the new standard.
To help focus efforts, we have outlined a number of best practices related to supply chain control:
1. Identify a list of metrics and KPI’s that are important to monitor at your organization
Key performance indicators and defined metrics are important to monitor because most companies are dependent on suppliers and the global supplier network makes it difficult to manage and track supplier performance. As a result, failure to manage and monitor supplier performance can lead to major supply chain disruptions, delivery problems, poor quality, and other issues that damage a company’s credibility, as well as the bottom line.
2. Measure and track costs of supplier quality
Tracking the costs associated with supplier quality helps to determine business productivity and measure the impacts associated with doing business with a supplier. By tracking costs, companies reduce risk associated with doing business with certain suppliers, maintain a competitive business advantage, and track ROI.
3. Maintain a corrective action plan
Maintaining a corrective action or preventative action plan is very important in dealing with any potential problems or future incidents. The results of the corrective action process should be to implement a corrective action to remove identified problems, improve product quality and improve the overall effectiveness of the quality management system.
4. Create a supplier risk scorecard
Companies can configure a scorecard to meet specific needs. Set thresholds for acceptable, moderate, and severe risk levels. With multiple categories to choose from, companies can measure and view overall supplier risk.
5. Maintain a collaborative environment and enforce supply chain audits
With so many different and new suppliers in the oil and gas industry, the risk associated with doing business has increased and it is more important than ever to reduce that risk in the supply chain by increasing the number, frequency, and duration of audits performed. By maintaining awareness and collaboration creates effective relationships to minimize and track risk.
Accupoint’s family of compliance solutions help track all of the best practices suggested above. Supplier information and data can be entered and analyzed from any web enabled device, via the cloud. To find out how Accupoint Software can help your organization implement effective supply chain controls, give us a call at 800.563.6250 or visit us at www.accupointsoftware.com
To help focus efforts, we have outlined a number of best practices related to supply chain control:
1. Identify a list of metrics and KPI’s that are important to monitor at your organization
Key performance indicators and defined metrics are important to monitor because most companies are dependent on suppliers and the global supplier network makes it difficult to manage and track supplier performance. As a result, failure to manage and monitor supplier performance can lead to major supply chain disruptions, delivery problems, poor quality, and other issues that damage a company’s credibility, as well as the bottom line.
2. Measure and track costs of supplier quality
Tracking the costs associated with supplier quality helps to determine business productivity and measure the impacts associated with doing business with a supplier. By tracking costs, companies reduce risk associated with doing business with certain suppliers, maintain a competitive business advantage, and track ROI.
3. Maintain a corrective action plan
Maintaining a corrective action or preventative action plan is very important in dealing with any potential problems or future incidents. The results of the corrective action process should be to implement a corrective action to remove identified problems, improve product quality and improve the overall effectiveness of the quality management system.
4. Create a supplier risk scorecard
Companies can configure a scorecard to meet specific needs. Set thresholds for acceptable, moderate, and severe risk levels. With multiple categories to choose from, companies can measure and view overall supplier risk.
5. Maintain a collaborative environment and enforce supply chain audits
With so many different and new suppliers in the oil and gas industry, the risk associated with doing business has increased and it is more important than ever to reduce that risk in the supply chain by increasing the number, frequency, and duration of audits performed. By maintaining awareness and collaboration creates effective relationships to minimize and track risk.
Accupoint’s family of compliance solutions help track all of the best practices suggested above. Supplier information and data can be entered and analyzed from any web enabled device, via the cloud. To find out how Accupoint Software can help your organization implement effective supply chain controls, give us a call at 800.563.6250 or visit us at www.accupointsoftware.com
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The updated API Spec Q1-9th edition has raised a number of questions. One of the most frequent questions is what constitutes a critical supplier and how do we verify that their QMS conforms to our internal requirements?
Let’s start by answering what a critical supplier is. Basically, the term “critical” is defined by your organization. If your organization cannot survive without this supplier then this supplier should be considered “critical.” These suppliers should play an integral part in the production of your finished product. Keep in mind that “critical” can also refer to the amount of money that is spent with this supplier. It is important that we regularly evaluate our suppliers to insure that their quality, delivery and response performance meet our internal benchmarks. Maintaining supply chain performance is essential to your bottom line, as well as compliance with Spec Q1-9th edition requirements.
Next, let’s look at how to verify that your suppliers’ QMS conforms to the requirements of your organization. You need to outline the specific certification(s), if any, required of your suppliers. If you require certification, then you can rely on the results of a third party auditor to verify that an acceptable system is in place. If you plan to handle supplier audits internally, then you will need to develop site-specific criteria for each supplier. After your initial audit, you will need to conduct regular surveillance audits to verify continued acceptability of the supplier system.
Supplier management is one of the key components of the 9th edition requirements. It is important that your organization maintains a comprehensive supplier management program with the ability benchmark performance metrics.
To find out about how Accupoint Software can help you with effective supplier management programs, as well as the other requirements of Q1- 9th edition, call 800.563.6250 or visit our website at www.accupointsoftware.com.
Let’s start by answering what a critical supplier is. Basically, the term “critical” is defined by your organization. If your organization cannot survive without this supplier then this supplier should be considered “critical.” These suppliers should play an integral part in the production of your finished product. Keep in mind that “critical” can also refer to the amount of money that is spent with this supplier. It is important that we regularly evaluate our suppliers to insure that their quality, delivery and response performance meet our internal benchmarks. Maintaining supply chain performance is essential to your bottom line, as well as compliance with Spec Q1-9th edition requirements.
Next, let’s look at how to verify that your suppliers’ QMS conforms to the requirements of your organization. You need to outline the specific certification(s), if any, required of your suppliers. If you require certification, then you can rely on the results of a third party auditor to verify that an acceptable system is in place. If you plan to handle supplier audits internally, then you will need to develop site-specific criteria for each supplier. After your initial audit, you will need to conduct regular surveillance audits to verify continued acceptability of the supplier system.
Supplier management is one of the key components of the 9th edition requirements. It is important that your organization maintains a comprehensive supplier management program with the ability benchmark performance metrics.
To find out about how Accupoint Software can help you with effective supplier management programs, as well as the other requirements of Q1- 9th edition, call 800.563.6250 or visit our website at www.accupointsoftware.com.
