ISO9001: 2000 requires in 4.1 that an organization shall ensure control
over outsourcing processes and control of such processes shall be identified
within its quality management system.
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Company S is a small firm with 20 people working and its main job
is to assemble customers supplied parts. But the assembly is so simple
that the company outsources the assembly processes as piecework done
at home. Thus at the same time the company can make assembly cost lower.
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The company first tests new worker who will do as piecework done at
home and after formal contracting the company follows his or her performance.
The control procedures have satisfied all requirements in 7.4 Clause
of ISO9001: 2000. All goods such as jigs, containers, measurement devices
and documents are supplied from the customers. Therefore purchased products
for the company are limited to the assembled products done by piecework
done at home. Then the company wrote in its Quality manual that control
of the processes is identified within 7.4 Clause (Purchasing) of its
quality management system.
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Then an assessor came to a preliminary assessment and pointed out
there was no distinction between outsourcing and purchased product in
Quality manual. He was seemed to have miss-preoccupied definition that
" product" means only hardware. According to the definition in ISO9000:
2000, " product" is result of a process. Therefore results of processes
by piecework done at home are products and the company purchases them,
so that those are " purchased products". Very simple!
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In Japan classically in production management field purchasing has
been commonly divided by two categories, the one is " purchasing materials";
the other is " purchasing labor time". Purchasing of products processed
by piecework done at home corresponds to the latter one. If the assessor
well acquainted with the common concept, he would not have done such
a fatal mistake.
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