Part manufacturer assessment process

The part manufacturer's organizational quality system practices and policie s affect the quality and integrity of electronic parts, which in turn affec t the level of risk inherent in the use of the parts in the equipment suppl iers' systems. An effective parts selection and management process may be f ollowed to reduce the risk inherent in part use. One step in a parts select ion and management process is part manufacturer assessment. The results of part manufacturer assessment allow an informed parts selection decision to be made by the equipment supplier. This paper presents guidelines and crite ria for conducting part manufacturer assessment and quantifying the finding s of the assessment process. The paper also identifies the type of part man ufacturer information equipment suppliers must collect and assess, prior to part use, in order to reduce the risks associated with part use. The infor mation may be collected via questionnaires, surveys, site visits, telephone , accredited third-party surveillance organizations, or any other method ch osen by the equipment supplier and found to be effective. The information-g athering method will be a function of the supplier's resources, potential v olume of business with the part manufacturer, criticality of parts under as sessment, and historic experience with the part manufacturer. Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley gr Sons, Ltd.