ISO 9001, ISO 13485 & AS9100 all call out a requirement to have a member of management assigned as the quality management representative (It should be noted that ISO 9001: 2015 has removed this requirement, however, someone(s) will still need to fulfill the responsibilities). It is important that you document in some way (appointment letter, […]

On June 16, the European Union (EU) Commission, Council and Parliament agreed on a framework for conflict minerals legislation. Overall, the legislation will be less burdensome for IPC members and the electronics industry than previously proposed. While the EU Commission had originally proposed a voluntary system, the EU Parliament had voted for mandatory requirements for […]

Timing: ISO 9001: 2015 was released last year, and while the final deadline is 2018; no new certificates will be issued after June 2017. So, depending on your certification date, you may most likely need to comply with 2015 if you have a surveillance or recertification audit after June 2017. Requirements: There are significant changes […]

It is no surprise that advanced technology is helping to push the US back toward being the most competitive manufacturing country in the world, according to a new Deloitte survey of global CEOs and other senior executives. U.S. manufacturers and equipment makers are heavily investing in technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), smart […]

I was in Seattle last week and all everyone was talking about was the 8,000 jobs Boeing just announced would be cut this year. In July of 2011 I published an article titled “The Beginning of the End for American Manufacturing? about the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) trying to block Boeing from building a […]

Requirement: Clause 7 is called Support, which is basically all of the resources required to support the organization’s primary business. This weeks final review is on Organizational knowledge, Competence, Awareness and Communication. 7.1.6 Organizational knowledge requires the organization to determine the knowledge necessary for the operation of its processes and to achieve conformity of products and […]

Requirement: Clause 7 is called Support, which is basically all of the resources required to support the organization’s primary business. This weeks review is on Monitoring and Measurement. 7.1.5 Monitoring and measuring resources (Calibration in Plain English) 7.1.5.1 General requires the organization to determine and provide the resources needed to ensure valid and reliable results when […]

Clause 7 is called Support, which is basically all of the resources required to support the organization’s primary business. Resources are broken down into a number of areas: General, People, Infrastructure, Environment, Monitoring/Measurement, Organizational Knowledge and Communication. General refers to the resources needed for the establishment, implementation, maintenance and continual improvement of the quality management […]

Dan Beaulieu interviews Steve Williams of The Right Approach Consulting (Watch the interview here  http://realtimewith.com/rtwboot/show.php?id=91&vid=3970 ) on REALTIME with IPC to talk about what companies need to change to comply with the just released 2015 version and why companies need to start NOW! Contact me for my free ISO 9001:2015 Readiness Checklist and perform a quick […]

Inspection Is Evil A wise man once said “Inspection is Evil”; …actually it was me and I didn’t say it just once, I say it every chance I get. Inspection is a non value-add activity and companies tend to use it to hide many sins. Traditionally, leaders of American industry have had a one-size fits […]