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FALL 2024

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Distributor's Link Magazine Fall 2024 / Vol 47 No 4

32 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

32 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Larry Borowski President GREENSLADE & COMPANY INC. 2234 Wenneca Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76102 TEL 817-870-8888 FAX 817-870-9199 EMAIL sales1@greensladeandcompany.com WEB www.greensladeandcompany.com WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE AN AUTOMOTIVE FASTENER SUPPLIER? When I was first asked to write an editorial on the topic of automotive fasteners and related quality requirements, I accepted. Once I started, I quickly found that I had to solicit some guidance from other experts in the automotive fastener supply chain. I found there is not a simple recipe or list of requirements that can be “checked off” in order to supply fasteners to the automotive industry. In fact there isn’t even a defined “measurement system” as is found for aerospace or commercial fasteners. What I did find were (3) very important elements that when applied correctly, will result in a firm’s ability to supply the automotive industry. These are: ¤ ISO TS 16949 Registration ¤ Zero Defect Policy commitment ¤ Ability to perform automated sorting/inspection process on “critical” part features First and foremost, a supplier has to be registered to ISO TS 16949 quality management system based on ISO 9001 but having several additional requirements as it relates to automotive production components. A quality management system is the foundation of how orders are accepted, processed, inspected, and ultimately shipped to the end user. ISO TS 16949 has specific requirements outlining a process known as PPAP (Production Part Approval Process). It is this process that sets ISO TS 16949 apart from other ISO quality managements systems with its emphasis on the entire manufacturing process. There are five levels of PPAP, which are outlined TECHNICAL ARTICLE by AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group). The basic elements for a PPAP are as follows: [1] Design records [2] Engineering change documents [3] Customer engineering approval [4] Design FMEA [5] Process flow diagrams [6] Process FMEA [7] Control plan [8] MSA [9] Dimensional analysis [10] Material performance results [11] Initial process studies [12] Qualified laboratory documentation [13] ARR [14] Sample product [15] Master sample [16] Checking aids [17] Records of compliance [18] PSW Requirements for all fastener measurements are the same. This simply means that length is length, pitch diameter is pitch diameter, and so forth. The important part is to know what you customer’s requirements are, which are deeply ingrained in any ISO quality system defined by contract review. Automotive plants have to rely on coordinating thousands of parts coming together at just the right time in order to effectively feed the production line. CONTINUED ON PAGE 102

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