Quality Assurance

Procurement Quality Provisions and Requirements

Each purchase order is subject to the following quality requirements. These requirements are noted on the purchase order as QAC (quality assurance codes). Failure to comply with any of the QACs identified on the applicable purchase order will result in rejection of the supplier’s material or services at the supplier’s expense. In all cases, buyer means NE purchasing representative.

QA01 Basic Quality System

ISO 9001 The Supplier shall provide and maintain an inspection system, which is in accordance with the noted standard.

QA01A Supplier’s Inspection System

The Supplier shall provide and maintain an inspection system adequate to ensure that supplies shipped on this order meet all applicable requirements. The system shall provide for the maintenance of records and data of all inspections and tests performed which shall be available for examination and verification by authorized representatives of Buyer or customer personnel, upon request. The Supplier’s calibration system shall conform to the requirements of ISO 17025 or ANSI/NCSL Z540-1+ in that only current calibrated equipment, traceable to a national or international standard, shall be used for product acceptance.

QA02 Advanced Quality System

ISO:9001, OR AS9100. The Supplier shall provide and maintain a quality system in accordance with any of the listed standards.

QA03 Source Inspection

Items procured under this P.O. are subject to source inspection or surveillance by Buyer, prior to shipment. Supplier shall furnish suitable facilities and equipment necessary to perform the required inspection, at no cost to Buyer. Supplier shall notify Buyer at least 48 hours in advance of subject material being available for source inspection and shall hold shipment pending necessary action by Buyer. Final acceptance of material will be at Buyer’s facility. Evidence of source inspection must accompany each shipment whenever source inspection is performed.

QA04 Government Source Inspection

Government Source Inspection is required prior to shipment. Upon receipt of this order, promptly furnish a copy of this order to the Government representative who normally services your facility so that appropriate planning for Government Inspection can be accomplished.

QA05 Configuration Control

Supplier shall not make any changes to top assembly drawings, which may affect the intended use of the parts/material being procured, without prior approval by Buyer and Buyer’s customer, when required.

QA06 Traceability

The Supplier shall in the performance of this order, provide and maintain a system of traceability on all material and components. The Supplier’s system shall effectively control serial numbers, lot numbers, or other suitable methods for ensuring the traceability of material delivered to Buyer.

QA07 FAA Conformity Inspection

All detail parts, sub-assemblies, and assemblies in the configuration of the end item identified in this order shall be subject to FAA Conformity Inspection, except as waived by the responsible FAA regional representative. Documentation reflecting compliance with this requirement shall accompany each shipment to Buyer when applicable.

QA08 Tool Proofing

Tool proofing shall be accomplished on all Supplier- furnished tooling. All such tooling shall be identified with part number, drawing change status, tool ownership, and inspection acceptance. Supplier shall not perform any modification of tooling without prior Buyer approval. All modifications shall be subject to verification by Buyer.

QA09 First Article Inspection

The initial lot of details, sub-assemblies, and assemblies in the configuration defined in the Purchase Order, shall be subjected to a First Article Inspection by the Supplier. A completed First Article Report, in accordance with the AS9102 Form, shall be submitted for review and approval by NEE Quality, prior to acceptance of any production parts. Subsequent lots shall require a new First Article Inspection and report in the event there is a design change that changes the part number of the part or the material, or a change in Supplier’s tooling or method of manufacture.

QA10 Approved Special Process Sources

All processing such as welding, heat-treating, plating, etc., shall be accomplished by approved process sources when required by the specification. Records of process sources and approval status shall be maintained and available for review.

QA11 Physical / Chemical Test Report

Each shipment shall be accompanied by a legible copy of actual physical and/or chemical test reports for the material submitted to Buyer for acceptance. These test reports shall ensure compliance to applicable specifications, shall be traceable to the lot or batch submitted, and shall be signed by an authorized representative of the testing agency.

QA12 Nondestructive Inspection Requirements

All parts requiring Nondestructive Testing shall be processed in accordance with the requirements of the applicable specification. Personnel reading and/or interpreting Nondestructive Testing indications shall be certified/qualified in accordance with the requirements of the controlling specification, for the test method used. Customer-approved sources shall be used when required.

QA13 Radioactive Inspection

The applicable radiographs and a copy of the inspection report shall be submitted to Buyer with each shipment.

QA14 Certified Test Data

Each shipment shall be accompanied by a legible and reproducible copy of reports of actual test results identifiable with test parameters, and the products submitted per the applicable drawing and specification. These reports shall contain a signature and title of an authorized representative of the agency performing the test and shall assure conformance to specified requirements. When parts are serialized, the serial numbers shall appear on the test report.

QA15 Rubber Cure Date

The Supplier shall be responsible for legibly and permanently identifying each part or container with the rubber cure date, date of manufacture, and shelf-life. Assemblies shipped with rubber parts therein shall be marked with assembly date and the cure date of the oldest elastomeric item.

QA16 Identification Limited Shelf-Life Obsolete

Replaced by QA35 Materials with limited shelf-life, epoxy, paint, adhesives, etc., shall reflect the date of manufacture, lot number, and applicable specification on the container. Each container must be identified. Unless otherwise agreed upon in writing, all material shall have at least 60% of its shelf-life remaining, at time of receipt.

QA17 Certification of Conformance

Each shipment shall be accompanied by a legible and reproducible Certificate of Conformance with the signature and title of an authorized representative of the Supplier. This certificate attests to the fact that the material/service provided by the Supplier meets the requirements of the drawing, specification, or purchase order records supporting this certification are on file and available for review by Buyer or Buyer’s customer, upon request. Note: Certification must include revision level of drawing and/or specification.

QA18 Certification of Buyer-Furnished Material

The Supplier shall submit in writing with each lot, a document, which certifies that material furnished by Buyer is contained within the parts or assemblies, submitted and that substitute material was not used for those parts. The certification must be signed by an authorized representative of the Supplier and list those items supplied by Buyer by part number, nomenclature, and serial number (if applicable). In the event the Supplier has used material supplied from other sources, the material certifications indicating conformance to the engineering and purchase order requirements must be included in the certification documents.

QA19 Test Specimens

This purchase order requires test specimens for lab analysis by Buyer unless otherwise specified. The specimens shall be from the same lot, batch, or heat of material and shall have been processed with the represented parts. Specimens must be identified as to which process lot they represent.

QA20 Deviations / Discrepancies

Any departure from drawing, specification, or other purchase order requirement must be recorded on Supplier’s nonconforming material report. Dispositions of such deviations/discrepancies must be approved by Buyer prior to shipment. Receipt of Buyer approval does not waive source inspection requirements if such requirements are specified in the contract. A copy of the dispositioned nonconformance report must accompany each affected shipment.

QA21 Sheet Stock

Sheet stock shall be identified with heat lot number, gauge, and the applicable material specification.

QA22 Container Identification

Each container of product shall be labeled to clearly display the product name, product number, NEE Trace ID number, and any other information required by the purchase order.

QA23 Digital Product Definition / Model Based Definition

NEE approval for DPD and MBD and/or any other digital data is required. Supplier shall provide, maintain, and follow a plan that documents the use of NEE supplier DPD, MBD and/or any other digital data. The plan must include a dependable design management and quality process(es) in place that exhibit its operation. The plan shall also demonstrate an ability to maintain the integrity of DPD, MBD and/or any other digital data through all operations and as new methods are arranged. Any specific customer digital requirements will be listed within the body of the purchase order.

QA24 Retention of Records

Quality Records shall be retained for a minimum of ten (10) years after completion of purchase order, or as directed by NEE Customer’s Quality Requirements. Records shall be identified and stored in a manner that allows them to be easily retrievable and adequately protected.

QA25 Notification of Delivered Nonconforming Product

The Supplier shall notify the applicable NEE Quality representative in writing within 1 business day of the discovery, which shall contain applicable information concerning the defect: part numbers, lot numbers, quantities, ship dates, description of the nonconformance and the final corrective action plan.

QA26 Submittal of Nonconforming Product

The Supplier shall not ship any nonconforming product to DAS without authorization from the applicable DAS Site. These waivers and/or concessions must be referenced on the C of C and be included with the shipping paperwork.

QA27 Changes to Quality System

NEE Quality shall be notified in writing when any changes are made to the supplier quality system that may affect product quality.

QA28 Changes to Organization or Location

During fulfillment of the PO, the Supplier shall give NEE Quality written notice a minimum of 60 days before relocating any production, inspection, or processing facilities; or before transferring any work between different facilities or making other changes which may affect product quality.

QA29 Flow Down of Requirements

The Supplier shall flow down all applicable product, regulatory, and quality requirements (including requirements for traceability, documentation, and software) to the Supplier’s sub-tiers. The Supplier is responsible for ensuring and validating the compliance of the Supplier’s sub-tiers and maintaining documented evidence.

QA30 Right of Entry

1. The Supplier shall provide contact information and access to the person responsible for ensuring that NEE requirements are promoted throughout the organization. Said person must have the authority to resolve quality concerns.
2. NEE, NEE Customers and regulatory agencies reserve the right to access to the Supplier’s and relevant sub-tier supplier’s facility and records, as necessary.
3. Upon request, the Supplier shall grant DAS Quality access to quality system documentation including the quality manual, procedures, and records. If requested, the Supplier shall translate the required documentation into English.

QA31 Material Substitution

Supplier will follow the provided drawing, specification, and approved supplier requirements with regards to material selection. Any substitution of material different from the primary material may be done only after the advance notification of NEE with supplier receipt of NEE MRB approval before start of any work.

QA32 Delivery

If Supplier fails to deliver a Product or service on the scheduled date, as indicated in this Agreement or any Order or as otherwise agreed between the parties in writing, due to Suppliers or its subcontractors or suppliers fault, Ducommun may, after written notice to Supplier, and after taking into account a grace period of ten (10) calendar days, charge Supplier for delays in deliveries in the amount of one half of a percent (0.5%) per day of the price of the delayed Product or service, which shall accrue from the first day of the delay until the delivery of such delayed Product or service, up to a maximum amount of fifteen (15%) of the value of the delayed Product or service. For purposes of the foregoing, delivery will occur when the Products and/or services under any Order are delivered to Ducommun at the specified delivery point. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Supplier shall be responsible for compensating NEE for any similar penalty, over and above the stated amount, that any OEM imposes on NEE for its Production Schedule delays that are caused by Supplier s failure as described above. In such event, the parties agree to negotiate and resolve in good faith the amount to be paid by Supplier prior to enforcement.

QA33 Barcoding Labeling

Barcodes are required for all shipments. Please see your buyer for the barcoding requirements when applicable.

QA34 MRR / Corrective Action Processing Cost Recovery

If the supplier has more than one quality escape (as measured by a corrective action or material rejection report) to NEE in a twelve-month period, the supplier will reimburse NEE for MRR/CA handling cost.

QA35 Identification Limited Shelf-Life

Materials with limited shelf-life, epoxy, paint, adhesives, etc., shall reflect the date of manufacture, lot number, and applicable specification on the container. Each container must be identified. Unless otherwise agreed upon in writing, all material shall have at least 70% of its shelf-life remaining.

QA36 Counterfeit Mitigation and Control

Supplier shall have a documented procedure in place to make sure no counterfeit materials are introduced or used in products they supply to NEE; supplier is require demonstrating this control as requested.