Purchasing tool ensuring the conformity of ISO 9001 and base automotive requirements along the supply chain with focus on tier 2 and tier 3 suppliers

Abstract

In the past two years the quality management standards, especially in the automotive industry, have overcome significant changes in order to capture the needs of the current business environment. Companies are now in the transition period and shall upgrade their quality management standards according new requirements. As the portfolio of suppliers plays crucial role in every company, with possible effects on the entire supply chain, it is necessary to prove and monitor the requirements at every level. Therefore, two main objectives of this Master’s Thesis have been appointed. At first, the base monitoring and evaluating criteria for suppliers had to be defined. In order to extend the new requirements of quality management standard, the relevant automotive standards and the customer specific requirements have been analyzed with the focus on the requirements on the control of externally provided processes, products and services. Secondly, based on the findings a questionnaire tool, that offers a complex purchasing tool for the companies, has been designed. This questionnaire has incorporated the demands on new suppliers, as well as already existing suppliers, enhanced by the latest requirements of the automotive industry in order to ensure the conformity along the supply chain. There was a survey of 25 companies, Tier 2 and Tier 3, carried out to provide a detailed information about the ability of companies to fulfill the defined criteria. The results brought by the survey have exposed the strongest areas that the companies are fulfilling on a high level as well as the weak areas. The weak areas need to be addresses by further cooperation through supplier development in order to minimize the risks along the supply chain. Few recommendations were formulated for the development of the companies in weak areas, to increase the fulfillment of the demands of the automotive industry.