ISO 9001 By Buddy Godbout

What is Product Assurance and Why is it Important to Automotive Recyclers P

roduct Assurance can loosely be defined as: “The verification that cus-

tomer requirements are satisfied.” This can be accomplished by ensuring: (1) The identification of critical activi- ties/processes such as testing/recondi- tioning/cleaning/packaging and ship- ment;

(2) The availability of the necessary resources for each of the processes. Why product assurance is important to automotive recyclers can be grouped into an immediate effect on customers by reducing costs, and a less than immedi- ate effect on insurers by reducing risk to insurance companies who organize repairs to its customer’s vehicles. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are held to rigid quality and reli- ability standards through the ISO 9001 based management systems designed to raise the quality and reliability of parts for

automotive uses. Getting this same qual- ity standard in place for automotive recy- clers would benefit the recycler by providing external, third party assurance that protocols have been followed, parts have been inspected, handled, and pack- aged following industry standards. The ISO 9001 standard is recognized around the world as an international standard for Quality. This means that insurers and col- lision repair shops would get an added benefit of independent validation that parts meet requirements.

So how does product assurance play into this?

Automotive recyclers can, through careful extraction and cleaning or oth- erwise reconditioning OEM parts, pro- vide the automotive insurers with a much lower cost alternative without sacrificing the quality and reliability of OEM parts. To do this demonstrably, automotive

recyclers need to develop and imple- ment an appropriate set of processes to maintain the quality of recycled parts throughout the extraction, cleaning, reconditioning, storage, and ultimate shipping of parts. This can be done most consistently by adopting a standardized set of guidelines that follow the same rigidity as the manufacturers who pro- duced the parts.

This is easily accomplished by taking advantage of the basic principles found in the ISO 9001 series standard (or an indus- try equivalent) and developing and implementing the processes which can be reviewed regularly to objectively demon- strate conformance to these standards. The benefits of this approach should be obvious; greater quality available to repair operations while reducing cost, utilizing OEM parts (vs. needing spare parts to be produced for years and years) and parts that are carefully managed throughout the extraction process. The ISO 9001 standard, or an industry-spe- cific equivalent, would serve to demon- strate which supplier processes have been inspected/audited and can pro- duce results consistently.

While there are costs associated with implementing and ISO 9001 system, there are also opportunities for greater volumes of business, new business, and the reduction of defects and errors by implementing a system that focuses on parts quality. There really are no losers in this equation if processes are effectively controlled and thereby product assur- ance is controlled.

Buddy Godbout has been a quality professional for over thirty years. His experience is focused in the manufactur- ing and service sectors, including ISO 9001 & TL 9000, ISO 14001, and OHSAS 18001. He has also provided consulting services throughout North America. He is certified by the Institute of Quality Assurance (IRCA) & RAB QSA as Lead Auditor in ISO 9001 and TL 9000, a certified ISO 14001 au- ditor and an OHSAS 18001 auditor, Buddy is a ASQ Certi- fied Quality Auditor & a Quality Manager, and an Associate Auditor for accredited Registrars.

20 Automotive Recycling | July-August 2015

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