American Axle¹s Colfor Division plant, located in Salem, OH, was receiving requests from their customers to become registered to QS 9000 Third Edition. With this in mind, the management realized it was going to be necessary to implement a very comprehensive training endeavor at the Salem plant to ensure each and every employee had a thorough knowledge of the standard.

WINOC was contacted to help put together the basic training needed, to prepare the plant for an upcoming third party registration audit. The approach boiled down to being sure every associate understood the standard, especially those aspects of the standard that directly related to their job responsibilities.

The content for all classroom work, which was to improve the understanding of QS 9000, was based on the current revision of QS 9000 and all related booklets published by the AIAG (Automotive Industry Action Group). The methodology was to lecture including Question and Answer sessions to reinforce the learned objective of the various elements.

Actual Salem plant data was included in the content of the classroom work, which helped the associates relate more easily to the Standard. The preconceived idea as discovered in the first few classes was - ³we are already registered to QS 9000, so why are we doing this?². It soon became clear to the associates that there was a lot more to the Standard than had been covered in the previous audit. This was the basis of the further training that took place. The class sizes and the class make-up (cross functionality) were developed by Colfor with input from WINOC. The schedule was mutually agreed to so the plant production requirements could be maintained.

The training at Colfor included the following elements of QS 9000:

8D Problem Solving: this technique was developed by Ford Motor Company to analyze a problem using a systematic approach designed to get to the root cause of the problem. It uses actual problems from within the company.

APQP (Advanced Product Quality Planning) :the process used, in conjunction with the QS 9000 standard, is to bring a product from concept into production. It also involves the quality planning discipline necessary to be in compliance to the Standard.

FMEA (Failure Mode Effects Analysis): this process is aimed at anticipating those issues that could go wrong, and using a ranking system to enable the company¹s resources to work on the most severe issues. This differs from the 8D process, since the participants are trying to fix an issue before it occurs.

QS 9000 Overview: this includes a compressed review of the Third Edition changes, that would be needed to be understood in order to become registered to the Standard.

Internal Auditor: this training consists of teaching auditing techniques as well as familiarization with the standard. Following this, individuals witness an audit performed by the instructor, then they actually perform an audit, which is witnessed by the instructor.

PPAP (Production Parts Approval Process): this is the process of proving the part conforms to all quality characteristics on any new part, part revision, and other specific changes to the process or equipment.

QOS (Quality Operating System): is the system developed by Colfor to help enhance the quality of their management system, as outlined by their own criteria.

QS 9000 Implementation and Documentation: A comprehensive review of the Standard with emphasis on the Third Edition of the QS 9000. There was also discussion about how the company operates now, including understanding any changes that would be required to become registered to the Standard.

QSA (Quality System Assessment): is a part of the QS 9000 pamphlets available to help implement the Standard. It is a very good and comprehensive listing of the types of questions an internal auditor could use.

SPC (Statistical Process Control): Explains the basic fundamentals of SPC including the use of Colfor¹s own data. Some examples of concepts included and explained are the specific key indicators of centering, spread, mean, standard deviation, pareto charts, histograms, control limits and Cpk.

For more information on QS 9000 or ISO 9000, please call Gene White at (216) 520-0770 ext. 234.